Russia’s invasion is causing inflation and threatening millions of people who depend on Ukrainian produce
The savage war of Vladimir Putin against the peaceful people of Ukraine is the work of a man with ambitions bent on trying to secure his place in Russian history as the leader who restored the false “glory” of the Russian Soviet Union that disintegrated in 1989. There was no glory there but oppression, occupation of half of Europe and a Cold War that threatened nuclear annihilation of the world.
Putin’s massively destructive war, with continuous atrocities and war crimes, is now threatening another form of annihilation — that of millions of people in Asia and Africa who depend on Ukrainian wheat, maize and cooking oil as do other poor nations of the world.
The Russian president has blocked the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian cereals and cooking oil from Odessa on the Black Sea. He wants sanctions lifted before he will lift the blockade. In the meantime, evidence has emerged that Russia is stealing Ukrainian grain and shipping it to Crimea and then to Syria. It is a war tactic to starve the world and force Western nations to lift sanctions while millions go hungry and many die.
Ukraine was exporting 4.5 million tons of agricultural produce per month through its ports on the Black Sea. There are around 20 million tons of grain stockpiled in silos and there will be no storage facilities available for this year’s harvest of wheat, barley and grapeseed. Despite the war and the departure of up to 5 million Ukrainians, the farmers have continued to plant crops but have nowhere to store them. The sales are needed for national survival.

Three days before the Taliban seized control of Kabul, Arifa Rahimi received a threatening phone call. “You have been traced. We know that you are a Shia kafir [infidel] and a journalist reporting against us,” said the unknown caller.
In September 2021, Rahimi hired a car to reach the Chaman-Spin Boldak border with her younger brother and four nephews, aged 8-14. Wearing a light blue chadori (the head-to-toe burqa), she entered Quetta in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province without a visa.
“Each passenger cost 6,310 afghani (US$71). However, the driver charged half-payment for children,” said 24-year-old Rahimi, who used to report for Kabul-based Farhang Press. Luckily for them, the border security wasn’t tight in the early days of the Taliban takeover. And waiting for legal documentation could have meant risking arrest and possible execution “My elderly parents couldn’t join us,” says Rahimi, who now shares one of the four rooms in a rented house with other Afghan families in Quetta. She deleted Taliban call logs to avoid scrutiny by Pakistani border and security personnel and now uses a local SIM card.But as an unregistered refugee, Rahimi doesn’t have any income. Her brother, a tailor, supports the family.
“I accepted Christ as I read in the Bible John 3:16. On one side our own people were trying to kill us while a pastor was helping us with rations and money. I found Christ as my savior” In November, she was baptized by Pastor Irfan James in a small church in Quetta.”I accepted Christ as I read in the Bible John 3:16. On one side our own people were trying to kill us while a pastor was helping us with rations and money. I found Christ as my savior,” she told UCA News.She is among the 100 believers who have received a copy of the Bible from Pastor James, who is running an underground ministry from Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. He has to grow a beard and leave church documents behind before crossing the border using local contacts. They also help him in relocating underground Christians.

“Changing physical gestures is crucial for survival,” Pastor James told UCA News via WhatsApp. “Many have changed their phone numbers to avoid persecution. The Afghani converts along with defense personnel and spokespersons of the former government are on the Taliban’s hit list.”

Some 450 Afghan families, living in an Islamabad park, have been holding protests for months demanding legal status, with many seeking onward passage to European nations.

The protesting families, including children, carry mock coffins and wear white shirts emblazoned with messages in red paint saying “Kill us or rescue us.”

Instead of initiating a police crackdown on the protesting Afghans, the government of Pakistan should shelter the refugees on a humanitarian basis, said Pastor James.”Women have vanished and families are forced to sell their children due to crippling hunger and economic crisis. Church groups should invest in small business enterprises and medical camps for the converted Afghans,” he added.
“The Taliban have access and followers in Quetta. My nephews depend on me. Everything is so expensive but I do not want to return. We need help”Since the Taliban takeover, the persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International and two local churches have been helping 400 Afghan refugees in Quetta and Chaman, another border town of Pakistan.
They are among 250,000 Afghans who have crossed into Pakistan after the Taliban seized full control of the country next door.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated that 1.3 million Afghan refugees are registered in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Christians are all converts from Islam and forced to worship secretly in homes or other small venues.

