Myanmar
Save the Children, an international aid group, today said two of its staff members were among 35 civilians killed in a massacre carried out by the military in Myanmar. The charity said women and children were among the dead, that they were killed after being forced from their cars, and that soldiers had then burned their bodies. The military denied the claims. An insurgency led by civilian militias erupted in the country after the army overthrew a democratically-elected government in February.
More from BBC here.
Russia
Russia’s oldest human rights group, the renowned Memorial International, was today ordered to shut down by the country’s Supreme Court. Shouts of “shame!” rang around the courtroom as the verdict was announced. Memorial was set up to study and record killings and oppression that took place during the Soviet era but, in more recent years, it also compiled lists of political prisoners in modern day Russia. In October, the group said Russia was holding 420 political prisoners.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Syria
Firefighters in Syria have contained a huge blaze after Israel fired a barrage of missiles at the port of Latakia, according to officials, in the second rocket attack on the port this month. Israel does not comment on such attacks but says it carries out regular operations against its enemies in the region, which include Iran-backed militias fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war.
More from AP here.
P.S.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a towering giant of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid and one of the world’s leading moral guiding lights, died while Proximities was on its holiday break. There have been lots of excellent pieces on his life and I hope you managed to catch some of them. But, for those of you who may have missed it, might I also recommend this wonderful video highlighting Tutu’s close friendship with the Dalai Lama. It will, I promise, uplift your soul.