1. Myanmar court extends detention for 2 reporters A court in Myanmar extended the detention of two Reuters journalists on December 27 and set their trial date for January 14 on charges of violating state secrets. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on December 12 for acquiring “important secret papers” from two policemen. The police officers had worked in the state of Rakhine, where abuses widely blamed on the military have driven more than 630,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee into neighboring Bangladesh. The charges are punishable by up to 14 years in prison. 2. Putin seals re-election nomination Vladimir Putin was formally nominated as a candidate in next year’s presidential elections as the Kremlin rejected suggestions that barring his most serious rival from the ballot would undermine* the vote’s legitimacy*. Putin, who announced his intention to run for a fourth term as president of Russia earlier this month, was formally endorsed* by 668 supporters at a meeting in Moscow last week. The announcement came after Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner viewed as Putin’s most credible political rival, called for a boycott of the March 18 poll. 3. S. Korea says ‘comfort women’ row unresolved A deal with Japan over South Korean “comfort women” forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels* in 2015 failed to meet the victims’ needs, South Korea said on December 27, throwing ties into doubt. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologized for the controversial deal as a panel appointed by her in July to investigate the negotiations leading up to the agreement unveiled its results. 4. 10 injured in St. Petersburg explosion A total of 10 people were injured on December 27 in an explosion at a supermarket in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, the Russian authorities said. The Russian National Anti-terrorism Committee said in a press release that its operational headquarters was coordinating the activities of emergency services, security agencies and law enforcement forces, and that measures were being taken to search for those involved in committing this crime. 5. Brazil kicks out Venezuela’s top diplomat Authorities in Brazil said they were stripping Venezuela’s top diplomat of his credentials* and kicking him out in a dispute between the neighboring South American countries. Brazil’s ministry of foreign affairs said earlier last week it considers Venezuelan charge d’affaires* Gerardo Antonio Delgado Maldonado a persona non grata*. (SD-Agencies) | 