Arrest of alleged child trafficking TikTok gang sparks shock in Lebanon (May 4, 2024, The National News)
The exposure of an alleged child sex-trafficking ring involving a famous Lebanese TikTok influencer has caused shock in Lebanon.
The Syria I came back to is not the one I left (April 9, 2024, BBC)
A whole new generation of Syrians have grown up with war - explosions, bombings and the constant news of death and disappearance. They are indifferent about the war, yet they know that there are boundaries they can't cross in order to remain safe. So they cherish culture, heritage, art and music. Those fields are somehow safe from brutality.
Terrifying moment 29 children are hurt by runaway ice cream truck that rolls down a slope after driver 'left the handbrake off' during ceremony in Kyrgyzstan (May 2, 2024, Daily Mail Online)
The truck was being used by an ice cream seller when it suddenly started rolling downhill into a crowd of thousands - most facing in the opposite direction.
Turkmenistan Conducting Virginity Tests To 'Evaluate Teenagers' Morality' (February 11, 2024, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)
Students who “fail” the test are being reported to police and security services, according to an educational worker familiar with the campaign.
Human rights activists in Western Sahara are being targeted by mobile malware (April 12, 2024, The Record)
The disputed territory of the Western Sahara is mostly controlled by Morocco following Spanish decolonisation in 1975, although Moroccan control is contested by a Sahrawi nationalist group known as the Polisario Front.
President Tokayev Addresses Assistance for Flood Victims at Assembly of People of Kazakhstan (April 25, 2024, The Astana Times)
Despite the catastrophic nature of these floods, they have united the people of Kazakhstan, said Tokayev. He highlighted the role of the assembly in providing assistance to those affected.
Southeast Asia hit by extreme heat wave (April 23, 2024, Le Monde) (Subscription Required)
For the second year in a row, Southeast Asia is sweating it out: The month of April, which coincides with the hottest and driest season of the year in most of the region's countries, has been reaching extreme temperatures – though not, at this stage, exceeding the all-time records set in 2023
What Works for Girls in South Asia: A Situational Analysis (March 2024, UNICEF)
“358 Million Adolescents call South Asia home. Of these, more than 170 Million (48%) are adolescent girls…” UNICEF’s Regional Office for South Asia commissioned this situation analysis to assess the current landscape of programming designed to address the specific needs of adolescent girls in the region through a gender-transformative lens.
In China, Dating Apps for Elites Are All About Class (March 25, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Rather than dilute the importance of a person’s background on the dating market, the massive increase in university enrollment since the late 1990s has intensified the role of educational prestige in modern relationships…
What to know as China attempts to be 1st country to return samples from far side of the moon (May 2, 2024, ABC News)
The landing site will help "address questions about the multiple lunar nearside – farside dichotomies and to provide new insights into both the early impact history of the Solar System and the geological evolution of the moon…"
AsiaBriefs, produced in partnership with ChinaSource, is a place for you to catch up on news items and analysis from around Asia that you might have missed. It is a curated list of links from published online sources. Clicking a link will take you to a website other than Asia Congress or ChinaSource. Neither Asia Congress nor ChinaSource is responsible for the content or other features on that site. Further, an article’s inclusion does not equal an endorsement. Links to China stories are from ZGBriefs, a weekly publication of ChinaSource that highlights important news and analysis from China. You can read the complete, unabbreviated version of ZGBriefs at ChinaSource, and subscribe to receive it by email every Thursday.
Editor
Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
Explore Topics
Newsletter