Myanmar: Fresh charges against Baptist pastor Hkalam Samson

Today's headlines: Philippine President Marcos will present plans to create a sovereign wealth fund in Davos; Laos lacks doctors and teachers; Australia will not play cricket against Afghanistan; Indian medicinal syrups continue to cause deaths; In Moscow refresher courses for some African Orthodox clerics.

MYANMAR

Baptist pastor Hkalam Samson, former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention, imprisoned by the Burmese coup junta in recent months and now held in Myitkyina, Kachin State, has not yet been released. On the contrary, the military have filed new charges against him: the trial is scheduled to start today and will be discussed inside the prison. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.

PHILIPPINES

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that he will raise the issue of the creation of a sovereign wealth fund at the Davos economic summit (scheduled for 16-20 January) despite the fact that the country's Congress has not yet approved the bill. The plan had been criticised by the opposition because it provided for the initial capital to be taken from the pension funds of Filipinos: now the bill states that the first investors will be the central bank and other state banks.

LAOS

The communist government of Laos has planned to hire 800 civil servants this year, who will fill the roles of doctors and teachers, but experts say the figure will not make up for the shortage of staff: in order to comply with budget constraints, the recruitment of civil servants has steadily decreased in recent years, from 2,000 in 2020 and 1,600 in 2021 to 1,300 last year, generating a chronic shortage of educators and doctors.

AUSTRALIA - AFGHANISTAN

Australia's men's cricket team withdrew from a series of matches against Afghanistan to protest Taliban restrictions on women in the country. Afghan cricket star Rashid Khan expressed regret over the decision: 'I am really disappointed to hear that Australia has withdrawn from the series to not play us in March. I am very proud to represent my country and we have made great progress on the world stage. This decision takes us back in time,' he said, calling for the separation of sport and politics.

INDIA - UZBEKISTAN

The World Health Organisation has said that two cough syrups produced in India did not meet production standards, so it has advised against their continued administration to children. The warning comes after at least 18 children in Uzbekistan died after taking the medicine, an incident that had already happened in Uganda. Marion Biontech, the manufacturer, denied the allegations.

PAKISTAN - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to renew an existing two billion dollar loan to Pakistan and promised a new one billion dollar loan. The news came yesterday after a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Pakistan's economic situation has forced the government to resort to extreme measures, such as the early closure of restaurants and shops, while the World Bank has cut its growth forecast by 2%.

RUSSIA

In Russia, yet another 'big shot' died mysteriously, 50-year-old police colonel Khabas Tsipinov, who had travelled from Moscow for the New Year holiday to his native Kabardino-Balkaria, and drowned in the river by which he had gone out for a walk, slipping and falling into the water, where his body was only found on 10 January.

RUSSIA - AFRICA

The refresher courses for five African Orthodox clergy, from Cameroon, Nigeria, Malawi and South Africa, who received lessons in theology and liturgy and visited the main monasteries and shrines in Russia, ended in Moscow. Four were ordained priests, and one deacon, by the Russian exarch for Africa, Metropolitan Leonid.

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