ASIA TODAY Pyongyang commemorates soldiers killed by Covid as ‘victims of war’

Today’s news: Cambodian Church celebrates ordination of first ethnic Phnong priest; Pakistan Monsoon Death Toll Rises To 77, New Rains Coming; Chinese Christian activist Cheng Yuan, held in solitary confinement, was tortured in prison; The opposition CHP party leads Erdogan’s AKP in the polls ahead of the 2023 elections.

NORTH KOREA

“Special, but without substance” are the privileges granted by the Pyongyang authorities to soldiers killed by Covid-19. Once cremated, the legend “Honor for death in war” accompanies the ashes that their families receive. The great military parade in April, one of the sources of contagion, would have favored the circulation of the virus despite the fact that North Korean leaders denied the presence of the virus in the country for two years.

CAMBODIA

Catholics celebrated the ordination of the first ethnic Phnong priest. It’s about the father Jean Baptiste Bun Prak Hong, who received the sacrament on June 29. He is originally from Busra, Pech Reada district, in the northeastern province of Mondulkiri. During the ceremony, the Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh announced the ordination of three deacons in September.

PAKISTAN

There are at least 77 victims, the balance of the monsoons that hit Pakistan in the last three weeks, according to the Minister of Climate Change. The ministry warns that new and more intense rains are expected in the coming days. Sherry Rehman speaks of a “national tragedy.” Most of the dead are concentrated in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

CHINA

the christian activist ChengYuan suffered “tortures” in Chishan prison, located in Hunan province. According to his relatives, while in solitary confinement he was subjected to “constant sleep deprivation” to make him confess the names of other “accomplices”. Founder of the NGO Changsha Funeng, the man was prosecuted along with two colleagues in September 2020 on charges of “subversion”.

TURKEY

Two different polls indicate that the main Republican opposition party (CHP) takes advantage of you President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP ahead of the June 2023 general election. Tweet shows that 29.6% of those surveyed would vote for the CHP, compared to 27.8% who would favor the AKP. In the case of the company yoneylem, the CHP would get 27.7%, compared to 27.1% for the AKP.

RUSSIA – ISRAEL

The Russian authorities have decreed the closure of the main Jewish agency in the country, Sokhnut, which, according to the letter sent, “attracts the best minds, to convince them to emigrate to Israel”. The decision is intended to stop the flow of Russians into Israel; to date, many are waiting for a visa to expatriate.

ARMENIA – AZERBAIJAN

The Armenian church of Šuši, in Nagorno-Karabakh – better known as Kanač žam, the “green church” because of the color of its domes – which had not suffered any damage during the 44-day war in 2020, has been reduced to ruins by the Azerbaijani authorities. Other places of worship in the area have suffered a similar fate, being converted into mosques or Russian Orthodox churches.