much of an extent because of God, or we feel we are renouncing God too much because of life. This apparent conflict is a fantasy: God is in life and life is in God. One has only to be aware of this in order to understand fate better. If we are able to penetrate into the holy harmony of our daily round, we will always be on the right path, and we will complete our task.” The phrase is from Pablo Picasso: “God is an artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the ant. Actually, he never sought for a style -he was simply doing everything that he wanted to do.” The master says: “When we begin along our path, a great fear arises. We feel obligated to do everything right. In the end, since we have only one life to live, who was it that invented the standard of “Everything right?” God made the giraffe, the elephant and the ant -why do we have to follow a standard? A standard serves only to show us how others define their own reality. Often we admire the models of others, and many times we can avoid the errors committed by others. But as for living well -only we know how to do that for ourselves.” Several devout Jews were praying at the synagogue when, during the prayer, they heard a child's voice saying: “A, B, C, D.” They tried to concentrate on the scripture, but the voice repeated, “A, B, C, D.” They interrupted the service, and, when they looked around, saw a boy who continued with the same chant. The rabbi spoke to the boy: “Why are you doing that?” “Because I don't know the holy verses,” the boy said. “So I was hoping that if I recited the alphabet, God would use the letters to form the right words.” “Thank you for this lesson,” said the rabbi. “And may I give to God my days on this Earth in the same way that you have given him your letters.” The master says: “The spirit of God that is present in us can be described as being the screen in a movie theater. On the screen, various situations occur -people love, people separate, treasures are found, distant countries are discovered. It is not important which film is being shown. The screen is always the same. It is not important if tears fall or blood runs -because nothing can stain the whiteness of the screen. Just as with the movie screen, God is there -behind every one of life's agonies and ecstasies. We will see them all when our film ends.” An archer was walking in the woods near a Hindu monastery known for the severity of its teachings, when he saw the monks in the garden, drinking and enjoying themselves. “How cynical are those who seek the path to God,” said the archer aloud. “They say that discipline is important, but there they are getting drunk!” “If you shoot one hundred arrows in a row, what will happen to your bow?” asked the eldest of the monks. “My bow would break,” answered the archer. “If someone exceeds his limits, their will is also broken,” said the monk. “He who is unable to balance work with relaxation loses his enthusiasm, and cannot go far.” A king sent a messenger to a distant country with a peace agreement that was to be signed. Wanting to take advantage of the journey, the messenger informed some of his friends that had important business dealings in that country. They asked that he postpone his trip, and -since a peace agreement was to be signed -they wrote new orders, and changed their business strategies. When the messenger finally made the trip, it was already too late for the agreement he was to deliver; war broke out, destroying the king's plans and the business arrangements of the men who had delayed the messenger. The master says: “There is only one important thing in our lives: to live our personal destiny -the mission that was fated for us. But we always wind up loading ourselves down with useless concerns that then destroy our dream.” The wanderer is in the port of Sydney , looking out at the bridge that connects the two parts of the city, when an Australian approaches him and asks that he read an ad in the newspaper. “The letters are quite small,” he says. “I left my glasses at home, and I can't make them out.” The wanderer is also without his reading glasses, and apologizes to the man. “Well, I guess I'll just forget about the ad,” says the man. And, wanting to continue the conversation, he says, “It's not just the two of us. God's vision is also clouded. Not because he is old, but because he wants it that way. Then, when someone close to Him commits an error, He is unable to see it clearly. Not wanting to be unfair, he forgives the person.” “And what about the 'good things,'” I ask. “Well, God never leaves his glasses at home,” laughs the Australian as he moves on. “Is there anything more important than prayer?” asked the disciple of his master. The master asked the disciple to go to a nearby bush and cut off a branch. The disciple obeyed. “Is the bush still alive?” asked the master. “Just as alive as before,” answered the disciple. “Now go and cut the roots,” said the master. “If I do that, the bush will die,” said the disciple. “Prayers are the branches of a tree, whose roots are called faith,” said the master. “There can be faith without prayer. But there can be no prayer without faith.” Saint Teresa d'Avila says: “Remember: the Lord invited all of us, and -since He is the pure truth -we cannot doubt his invitation. He said: 'Come to me all who are thirsty, and I will give you to drink. ' “If the invitation were not for each and every one of us, the Lord would have said: 'Come to me all who wish to, because you have nothing to lose. But I will provide drink only for those who are prepared. ' He imposes
Pope Francis has arrived in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, kicking off the longest and farthest trip of his tenure to the Asia Pacific region.
He is expected to highlight environmental concerns and the importance of interfaith dialogue during the 12 day trip, which will also see him travel to Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Timor-Leste - the only one of the four countries that is predominantly Catholic.
