This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Alex Ritzen and at 14 hours

GMT on Thursday the 28th of December,

these are our main stories. China has told its nationals in

parts of northern Myanmar to evacuate because of escalating risks of conflict.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Israel to end the unlawful killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Rights groups say the Indian government is continuing to target journalists by putting spyware on their phones.

Also in this podcast, scientists say they found an easy way to identify water and signs of life on planets in other solar

systems and Ghana is entranced by a musical world record attempt. The longest ever singathon started on Christmas Eve.

In recent months, rebel groups in northern Myanmar have seized several towns and military outposts along the border with China

posing a huge challenge for the military junta.

Now China has urged its nationals in the region to evacuate because of the escalating conflict. A spokesman for the the increased safety risks in the Laukai district.

The current security situation in Myanmar's Kocang autonomous region is grim and complicated.

We remind Chinese citizens not to travel to Northern Myanmar for now

and call on Chinese citizens already there to move to a safe area.

I spoke to our South Asia correspondent Jonathan Heared and asked why China is telling people to leave.

That's interesting because it's not the first time it's done it.

I mean this fighting has been going on for two months, but I sense a greater urgency now because the one of the three ethnic groups the

M&A which is fighting there really is at the point it's about to capture

Laokine. This was its target, it's the main town there. It's the center of this notorious scam business in the region which China wanted shut down and we assume is the reason why China tacitly accepted these rebel groups making all these advances.

After two months it looks like the M&DAA is on the point of taking Loughkind.

There's a lot of bad blood between them and a rival group, a pro-military group that's been running the town

...