Myanmar army kill 38 people, including women and children, in attack

Today's headlines: the Omicron variant advances in Asia; Delhi's reimposes a night-time curfew; Japan's government will not send an official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics; Israel wants to double its population on the Golan Heights disputed with Syria. Metropolitan Ilarion: the meeting between Pope Francis and Moscow Patriarch Kirill will be "in a third country" and "certainly after Easter".

MYANMAR

At least 38 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack by the Burmese army on a convoy in the city of Hpruso, Kayah State. The vehicles were burned. The international NGO Save the Children denounced the presence of its own local staff among the victims. The Burmese army claimed that these were clashes with local militias, a fact denied by the Karenni National Defence Force.

COVID

The Omicron variant is also advancing in Asia. In China, an outbreak in the city of Xian is spreading with 150 new cases registered. A peak is feared to coincide with the Chinese New Year festivities. In India, Delhi has reimposed a night-time curfew  to stop the infection.

JAPAN-CHINA

The Japanese government will not send an official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics. Only a representation of the Olympic Committee, which organised the Tokyo Games, will be present. The decision taken by Prime Minister Kishida is in line with the diplomatic boycott against human rights violations already adopted by the United States, Great Britain and Australia.

ISRAEL

The Bennett government has approved a new construction plan to double the population in the Golan Heights, the region occupied in the 1967 war on the border with Syria. With this new plan, the population of the Golan Heights disputed with Syria could reach 100,000. In 2019, the Trump administration recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan while for the rest of the international community it is Syrian territory.

RUSSIA-VATICAN

Returning from his visit to the Vatican, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Ilarion (Alfeev), made it clear that the meeting being prepared between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow will not be held in Italy or in Russia, but "in a third country", and will take place "certainly after Easter".

KAZAKHSTAN

Demonstrations continue in Kazakhstan against the persecution of Turkish-speaking Muslims in China and "Chinese expansion" in the local economy. Protests are taking on a permanent form in these last days of the year in Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Aktobe, Šymkent and other cities, with an average of 20-30 arrests a day by the police, who are threatening to use increasingly strong manners to stop the rallies. The country's authorities ignore the protests and express all the "gratitude" of the Kazakhs to their rich neighbour.