Pope Francis has appointed Manila’s former archbishop Cardinal Luis Tagle as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Cardinal Tagle’s appointment, along with several other leading churchmen including Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, was announced by the Holy See’s press office on June 1.
The Congregation for Divine Worship forms the part of the Roman Curia — the administrative institution of the Holy See — that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church and some technical matters relating to the sacraments.
Its functions were originally exercised by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, set up in January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V.  The current prefect is English Archbishop     Arthur Roche, whom the Pope appointed as a cardinal on May 29.
Cardinal Tagle’s appointment to the congregation was welcomed by Filipinos around the world.
“Congratulations, Your Eminence! May the Lord be with you and guide you as you undertake yet another mission for the Roman Curia,” a group of Filipino domestic workers in Italy posted on social media.
On Dec. 8, 2019, Pope Francis named Cardinal Tagle as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a post he still holds
Catholics living in the United States said the appointment showed yet again the pope had the utmost trust and confidence in the Filipino cardinal.
“Another appointment at the Vatican by Pope Francis? I am not surprised given his [Tagle’s] humility and love for the Church,” Arlyn Reyes from New York told.
On Dec. 8, 2019, Pope Francis named Cardinal Tagle as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a post he still holds.
He is also the first Filipino to be afforded the title of cardinal-bishop, the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.

India is trying to contain the diplomatic fallout as outrage grows in the Muslim world following derogatory comments made by ruling party officials about the Prophet Mohammed.
The United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Oman, and Iraq are among at least 15 Muslim-majority nations to have condemned the remarks, which were described as “Islamophobic,” with several countries summoning India’s ambassadors.
The incident sparked protests in neighbouring Pakistan and prompted calls from around the region to boycott Indian goods.
India’s Hindu nationalist ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disciplined the two officials involved, but the firestorm involving India’s major Arab trade partners is yet to die down.
Here’s what you need to know.
At the centre of the controversy is Nupur Sharma, now suspended national spokesperson  for the BJP — the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On May 26, Sharma made comments during a televised debate on an Indian news channel about the Prophet Mohammed that were widely deemed offensive and Islamophobic.

On June 9 Thailand  became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis — but tough penalties will still apply to those who use the drug to get high, according to the minister who spearheaded the change.
Speaking to CNN in an interview ahead of the move, Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he expected legal cannabis production to boost the economy but cautioned that recreational use of the drug remains illegal. “It’s a no,” said Anutin, who is also a deputy prime minister. “We still have regulations under the law that control the consumption, smoking or use of cannabis products in non-productive ways.”
Under decriminalization, it is no longer a crime to grow and trade marijuana and hemp products, or use parts of the plant to treat illnesses. Cafes and restaurants can also serve cannabis-infused food and drinks — but only if the products contain less than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s main psychoactive compound.
Harsh penalties remain in place under the Public Health Act, including up to three months in jail and an $800 fine for smoking cannabis in public.

Kazuhiro Sasahara met the priest suggested by his Catholic wife, a member of Kitami Church on Japan’s island of Hokkaido
One-on-one with priest leads Japanese atheist to baptism
Kazuhiro Sasahara was born into a family of the Buddhist Jodo Shinshu sect but considered him-self an atheist. Because his wife, whom he met as a student, was baptized as an infant, their wedding was held in a Catholic church and their three children were baptized as infants.
“I went to church once a year at Christmas and I didn’t say anything about the faith of my wife or children, leaving that to my wife. Besides going to church on Sundays, my wife doesn’t say much about her faith. However, compared to the beginning of our marriage, statues of Mary and crosses have multiplied all over the house,” said the 63-year-old Japanese man.
After his retirement from years as a principal of elementary and junior high schools, Sasahara engaged in after-school children’s classroom activities with the board of education until April of last year.
At that time, “I thought it might be better to have the same faith as my wife.” He did not believe in God’s existence, but as his remaining years “shortened” he wanted to go into the future “with the same attitude as my wife with whom I’ve shared life for so many years.”
His wife, a member of Kitami Church on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, suggested that he meet the parish priest, Father Masahiro Uesugi of Sapporo Diocese. Since July 2020, they have met once a month.
“At the time, I didn’t have any strong desire for baptism or to attend any study sessions,” said Sasahara. “I just wanted to talk with the priest. I talked about books I had read, movies I had seen, TV dramas, and the state of the world today, and the priest talked about his interests.”

