Asia
Tajikistan: challenges facing the Church
Tajikistan is a beautiful mountainous country; the Tajik language is related to Iranian. After gaining independence in the early 1990s, the country endured a tribal-based civil war that resulted in significant loss of…
Israel / Gaza: hostage deal, four-day pause
Israel and Hamas have struck a deal to exchange fifty hostages in Gaza for a four-day ceasefire. This agreement also includes the release of 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons…
India: rescue operation for trapped tunnel workers close to success
A rescue operation to free 41 Indian tunnel workers, trapped for twelve days in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkhand state, has reached its final stage. Rescuers are just metres away from the workers,…
Muslims in Gaza come to Christ after seeing Jesus in dreams
In Gaza, a significant number of Muslim men have recently converted to Christianity after reportedly seeing visions of Jesus in their dreams, an event described as miraculous by underground Christian communities in the…
USA / China: Biden optimistic after four-hour meeting with Xi
On 15 November, after concluding a four-hour meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Joe Biden expressed optimism about improving US-China relations. Key agreements were reached on reducing fentanyl production and restoring military communication.…
Pakistan: agreement with IMF on continuing bailout
On 15 November, Pakistan reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of a $700 million tranche, part of a larger $3 billion bailout package agreed in July. This…
Myanmar: intense attacks from opposition forces
Myanmar's military has acknowledged facing intense attacks from anti-coup forces, who claim to have seized several towns and military outposts in various states. The military is responding with drone bomb attacks and has…
Latest news from Gaza
Israel will begin to implement four-hour ’humanitarian pauses’ in northern Gaza each day to allow people to flee, the White House has said. A spokesman called the move a step in the right…
Iran: tensions over jail sentence for French national
France said on 8 November that one of its citizens being held in Iran has been sentenced to five years in prison on a baseless conviction, and called for his immediate release and…
Armenia / Moldova: initiative for youth with disabilities
Eurasia Foundation (EF) has announced the launch of a two-year Justice for Underserved Youth with Disabilities (JUDY) initiative, which promotes the full social, economic, and political integration of youth with disabilities in Armenia…