UN envoy: Wide resistance to Myanmar military’s repression
March 16, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Widespread popular resistance to brutal repression by Myanmar’s military shows no sign of abating across much of the country, and with both sides intent on winning by force “there is no prospect for a negotiated settlement,” the U.N.
Army, resistance trade accusations over Myanmar killings
March 14, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has denied reports of a new mass killing of civilians by its troops, instead blaming pro-democracy resistance groups for the deaths of more than 20 people, including three Buddhist monks and a woman.
Activists urge UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to court
March 14, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Human rights activists urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to refer Myanmar's military rulers to the International Criminal Court and urged neighboring Southeast Asian countries to support the opposition pro-democracy movement.
Myanmar army killed 17 people in 2 villages, residents say
March 7, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Soldiers in Myanmar rampaged through several villages, raping, beheading and killing at least 17 people, residents said, in the latest of what critics of the ruling military say are a series of war crimes since the army seized power two years ago.
Fire at Rohingya camp in Bangladesh leaves refugees homeless
March 6, 2023 GMTCOX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — A massive fire at a crammed camp for Rohingya Muslims in southern Bangladesh left thousands of the refugees homeless Sunday, a fire official and the United Nations said.
Malaysia’s Anwar urges ASEAN to speak up on Myanmar violence
March 2, 2023 GMTMANILA, Philippines (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to speak up and hold Myanmar's military leaders accountable for blatant human rights violations, but said the country should remain in the regional bloc.
EU slaps sanctions on 9 more top Myanmar officials
February 20, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union announced Monday that it has imposed sanctions on nine officials in Myanmar and seven entities, including government departments and companies, linked to rising violence, human rights abuses and security threats.
‘I just want my legs back’: Myanmar landmine casualties soar
February 19, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — The 3-year-old boy had taken only two steps from his mother’s lap when a deafening explosion rang out. The blast caught the woman in the face, blurring her vision. She forced her eyes open and searched for her son around the busy jetty where they’d been waiting for a ferry, near their small village in south-central Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military rulers to let ‘loyal’ citizens carry guns
February 14, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's military government plans to allow people who are “loyal to the nation,” including government employees and retired military personnel, to carry licensed firearms, but they must comply with orders from local authorities to participate in security and law enforcement actions, the military and media reports said.
Malaysian leader wants tougher ASEAN pressure on Myanmar
February 10, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday issued a strong call for fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take new measures to pressure the government of military-ruled Myanmar to end what he called “atrocities” against its own people.
Myanmar, Russia sign pact on developing nuclear power
February 8, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-led government, working with Russia’s state atomic energy company, has inaugurated a nuclear power information center as a step toward developing atomic power to fill energy shortages in the strife-torn Southeast Asian nation.
Military places restive areas of Myanmar under martial law
February 3, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Martial law was declared in several areas of military-run Myanmar on Thursday, a day after authorities extended a state of emergency throughout the country wracked by violence that some U.N.
Myanmar extends state of emergency, delaying expected polls
February 1, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government announced Wednesday that is extending a state of emergency it imposed when it seized power two years ago, a move that appears to set back its plans for an election that had been expected in August.
Myanmar resistance steadfast against army rule 2 years later
February 1, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — The prospects for peace in Myanmar, much less a return to democracy, seem dimmer than ever two years after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, experts say.
Australia targets Myanmar, Iran with economic sanctions
February 1, 2023 GMTAustralia on Wednesday announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against “individuals responsible for egregious human rights abuses” in Myanmar two years after a military junta seized power in the Southeast Asian country.
How Myanmar is faring 2 years after army ousted Suu Kyi
February 1, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Two years after Myanmar’s generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, thousands of people have died in civil conflict and many more have been forced from their homes in a dire humanitarian crisis.
UN expert: Myanmar junta will seek legitimacy in `sham’ vote
January 31, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The independent U.N. special investigator on Myanmar warned Tuesday that the country’s military rulers plan to seek legitimacy by orchestrating a “sham” election this year and urged all countries to reject the illegal and “farcical" vote.
US sanctions Myanmar groups ahead of coup anniversary
January 31, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. said Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on a group of people and organizations connected to Myanmar's military regime as the two-year anniversary nears for the coup that removed the country's civilian government.
Rights groups say Myanmar military is increasing air attacks
January 31, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's military is increasingly turning to airstrikes with deadly results to try to crush stiff armed resistance two years after it seized power and plunged the country into a prolonged civil war, a human rights monitoring group said in a report Tuesday.
UN chief backs democracy for Myanmar 2 years after takeover
January 31, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Two years after Myanmar’s military seized power, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced support Monday for the democratic aspirations of Myanmar’s people and warned that the military’s planned elections amid a crackdown on civilians and political leaders “risk exacerbating instability.”