Activists called on Sri Lankan authorities not to arrest an activist nun who has supported anti-government pro-testers.
Sister Mary Sonali of the Congregation of the Apostolic Carmel was summoned by police June 7 to record a statement about an arson attack.
Shehan Malaka Gamage, a social activist and national convener of the Coalition of Catholic Lay Organizations, said June 8 that Sister Sonali was accused of aiding violence and inciting people to set fire to houses.
“We stand against the continuing state repression and the large number of arrests. Police have arrested many social activists to satisfy the needs of politicians and by now they have begun to touch the clergy as well. That is a very serious matter,” Gamage said.
“Several Buddhist monks were recently imprisoned on absurd charges but eventually the court released them. Even Father Cyril Gamini was prepared to be arrested in the same manner, but the police failed,” he said.
Father Gamini is former director of the National Catholic Center for Social Communications and has been an outspoken critic of how government agencies handled the investigation of the Easter 2019 attacks — including two on Catholic churches — that killed 279 people in three cities.

Hopes of financial compensation for survivors of Pol Pot’s brutal regime that ruled Cambodia with an iron fist between 1975 and early 1979 are becoming less likely as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal continues to wind down.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was sworn in 16 years ago and charged with prosecuting senior leaders of the regime for unleashing one of the worst mass killings in the 20th century, could secure only three guilty verdicts for crimes against humanity and genocide.
“Compensation could only work with a complete acknowledgement of responsibility,” said Ou Virak, president of the Phnom Penhbased Future Forum think tank. “There are far too many people who remained in power and too many powerful countries that need to be held accountable.”
Since the tribunal was only responsible for pursuing crimes inside Cambodia during the four-year regime, it meant China, which backed Pol Pot, and America’s involvement in the Indochina wars were not a consideration amid the mountains of evidence.
Instead, genocide museums, memorials, stupas and education programs will make up the legacy to be left behind by the ECCC. “Global investment in genocide museums here in Cambodia, potentially funded by countries who want to salvage their souls, could be a good starting point,” said Ou Virak.
Most senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge died violently or behind bars, either awaiting their trial or following their conviction. Only Khieu Samphan, the former head of state, remains alive and in jail awaiting his appeal for a genocide conviction. If that is over-turned, he will remain behind bars for a previous conviction and his role in the deaths of around two million people, more than quarter of Cambodia’s population.
“They seek to provide judicial recognition to victims of the Khmer Rouge, assist survivors to restore their dignity, heal trauma and injuries suffered by victims, and preserve their collective memories”

The Myanmar military has continued to target a historic Catholic village in the country’s Bamar heartland while pressing ahead with attacks on religious buildings in predominantly Christian regions. At least 320 out of the estimated 350 households were burned down during a military raid on Chaung Yoe village in the Sagaing region on May 20, according to local sources.
Thousands of Catholic villagers were forced to flee their homes to nearby safe areas as junta troops set fire to one house after another. Houses in three nearby Buddhist villages were also set ablaze during the military raid on the same day.
Sources said Mary Help of Christians Church, convent and the priest’s house were not damaged. The latest attack came just four days before the annual celebration of Mary Help of Christians on May 24.
“We have no homes and no property. Where will we stay in the village when we return if the situation is deemed safe?”
“It’s so sad. I was in tears when I saw smoke coming out from my village as my house was also burned down,” said a Catholic woman who sought safety among her relatives in a nearby town.

A Vatican-approved Chinese bishop remains in detention more than one year after his arrest for allegedly violating the communist country’s repressive regulations on religious affairs.
Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang in Henan province was arrested on May 21 last year.
His arrest came a day after police arrested 10 priests and an unknown number of seminarians from a Catholic seminary in the diocese that was set up in an abandoned factory building.
About a year ago, authorities in Xinxiang shut down Catholic schools and kindergartens in line with a government ban on education by religious groups.
All those arrested were accused of violating China’s regulations on religious affairs and subjected to “political lessons” in detention, media re-ports said
The priests and seminarians were released after brief detention but remain under surveillance, while the seminary is still closed.
Since his secret ordination with a Vatican mandate in 1991, Bishop Zhang was under constant pressure and barred from carrying out his duties as Bishop.