It's a particularly challenging journey for a man who turns 88 in December and has been battling a spate of health issues.
Asia Pacific is one of only a few places in the world where the Catholic Church is growing in terms of baptised faithful and religious vocations.
Parts of the Pope's trip, which was originally scheduled in 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic, will retrace the steps of St John Paul II, who also visited the four nations during his 27-year pontificate.
"Today I begin an Apostolic Journey to several countries in Asia and Oceania," he wrote on X on Monday. "Please pray that this journey may bear fruit."
Since his election in 2013, the Pope has urged the Catholic Church to bring God's comfort "toward the periphery" - referring to communities who are marginalised or far away.
He is only the third pope to visit Indonesia, which has the largest population of Muslims globally.During his four days there, he is expected to visit the Indonesian capital's main mosque, meet with outgoing president Joko Widodo and hold a mass for some 70,000 people, according to the Vatican News.
Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam at the Jakarta mosque, told news agency AP he hopes the visit will offer opportunities to "discuss the common ground between religious communities and emphasise the commonalities between religions, ethnicities, and beliefs".
Observers say the visit to Indonesia highlights the Pope's interest in deepening dialogue between Christian and Muslim communities.
"For the longest time, there [have been] tensions. [Both groups have had] misunderstandings over the course of history," said Jonathan Tan, a religious studies expert at the Case Western Reserve University in the US.
"I think what the Pope wants to do is to do a new way forward, a new way of relating to one another, not a defensive way," he said.
In Papua New Guinea, the Pope will travel to the remote city of Vanimo to meet with missionaries from his native Argentina who have been reaching out to tribal communities.
Miguel de la Calle, an Argentine missionary in Papua New Guinea's north-western-most city, said he hoped the Pope's visit would "significantly boost" ongoing evangelisation efforts in the territory.
People have been travelling from all Papua New Guinea - and even across the border from Indonesia - to see the Pope, he told Vatican News.
"Some have been walking for days due to the scarcity of transportation," Father Miguel said.
In Timor-Leste, the Pope will officiate mass in the capital Dili, on the same seaside esplanade where John Paul II spoke in 1989 to comfort local Catholics who suffered under Indonesia's occupation of the territory. Timor-Leste gained independence in 2002.
The sheen of Pope Francis's visit to the country has dimmed in recent days, however, following revelations that hundreds of homes in the area were bulldozed. Nearly 90 residents were told to find somewhere new to live before he arrives.
Francis will wrap up his trip with a visit to Singapore, where he will celebrate Mass at the 55,000-seater National Stadium.For the past decade, the Pope has been increasing his engagements with Asia.
Early in his pontificate, he made four long-distance trips to the region: to South Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Japan. Only 0.5% of Japan's population identified as Catholic at the time.
He has also visited Bangladesh, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Thailand.
No pope, however, has been able to visit China to date, as relations between the Vatican and the Chinese Communist Party have been strained by disputes over who can appoint bishops in the country.
Both sides are believed to have reached a deal on this in 2018, which gives the Vatican a say on such appointments.
During his trip, Francis will be accompanied by a doctor and two nurses. Concerns have been raised over the impact of such an ambitious itinerary on his ailing health.
Francis, who has had part of one lung removed in his younger days, had been struggling with respiratory and mobility problems of late - some of which have led him to miss his weekly Sunday blessings.
In November last year, he cancelled his trip to Dubai for the annual United Nations climate meeting because of a lung inflammation.
The Duke of Sussex is not planning a permanent move back to the UK, according to well-placed sources.
Despite reports that Prince Harry could be seeking a phased return, sources suggest he will continue to be based in the United States, where he lives with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and their children.
It is understood that concern over his and his family's security in the UK remains an issue.
Prince Harry and Meghan are also said to be unlikely to want to give up on the philanthropic and business projects that they have built while in the US.
There have been reports of a prince restless in California, approaching his 40th birthday discontented with a life among the rootless wealthy and seeking to rebuild links with his old life in the UK, before he stepped down as a working royal.
Why did Harry and Meghan leave the Royal Family?
But a different narrative has been claimed by well-placed sources, who say such a return to royal life in the UK is not on the cards.
They suggest Prince Harry is equally able to support his charities and projects from the US and can return to the UK for visits.
He travelled to the UK last week for his uncle's memorial service - and has since flown back to the US.
Much of the attention over the event was focused on claims Prince Harry hadn't spoken to Prince William while at the church service in Norfolk, in what has become an icy distance between the brothers.
The service was for the late Lord Robert Fellowes, brother-in-law of Princess Diana, on the Spencer side of the family, to which Prince Harry seems to have remained well connected.At an Invictus Games service in St Paul's Cathedral earlier this summer, the prince was seen close to his Spencer relatives at an event not attended by senior royals.
