I spent a night in one of the empty apartments in Malaysia's $100 billion ghost town, and I can see why very few people want to live there (April 3, 2024, Business Insider) (Login required)
It looked like an average residential neighborhood in Singapore — with its endless blocks of public housing and the ubiquitous sight of plants and trees — but without the people.
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.
Acropolis apocalypse: Skies turn orange, red over Greece, Libya (April 24, 2024, Accuweather)
A potent weather system in Europe pulled Saharan dust up from the desert into Libya and Greece late Tuesday, turning skies red and orange. Famous spots in Athens, like the Acropolis, were shrouded in orange and red hues. A local weather researcher said it was the worst dust storm in the area since 2018.
Research links deforestation in Cambodia to stunting in kids, anemia in women (April 11, 2024, Mongabay)
This link between human well-being and forest loss illustrates how the latter can compound preexisting rural health issues in Cambodia, a country notorious for high levels of both deforestation and malnutrition.
Burned Bibles and broken homes (February 6, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Village leaders and residents barged into a private home in southern Laos to stop several families gathered there from holding a Christian worship service on Sunday
How God is moving among the Yazidi (March 11, 2024, Mission Network News)
Numerous Yazidis have encountered the Gospel since being driven from their homeland by the Islamic State in 2014. Today, the Yazidis’ “openness [to the Gospel] can be debated, but one thing that has been very clear is that God is doing some amazing things,” says Samuel* with Redemptive Stories.
Tunisian Jews scale back annual pilgrimage to ancient synagogue because of security concerns (April 22, 2024, The Associated Press)
The decision comes more than six months into the Israel-Hamas war, which has reverberated throughout the Middle East and North Africa, inciting mass street protests from Morocco to Iraq. In Tunisia, most of the protests have been peaceful but in October, demonstrators desecrated a synagogue in Al-Hammah on the mainland.
Forced marriage of Christian women becoming 'concerningly common' worldwide: Open Doors (March 7, 2024, The Christian Post)
The 2024 Gender Report, compiled by Open Doors’ global research team, draws attention to the marginalization of Christian women who live in countries ranked as the 50 most dangerous for Christian persecution.
How China’s People With Disabilities Are Confronting the Future of Work (April 1, 2023, Sixth Tone)
Can a social enterprise dedicated to employing people with disabilities point the way to a better future for all workers?
Official Protestant Groups Plan Next Five Years of Sinicization (April 3, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
What are we to make of last year’s announcement that the official Protestant group leadership, the national Three Self Patriotic Movement association together with the China Christian Council, gathered to discuss a five-year plan for 2023–2027? Do China’s official churches typically have five-year plans like any other Communist Party organization? What is new about this five-year plan?
Rising Strong: A Journey of Faith and Growth Amidst the Pandemic (April 2, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
During the pandemic, God had been helping and teaching us. It became a testing ground for the faith of our local church, especially as most of the foreign missionaries had to leave. We realized this as a moment of faith testing.
From Auspicious Dragon to Christian Devil: The Metamorphosis of Myth into Faith (April 1, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
In his reflection on cultural heritage, Rev. Chow acknowledges that while no one has physically seen a dragon, it stands as a potent spiritual symbol for the Chinese, embodying a complex and profound mix of emotions—a reverence filled with honor and dignity.
Not a Shred of Peace: Testimony of God’s Grace and Call (March 21, 2024, China Partnership Blog)
Shortly after Covid-19 began to spread across the world, Wu Jinyang, a Chinese missionary serving in eastern Europe, contracted the virus. He eventually died of the virus, leaving behind his wife and young children. His widow and children have now returned to China, where the local Chinese house church supports and cares for them.
Ex-Taiwanese President Ma visits China to help build social and cultural links (April 1, 2024, NBC News)
Ma left Taipei on Monday with a student group on an 11-day trip that underlines continued interactions in education, business and culture despite Beijing’s threat to use military force against the self-governing island democracy to achieve unification.
Video: Where Will China’s Economy Go in 2024? (March 23, National Committee on U.S-China Relations)
Economists are split on whether the Chinese economy is stable or on the edge of a debt crisis. In this program on March 14, 2024, National Committee President Stephen Orlins joins Amy Celico and Barry Naughton to help make sense of different economic and policy projections for China’s economy in 2024 (and beyond).
Starved of Affection at Home, Young Chinese Seek Out ‘Digital Parents’ (March 25, 2024, Sixth Tone)
There has been an increase in the number of parenting influencers on Chinese social media in recent months, but the audience for this content often isn’t parents looking for advice; it’s children captivated by the influencers’ open, caring attitudes.
Dragons: Friend or Foe?: Reflections on the Year of the Dragon (March 27, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
For in Chinese culture, dragons are benevolent beings that represent prosperity and power. They control rivers and seas and bring rain upon the earth. In fact, they are so revered that for thousands of years they have symbolized the emperor himself—the very mediator between man and Shangdi, the “Emperor on High.” They adorned the emperor’s robes, surrounded his throne, and guarded his palace walls.
A Chinese pastor is released after 7 years in prison, only to find himself unable to get an ID (March 25, 2024, AP)
The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his hometown of Changsha in southern Hunan province, he is without any legal documentation in his country, unable to access even the most basic services without a Chinese identification.