Displaying items by tag: Asia

Afghanistan has begun its first face-to-face talks with the Taliban on exchanging thousands of prisoners.

Details of the initial meeting in Kabul emerged on Wednesday 1 April, ahead of a planned second day of talks, as Afghans observed tight restrictions on movement because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Under a US-Taliban deal, the government will free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, while the militants will release 1,000.

The talks took place against a backdrop of continuing violence in the country. Authorities blamed the Taliban for an explosion in the southern province of Helmand on Wednesday that killed eight civilians, including several children.

How much progress has been made in talks?

The prisoner swap had been due to take place in early March, as part of a US-Taliban deal signed on 29 February, but there have been a series of setbacks. Until Wednesday, the two sides had only met by video conference.

With talks due to resume for a second day on Wednesday, Afghanistan's Office of the National Security Council said that progress had only been made so far "on technical matters".  The talks were overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the focus was on the release of security force and national defence captives as well as Taliban prisoners, the ICRC said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the meetings did not amount to negotiations, telling AFP: "There will be no political talks there". The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo called the beginning of the talks "good news".

The Taliban had been due to send a large team to the Kabul talks, but in the end sent a three-man delegation because of the covid-19 virus outbreak. A spokesman for the militant group said the trio would monitor the prisoner release process and take the necessary technical measures.

Though US troops began withdrawing last month under the terms of the deal with the Taliban, movement on the prisoner swap has been slow because of disagreements between President Ashraf Ghani and his main political rival Abdullah Abdullah.

More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52123951

Pray that these breakthrough talks will lead to a successful exchange of prisoners and that the face to face talks between the government will continue.
Pray for an end to the ongoing violence that is devastating the lives of many Afghans.
Pray that the coronavirus will be arrested in its tracks and that it will not spread.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, currently on temporary release from a five-year jail sentence, is, for the first time, under formal consideration for clemency. A decision will be made by the highest level of Iran’s multi-layered government. There is no guarantee that clemency will be granted, or that she will be allowed to return to the UK. The supreme leader will present a recommendation to the deputy prosecutor. He could either approve clemency or recommend to the supreme leader not to grant it; or it could just sit on his desk for a bit. Now is the time to pray that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei releases a strongly worded recommendation to the prosecutor general’s office for her immediate release. Pray also that the prosecutor-general will decide that now is the time to allow Nazanin to take the steps towards freedom. 

Lockdown has reduced vehicle traffic across India, leading to a drop in air pollution in over 90 cities, including Delhi. Welcoming the reduced pollution, environmentalists are now urging the government to treat it as a ‘wake-up call’ and stop its ‘obsession’ with development at the cost of the environment. Shutting down of industries, construction and traffic have contributed in improving the air quality. Rain is also helping, but the curbs on local emissions are playing a significant role in recording air quality in the range of good in 51 cities and satisfactory in 51 cities.

As coronavirus ravages the world, many are now watching Wuhan slowly emerging from two months’ complete lockdown - the population cautiously (with masks and gloves) moving about. The world is now in an extraordinary and precarious situation, watching Wuhan for a glimpse of what might lie in store for the rest of us. Will there be a second coronavirus wave there? Almost inevitably yes, but how big a wave and are hospitals better prepared? How will the Chinese government respond to this second wave, after its mismanagement and misinformation of the first outbreak? Will they keep damaging information secret? A recent report on the number of ash urns stacked at Wuhan funeral homes put the true death toll at over 40,000, not the official 2,500. Pray for transparency in communication and sharing of strategies, in China and across the nations, in order to craft effective responses to unfamiliar challenges. 

A Christian brother asks us to pray for Pakistan, where this crisis will play out very differently. Prime minister Imran Khan said he won't be able to lock down cities fully because of the poverty. Citizens simply have to go to work each day to feed their families. Also, crowded living conditions and limited healthcare facilities will mean the virus spreads rapidly, causing enormous loss of life - many times greater than we will see in the West. However, in the middle of this awful pandemic, we may have the greatest opportunity and responsibility that the Church has ever had to share God’s love with the people of Pakistan. People who are angry, frightened, grieving and in despair have questions about life and death, why God let this happen, why prayers were not answered. This is potentially a time for the gospel like no other in history.

It has been almost ten years since the horrific war began. The Syrian army has retaken most of the land (except Idlib). Many believe that what happens here could be the culmination of the entire war. Recent devastating airstrikes and ground operations have forced millions to run again. But to where? No nation wants them. Refugee camps are full, and it is winter. This has the potential to be the worst refugee and humanitarian crisis in Syria yet. An incredibly fragile ceasefire was declared, bringing a tense calm. But for these traumatised masses, it was too late. Bad news has been coming out of Syria for so long, we hardly even notice any more. But Jesus does. Let us not give up praying for peace in the nation and in every heart in Syria.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced a $1bn cut in American aid to Afghanistan after he failed to convince President Ghani and his political foe, Abdullah, to end a feud that has jeopardised a US-led peace effort. He said that the US is also prepared to cut another $1bn worth of assistance in 2021, and is conducting ‘a review of all of our programmes and projects to identify additional reductions and reconsider our pledges to future donor conferences for Afghanistan’. The harshly-worded announcement underscored how badly the US-led effort to end decades of strife in Afghanistan has stalled. En route back to Washington, Pompeo stopped at Qatar to meet Taliban officials, including their top negotiator. Pompeo indicated that the aid cut could be cancelled if everyone came to an agreement.

A damning report, prepared last year, has been released. It detailed Israel’s lack of preparation for a major epidemic. A pre-coronavirus scenario in the report (based on an influenza epidemic) expected about 2,250,000 infected residents (25% of the population) with an increase in morbidity spread over eight weeks, about 150,000 more hospitalised, 25,000 in intensive care, and 12,500 needing ventilation. The report stated that the health system was greatly burdened all year round, with many departments overcrowded, and there was a shortage of ICUs. Now there is a lack of protective medical gear, and problems with infection testing. Netanyahu said nobody was ready for corona.

The island’s phone-tracking system is an ‘electronic fence’, using existing phone signals to triangulate mobile phone owners’ locations. To ensure users comply, an alert is sent to the authorities if the handset is turned off for more than 15 minutes. More than 6,000 people subjected to home quarantine are monitored this way. Officials phone users up to twice a day to make sure they have their mobile to hand, and to ask about their health. Milo Hsieh is under quarantine. Early on Sunday morning, while he was sleeping, two police officers knocked at his door. His phone had run out of battery; in less than an hour four different administrative units had called. Police were dispatched to check his whereabouts. A text was sent saying that the government had lost track of him, and warning of potential arrest if he had broken quarantine.

With the current global pandemic, the South Korean government has requested the cancellation of all gatherings taking place.

Therefore, the locals will no longer host a physical gathering in Korea from March 24th-26th. However, we, as a Global Family, believe 2020 is a year of destiny for Korea and desire to stand with our Korean family at this time.

We invite you to participate by joining us on the GATHERING: ONLINE - KOREA taking place this March 26th at 5AM Pacific Time.

Find your local time here

We feel this time together will be a celebration of what God is doing and will continue to do. He is making a wonder out of ONE Korea.

Please note that registration is required to participate in the call.

Click here to register

We are at complete peace, knowing that God is in control of all the shakings. We are humbling ourselves before the Lord to see the fulfillment of the desires of His heart. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours!