Myanmar

On Thursday, a Baptist pastor and a Catholic deacon were killed in Lay Wah village, two women wounded, hundreds flee. Karen rebels call the attack a "war crime”, urge the international community to cut off fuel supplies to ruling military junta. Myanmar’s government-in-exile condemns the attacks, extends condolences to victims’ families.

Documents show that General Min Aung Hlaing's son and daughter own condo and bank accounts. Thai authorities were investigating Tun Min Latt, a businessman friend of the general. Thailand has never condemned the coup and so far has not seized assets linked to Myanmar’s military.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is targeting opponents in refugee camps with increasingly unscrupulous actions. Local farmers are also targeted and abducted for ransom. According to Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies, 123 people have been killed and 207 kidnapped over the past five years.

On the 75th anniversary of Myanmar's independence, Prof David Moe of Yale University speaks to AsiaNews how the 2021 coup d'état is changing the country. Buddhist extremism risks imploding, while the younger generation rejects religion as an element of identity, even though they continue to be inspired by religious ideals.

Today's headlines: Marcos in China to 'open a new chapter' in relations with Beijing; Seoul threatens to torpedo military pact with Pyongyang; to save money, Islamabad orders early closure of markets and shopping centres; no deal but 'positive' talks in first high-level summit between Ankara and Damascus.

Today's headlines: Israeli security forces killed two Palestinian youths near Jenin; after two years, the Japanese emperor returns to greet citizens on New Year's Eve; Islamabad and Delhi exchange lists of nuclear sites and prisoners; Pyongyang shops flooded with luxury goods - counterfeits - of Chinese origin; Uzbekistan blocks the sale of Indian medicines.

Week after week, refuse and refugees pile up in a landfill in Insein, on the outskirts of Yangon. They include the kids attending the school in Nghet Aw San centre who have a chance to leave behind a life in the streets thanks to an NGO, New Humanity. Over the past two years marked by COVID-19 and civil war, the latter has multiplied its initiatives.

Message pronounced during urbi et orbi blessing: "Let us overcome the torpor of false images that make people forget the feast day, and as we look at Bethlehem let us fix our gaze on the child victims of World War III." In Myanmar and Iran "cease all bloodshed." Appeal for reconciliation in Ukraine, Syria, Holy Land, Lebanon, Yemen and for Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa plagued by hunger and famine.

Fr Adriano Pelosin tells the story of Joseph, Anna and their daughter Mary. Forced to flee Myanmar after last year’s coup, the family had nowhere to go until they were welcomed at the PIME missionary’s parish. Now the couple “are preparing to receive baptism,” and “have accepted to raise Bang Eung,” a Thai girl abandoned by her drug-addicted mother. In his Christmas greetings, the clergyman wishes “everyone will have the peace of those who recognise themselves in the poor”.

In a country where ethnicity has always been of paramount importance, the number of undocumented children is growing due to the collapse of the administrative system. This is especially true in Insein, a district on the outskirts of Yangon. More and more youth are being sent to a juvenile detention centre in Kaw Hmu. Young people engaged in resistance are also fighting for a new idea of Myanmar.

Reverend Hkalam Samson was reportedly taken to an army headquarters two days ago. There is still no news on his release. In the coming hours, new death sentences could be carried out against activists and opponents of the regime. The number of displaced people has risen to 1.4 million but aid workers are finding it increasingly difficult to bring assistance.

The archbishop said he was "saddened" after bombings hit his home village in the Sagaing region. While in Rakhine the army has signed a truce with the local ethnic militia, in other regions of the country the civil conflict continues indiscriminately. In recent days, the head of the shadow government-in-exile has called for anti-aircraft weapons, comparing the war to that in Ukraine.