From terror to tourism: How Georgia's Pankisi Valley rewrote its story (June 9, 2025, BBC)
Long overshadowed by headlines of extremism, Georgia's Pankisi Valley is now welcoming travellers with Sufi rituals, mountain trails and home-cooked Kist food.
Indonesia trapped in the global organ harvesting network (June 5, 2025, East Asia Forum)
Organ trafficking thrives on a global shortage of legal donors, exploiting the poor through deception. Asia serves as a hub for these illicit and sophisticated operations. Despite existing laws, enforcement remains weak amid corruption and medical complicity.
Bhutan grapples with alarming youth drug crisis (June 6, 2025, Asia News Network)
The report, focusing on youth and substance abuse, highlighted inhalants, marijuana, sedatives, and opioids as the most commonly abused substances among young people.
Badly built housing propels the heat pandemic in Asia's cities (June 6, 2025, ABC Asia)
If sustainable building delivers so many ‘win-wins’ and could end our ‘heat pandemic’ , why aren’t all new buildings sustainable?
Sri Lanka: How period poverty keeps girls out of school (May 14, 2025, Deutsche Welle)
For some girls in Sri Lanka's hill country, getting a period means having to skip classes unless their families can find money for sanitary pads.
Why having a drink in Turkey can mean life or death (March 8, 2025, Deutsche Welle)
Since the beginning of 2025, more than 160 people have died from poisoning after drinking bootleg alcohol in Turkey. How did going out for a drink become so dangerous?
A dream deferred: Turkey’s unfulfilled European hopes (June 3, 2025, GIS Reports Online)
Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU have been all but snuffed out. The EU and Turkey have many shared interests and concerns. Both sides will continue their engagement on a transactional basis.
Uzbekistan’s Connectivity Outreach: Will India Re-Connect With Its Central Asia Policy? (June 1, 2025, The Diplomat) (Subscription required)
Central Asian states have been at the forefront of regional connectivity projects, but progress has been frustratingly slow. Uzbekistan has taken on a leadership role in the region and made Afghanistan the centerpiece of its connectivity projects with South Asia. Will India, the biggest economy in South Asia, bite the bait?
Libya once again in the abyss of despair (June 7, 2025, Arab News)
The latest violence in Tripoli has highlighted the fragility of a binary political order in Libya that has enfeebled state institutions, weaned predatory political leaders, and encouraged lawlessness and violence in the broken polity.
The most dangerous weapon in South Asia is not nuclear (May 29, 2025, Al Jazeera)
When India launched Operation Sindoor and Pakistan replied with Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, the world braced for escalation. The Line of Control lit up again. But if you think what happened earlier this month was merely a military exchange, you’ve missed the real story.
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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
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