The prince was quick to return to the UK when it was revealed King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer - with father and son having a brief meeting in London.
There have also been trips to the law courts in London, including his battle with the tabloid press over claims of unlawful information gathering.
There is an ongoing, labyrinthine legal wrangle with the Home Office over his security status in the UK - which has become a thorny issue in any discussion about a return.
In an interview with ITV, the prince said that anxiety over safety was a reason he wouldn't "bring my wife back to this country".
But having made such a well-documented departure from royal life in the UK - in a Netflix film and his book Spare - the couple are now inevitably facing speculation about what comes next.
Without a royal role and in an online world, Prince Harry and Meghan could live anywhere - and at present that means WFC (working from California).
They have charities and causes, and Meghan has put out social media teasers for a lifestyle cookery brand.
Although with the presidential election looming in the US, it is hard to think they won't want to stir more than pots of jam when issues they've raised, such as online misinformation, are likely to be up for debate.
There have been trips too, most recently to Colombia, but with so many of the trappings of a royal visit, that raised questions about whether they were recreating the royal world they wanted to escape.
With the big milestone of his 40th birthday fast approaching, and with such intense public interest, there will be more questions about where Prince Harry sees his long-term future role.
Efforts are under way to prevent a tanker targeted by Houthi rebels from spilling around one million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.
The Greek-owned and flagged MV Sounion was abandoned by its crew off the coast of Oman after being struck on 21 August by the Yemeni rebel group.
Private companies under the protection of European Union military forces will attempt to salvage the vessel, which has the potential to trigger one of the largest ever oil leaks from a tanker and was still on fire as of Monday.
The Houthis have targeted several ships in the Red Sea over the last 10 months, a campaign which the Iran-backed group says is in support of Hamas in Gaza.
US military central command said late on Tuesday that the stricken tanker “threatens the possibility of a major environmental disaster”, and accused the Houthis of “reckless acts of terrorism”.
It said a salvage operation was "under way", although it is not clear if salvage vessels have yet reached the Sounion.
On Monday, the EU’s military operation in the region said several fires were continuing to burn on the tanker’s main deck, though there were no visible signs that an oil spill was already occurring.The Houthis - who have falsely claimed to only target Israeli, US and UK ships - attacked the Sounion with gunfire, before hitting it with three unidentified projectiles, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said last week. Its 25 crew members were rescued by a European warship.
The tanker was later attacked again, with footage released by the group showing Houthi militants boarding the ship and lighting fires on its deck.
The leader of the Houthis called the attack “brave and bold” in a recent address.
The US State Department has previously warned a spill from the Sounion could be almost four times as large as the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989. That incident saw 2,100km (1,300 miles) of coastline contaminated after a tanker ran aground off Alaska.
The Houthis have continued to target crude oil tankers in the Red Sea in recent days.
On Monday, US military command said two vessels carrying oil were hit with ballistic missiles and a drone, including the Saudi-owned and flagged MV Amjad, which is said to be carrying around two million barrels of oil.
A US-led military operation has carried out strikes in Yemen, where the Houthis control much of the country, in an attempt to disrupt its ability to strike vessels passing through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Bahrain, whose King King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had previously visited Russia, officially invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the country and is awaiting a response to the invitation and the visit of the Russian leader, Bahraini Ambassador to Moscow Ahmed Alsaati told Sputnik on Tuesday.
In May, the King of Bahrain paid an official visit to Russia and held talks with the Russian president.
“There was a fruitful meeting with the President of the Russian Federation, and our government has just sent an invitation to Mr. President of Russia Vladimir Putin, and we expect his response and visit to our country,” the ambassador said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
The 2024 Eastern Economic Forum is held from September 3-6 at the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok. Sputnik is the general information partner of the forum.
TV BRICS expands co-operation in the field of media communications with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. “Kazinform” International News Agency has become a new partner of the media network in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The corresponding agreement was signed by General Director of the Television and Radio Complex of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Raushan Kazhibayeva and CEO of TV BRICS Janna Tolstikova.
Interaction between the parties will be aimed at content exchange and joint production of media materials. With the assistance of TV BRICS, Kazakhstan will have access to up-to-date information on the activities of BRICS countries from media sources and will be able to promote its own agenda on foreign resources.
“The co-operation of ‘Kazinform’ International News Agency and TV BRICS International Media Network will contribute to strengthening and enriching information exchange between Kazakhstan and the countries of the association. For more than 100 years ‘Kazinform’ has retained the authority of a reliable and prompt source of information about the life of the country and the Central Asian region, and it is important for us to expand opportunities to promote an objective view of current events in the BRICS media space” Rabiga Nurbay, Head of Regional and International News Service of “Kazinform” International News Agency noted.
