Hong Kong: 15-month jail term for Tiananmen vigil organizer

In today's headlines: People in Xi'an are bartering for food during the lockdown. Seoul collects data on third Japanese reporter. Fourth dose of Covid vaccine in Israel. Cambodian police arrest casino strikers. Russian imans call for boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics.

HONG KONG

A court  has sentenced Chow Hang-tung to 15 months in prison.Judges maintain the pro-democracy activist is guilty of organizing last year's annual vigil in memory of the victims of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre. For the past two years, authorities have banned the event because of Covid.  

CHINA

In lockdown for days due to an outbreak of Covid-19, the population of Xi'an is resorting to bartering for food. This is what emerges from social media posts by local residents who say the authorities' supplies are insufficient. According to Eurasia Group, Beijing's "zero Covid" policy is the main systemic risk of 2022.

SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN

A South Korean government agency collected personal information from the smartphone of a reporter in Seoul of the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun. This is the third such case involving a journalist from a Japanese news outlet. The body set up by President Moon Jae-in also allegedly collected sensitive data from opposition figures.

ISRAEL

Israeli health authorities have begun administering the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. It will be injected to those over the age of 60 and health care personnel. In the last week, the Omicron variant has increased infections in the country fourfold.

INDIA

Delhi Governor Arvind Kejriwal has contracted a mild form of Covid-19. The news comes as cases of infection are growing in northern India, especially in the capital. Kejriwal is on an election tour of the states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

CAMBODIA

Cambodian police yesterday arrested 14 casino workers in Phnom Penh for a series of protests in support of thousands of recently fired colleagues. There were pregnant women among the detained.

RUSSIA-ISLAM

The Global Council of Imams issued a statement ahead of next month's Beijing Winter Olympics banning Muslims from participating in the Games in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in faith who are persecuted in Xinjang with "oppression, torture and dictatorship." The muftis of Russia, Oman, Egypt and other countries have signed, along with the World Uyghur Congress. The signature of Kazakhstan's supreme imam is also expected.

KAZAKHSTAN

Hundreds of residents of Zhanaozen, an oil city in western Kazakhstan, demonstrated against rising liquid gas prices. They also expressed demands for political changes, such as direct election of mayors. In many other cities, people expressed solidarity with the demonstrators; the

President Tokaev wrote on Twitter that he wanted to clarify the situation.