Myanmar’s military government enacts new political party law
January 28, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-controlled government has enacted a new law on registration of political parties that will make it difficult for opposition groups to mount a serious challenge to army-backed candidates in a general election set to take place later this year.
Myanmar opium cultivation surged 33% amid violence, UN finds
January 27, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — The production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military's seizure of power, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts have dropped off and the faltering economy has led more people toward the drug trade, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.
Myanmar opposition attacks military’s population survey
January 23, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s pro-democracy resistance forces have attacked military government personnel conducting a population survey, in an attempt to disrupt preparations for an election later this year that they consider illegitimate.
Relief groups say 5 die as Myanmar airstrikes hit churches
January 14, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military on two villages inhabited largely by ethnic Karen killed five civilians, including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter, and destroyed two churches, two relief organizations said Friday.
UN chief: Rule of law risks becoming `Rule of Lawlessness’
January 13, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that the rule of law is at grave risk of becoming “the Rule of Lawlessness,” pointing to a host of unlawful actions across the globe from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and coups in Africa’s Sahel region to North Korea’s illegal nuclear weapons program and Afghanistan’s unprecedented attacks on women’s and girls’ rights.
Army in strife-torn Myanmar lifts curfew for New Year’s Eve
December 31, 2022 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar announced a suspension of the normal four-hour curfew to allow New Year's celebrations in three biggest cities, but opponents of army rule urge people to stay away and claimed security forces might stage an attack and blame it on them.
Court in Myanmar again finds Suu Kyi guilty of corruption
December 30, 2022 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption Friday, sentencing her to seven years in prison in the last of a string of criminal cases against her, a legal official said.
Myanmar rescues 154 Rohingya from boat in distress
December 9, 2022 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — More than 150 Rohingya have been rescued off the coast of Myanmar after their boat started taking on water, Myanmar's military said.
Myanmar's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation sent two boats from an offshore operation to rescue the 154 people — 106 males and 48 females — after spotting their boat in trouble, the military said in a statement Thursday.
15 suspected drug smugglers killed by Thai border patrol
December 8, 2022 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Thai soldiers clashed with suspected drug smugglers in a forested area in the country's north near the Myanmar border, killing 15, authorities said Thursday.
The soldiers encountered the group of suspects carrying backpacks Wednesday evening and ordered them to stop, but they instead opened fire, according to the Pha Muang Task Force, the military unit in charge of security in Thailand's northern border provinces.
Rohingya refugees welcome US calling repression genocide
March 22, 2022 GMTDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh welcomed Monday's announcement by the United States that it considers the violent repression of their largely Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar a genocide.
Save the Children says staff missing after Myanmar massacre
December 26, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Two members of the international humanitarian group Save the Children were missing Saturday after Myanmar government troops rounded up villagers, some believed to be women and children, fatally shot more than 30 and burned the bodies, according to a witness and other reports.
Myanmar fighting forces 4,200 people to flee into Thailand
December 22, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Fighting between Myanmar government forces and ethnic guerrillas has sent about 4,200 villagers fleeing across the border into Thailand over the past week, a Thai army officer said Wednesday.
2,500 Myanmar villagers flee army troops into Thailand
December 17, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Fighting between Myanmar government forces and ethnic guerrillas has sent about 2,500 villagers fleeing across the border into Thailand, a Thai army officer said Friday.
The exodus was the biggest since April, when several thousand villagers from Myanmar’s eastern state of Karen fled to Thailand following airstrikes by Myanmar government forces in territory held by the Karen ethnic minority.
Myanmar government rebuts massacre reports as ‘conspiracy’
December 10, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-installed government has described as “fake news” reports that its troops were involved in a widely reported massacre in the country’s northwest in which soldiers allegedly rounded up and killed 11 civilians whose charred bodies were later discovered by fellow villagers.
Witness, official: Myanmar troops massacre 11 civilians
December 9, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar government troops rounded up villagers, some believed to be children, tied them up and slaughtered them, according to a witness and other reports. An opposition leader said the civilians were burned alive, as repression of resistance to a de facto coup takes an increasingly brutal turn.
Reports: Myanmar airstrikes target ethnic forces on 2 fronts
April 29, 2021 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar government forces launched airstrikes against ethnic minority guerrillas in two areas of the country on Wednesday, local reports said...
UN genocide adviser: Indications Myanmar cleansing Rohingyas
March 13, 2018 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. adviser on preventing genocide said Tuesday that all information he has received indicates the Myanmar government intended to get rid of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state and possibly even destroy them "which, if proven, would constitute the crime of genocide...
Myanmar government under Suu Kyi cracks down on journalists
February 16, 2018 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — When five Myanmar journalists were sentenced to decadelong prison terms for reporting the alleged existence of a military-run chemical weapons factory in Myanmar a few years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi — then an opposition lawmaker — condemned the harsh punishments as "very excessive...