The history of “Kazinform” International News Agency began in 1920. This is the first state information agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which received international status. “Kazinform” publishes news about politics, economy, education, health care, sports, culture and other important spheres of society, as well as provides official information about the activities of the presidential administration, parliament, government of the country, regional authorities, national financial and industrial structures.
News is published in Kazakh, Tote Zhazu (Kazakh language on the base of Arabic graphic), Russian, English, Uzbek and Chinese languages.
The central office of “Kazinform” International News Agency is located in Astana. The agency’s own correspondents work in all 17 regions of Kazakhstan and three cities of republican importance. The geography of users of the information portal includes more than 200 countries of the world, according to TV BRICS.
Earlier, TV BRICS established partnership relations with the Delovoy Kazakhstan, as well as with the media of Armenia and Russia, which are members of the EAEU.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says polio vaccinations of children in central Gaza have "surpassed the target" in the first two days of its immunisation campaign.
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the UN agency's representative in the Palestinian territories, said 161,030 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated on Sunday and Monday - above the projection of 156,500.
The difference was probably the result of an underestimate of the population crowded into the area, he explained.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a series of localised pauses in the fighting to allow health workers to administer vaccines after Gaza's first confirmed case of polio in 25 years left a 10-month-old partially paralysed last month.The pauses are taking effect between 06:00 and 15:00 local time in three separate stages across central, southern and northern parts of Gaza.
The first three-day stage began in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates on Sunday. It will shift to the south governorate of Rafah on Thursday and then move to North Gaza and Gaza City.
Dr Peeperkorn said the pauses had been "going well" until now.
But there were still "10 days to go at least" for the first round of the vaccination campaign, he said, while a second round to repeat the immunisations will start in four weeks.
He said some children were believed to be living outside the agreed zone for the pauses in the south and that negotiations were continuing in order to allow health workers to reach them.
The aim is to vaccinate a total of 640,000 children.
"We need to cover a minimum of 90% of those children to stop the transmission within Gaza and to avoid polio spread, international spread of polio to surrounding countries," Dr Peeperkorn said.
Poliovirus, most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, is highly infectious.
It can cause disfigurement and paralysis, and is potentially fatal. It mainly affects children under the age of five.
Humanitarian groups have blamed the re-emergence of polio in Gaza on disruption to child vaccination programmes as well as massive damage to water and sanitation systems caused by the war.
The mother of the partially paralysed baby, Abdulrahman Abu Judyan, told the BBC last week that her son was supposed to receive routine vaccinations on 7 October - the day Hamas attacked Israel and triggered Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
“I feel a lot of guilt that he didn’t get the vaccination. But I couldn’t give it to him because of our circumstances,” Niveen said.
She desperately hoped her son could be taken outside Gaza for treatment.
“He wants to live and walk like other children,” she said.
He was welcomed by Mongolia's leader at a lavish ceremony in the Asian nation's capital Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.
The Russian leader is wanted by the court for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
A spokesperson from the Kremlin said it was not concerned Mr Putin would be arrested during the visit.
Soldiers on horseback lined the capital's Genghis Khan Square as martial anthems were played by a live band to welcome the Russian leader, who met with the Mongolian president Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
A small group of protesters gathered at the square on Monday afternoon, holding a sign demanding "Get War Criminal Putin out of here".
Another protest is planned for midday Tuesday at Ulaanbaatar's Monument for the Politically Repressed, which commemorates those who suffered under Mongolia's decades-long Soviet-backed communist regime.
Other protestors were prevented from getting close to the Russian president on his arrival by security forces.
Ahead of his visit, Ukraine had urged Mongolia to arrest Mr Putin.
"We call on the Mongolian authorities to comply with the mandatory international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Criminal Court in the Hague," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.
The court alleged last year that the Russian president was responsible for war crimes, focusing on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
It has also issued a warrant for the arrest of Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the same crimes.
It alleges the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Moscow has previously denied the allegations and said the warrants were "outrageous".ICC members are expected to detain suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued, but there is no enforcement mechanism.
The Hague-based court last week said members had "an obligation" to take action. Mongolia has not publicly responded to Ukraine or the ICC's call.
The former Soviet satellite state has maintained friendly relations with Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and declined to vote on the conflict at the United Nations.
The landlocked country, which also borders China, also relies on Russia for gas and electricity.
Russia has been in talks for years about building a pipeline to carry 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year from its Yamal region to China via Mongolia.
The project, known as Power of Siberia 2, is part of a strategy to compensate for the drop in gas sales in Europe, following widespread boycott of Russian resources due to the invasion of Ukraine.