The Easter Sunday bombings in and around Sri Lanka’s capital left hundreds dead and injured. In recent years, besides becoming a base for hundreds of foreign fighters, the Indian sub-continent has also become fertile terrain for the expansion of the main Islamist terrorist groups. On 3 September 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the formation of a…
Read moreLove for the people and the youth of ethnic minorities has borne fruit in the form of Caffè Bruno, a new brand of coffee now well known and available throughout Thailand. Chae Hom is a plateau surrounded by mountains and is located in the province of Lampang in the north of the country. Agriculture is…
Read moreIt is now almost five years since the coup d’état that took place in Thailand on 22 May 2014. This year on 24 March, it will hold elections which could have serious consequences for the Country of the Smile, now grim and uncertain, led formally by civil institutions but inflexibly guided by the National Council…
Read moreThe definition of The Maritime Silk Road seems never ending. The initial interest of the Chinese government in their South-East Asian neighbours is being gradually concretised in the form of a series of projects. Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar are the countries most involved. Since its announcement in 2013, the Chinese Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiative,…
Read moreBangkok seems to be a champion of futuristic architecture but its lights simply overwhelm without removing either its own multiple dark areas or the darkening shadows of the country. The present contingency, with the creation of a speculation bubble, the flight of capital, failed investments, populist policies and the rigidity of a self-referential system which…
Read moreThailand is now witnessing the disappearance of its myth as a ‘Teflon Country’, unmoved by any crisis and capable of regaining its solidity after temporary setbacks. Officially, such things are never due to internal reasons but only to international contingencies. Apparently immune to what it sees as from outside, Thailand is occupied solely with presenting…
Read moreThe nation, the monarchy and Buddhism are the pillars commonly attributed to the Thai identity. A mixture of doctrinal rigour contaminated in practice by many Hindu and animist elements, Thailandese Buddhism, which belongs to the Theravada current, is in substance a ‘religion of works’. Offerings, donations and almsgiving are its determining elements, associated for many…
Read moreImportant political events will mark the Asian panorama in 2019 while the evolution of strategic and economic questions will play a role in regional and global relations. Once again Chine will take the lead. Again in 2019 the gaze of the world will be turned towards China, the economic colossus which, in the second half…
Read moreToday, Bangladesh is a country in tumultuous growth, afflicted by many problems that for the small local Church and the missionary presences are so many fields for intervention, both in country areas as well as in the capital Dhaka, a metropolis of 15 million inhabitants, containing in its chaos both problems and potential as well…
Read moreAshulia and the nearby districts of Savar, Tongi and Gazipur on the edge of the metropolitan area of Dhaka, represent the greatest industrial concentration of the country, the heart of the production of textiles, clothes and accessories much of which is destined for the foreign markets of European and US brands. However, they are also…
Read moreThe population of Bangladesh is rapidly approaching 170 million, depending on an area of 147,570 square kilometres, large parts of which are subject for their productivity to seasonal variations in the tides and seasonal flooding. After the first dramatic decades following independence in 1971, the country succeeded in bettering its agriculture and rationalising its resources,…
Read moreGeography, demography, history, faith and politics are inextricably intertwined in determining the reality known as Bangladesh. Many positive elements and progress in many areas have marked its journey since independence, but an equal number of elements render difficult a view into its future. The country is mostly a flat area in the combined delta of…
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“We want to create a federation of international journalistic organisations that collaborate in this effort, starting from the global South,” says Filipino journalist and 2022…
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Once upon a time, there was a leopard. He had a huge walnut tree that was full of nuts. Stingy as he was, however, he forbade…
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Three young Comboni missionaries from three continents share their vocation stories and missionary experiences. Fr Victor Cunanan Parungao from the Philippines reflects on 15 years of…
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