YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s junta has executed four prisoners including a former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and a prominent activist, state media said Monday, in the country’s first use of capital punishment in decades. The four were executed for leading “brutal and inhumane terror acts”, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. The paper said the executions were carried out “under the prison’s procedure” without saying when or how the […]
ASEAN IN FOCUS
UN court rejects Myanmar challenge to genocide case
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP by Danny KEMP The UN’s highest court ruled on Friday that a landmark case accusing military-ruled Myanmar of genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims can go ahead. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague threw out all of Myanmar’s objections to a case filed by the west African nation of The Gambia in 2019. The decision paves the way for full hearings at the court on allegations over […]
US citizen detained in Myanmar: embassy
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP An American citizen is being wrongfully detained in junta-ruled Myanmar, a US embassy spokesperson told AFP on Friday. “We are aware of the wrongful detention of a US citizen in Burma,” the spokesperson told AFP, using the country’s former name. The US has led Western criticism of the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government last year and slapped sanctions on top-ranking members of the junta and military-linked companies. Several foreigners have […]
Thailand scrambles F-16s as Myanmar jet violates airspace
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) – Thailand scrambled F-16s after a Myanmar jet involved in clashes with anti-coup fighters violated its airspace, officials said Thursday, as a regional envoy urging dialogue visits Yangon. Fighting in eastern Myanmar has escalated since a putsch last year ousted a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, with thousands fleeing to Thailand to escape the violence according to the United Nations. The conflict has sparked concern among Myanmar’s neighbours, […]
Indonesian president delivers Zelensky’s message to Putin
MOSCOW, June 30, 2022 (AFP) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in Moscow on Thursday he delivered a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Putin hosted Widodo more than four months into Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, as Russia seeks to pivot toward Asia and Africa following the onset of unprecedented Western sanctions. Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year and is preparing to host a summit […]
Thailand relaxes mask rule to bolster pandemic-hit tourism
BANGKOK, Thaland (AFP) — Thailand has dropped rules requiring people to wear masks from Friday, the government says, as Covid-19 cases fall and the tourism-dependent kingdom seeks to lure back foreign visitors. Face masks had been compulsory in public since mid-2021, when the country saw a wave of cases driven by the spread of the Delta variant. But the kingdom is keen to kickstart its stuttering economy and is relaxing Covid-19 restrictions, including discarding […]
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi moved to solitary confinement in prison
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained in strong spirits after being transferred from house arrest to prison, a source with knowledge of the case said Thursday, and would “calmly” face her new solitary confinement. Since being deposed in a coup last year, Suu Kyi had been under house arrest at an undisclosed location in Naypyidaw, accompanied by several domestic staff and her dog, according to sources familiar with the […]
ASEAN must step up pressure on Myanmar junta: UN expert
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Southeast Asia’s regional bloc must increase pressure on Myanmar’s junta or there will be more death and suffering, a UN expert warned Thursday, after a long period of stalled diplomacy. Myanmar has been in turmoil and its economy paralysed since the February 2021 coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred from house arrest to solitary confinement in prison this week. Efforts by the 10-member Association […]
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi moved to solitary confinement in prison
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from house arrest to solitary confinement in a prison compound in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, a junta spokesman said on Thursday. Since her ouster in a coup last year, Suu Kyi had been under house arrest at an undisclosed location in Naypyidaw, accompanied by several domestic staff and her dog, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The Nobel […]
Trial of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi moved to prison compound: source
YANGON, June 21, 2022 (AFP) – Hearings for the trial of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be moved to a prison compound in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, a source with knowledge of the case said Tuesday. The Nobel laureate, 77, was detained by the military when it ousted her government last year and faces a raft of charges that could see her jailed for more than 150 years. She has since been […]
Philippine military detains two militants accused of killing foreigners
Two Islamic militants accused of kidnapping and killing four foreigners in the restive southern Philippines were detained Friday after surrendering to the military, authorities said. The fugitives were members of the feared kidnap-for-ransom group Abu Sayyaf and have been handed over to police on Jolo island in Sulu province, regional military spokesman Alaric Delos Santos told AFP. “Their surrender does not extinguish their responsibility for these cases. That’s why we turned them over to the […]
Thailand to drop mask rule, foreign tourist registration
Thailand announced Friday it would drop rules requiring people to wear masks outdoors and no longer require foreign visitors to register before travel, as Covid-19 cases fall and the kingdom seeks to lure tourists back. Facemasks have been compulsory in public in Thailand, including outdoors, since mid-2021 when the Delta variant was running rampant. But as the pandemic has subsided, the tourism-dependent kingdom has gradually relaxed covid restrictions in a bid to boost visitor numbers. […]
