Talks to end decades of bitter civil war in Myanmar have faltered, a government spokesman warned Sunday, blaming ethnic rebel demands for greater autonomy, which the military fears could break the country up. The civilian-led government of Aung San Suu Kyi has made striking a peace deal a key pillar of her administration, but fighting … Read more
An official working for Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was sentenced to six months in jail in a Yangon court on Friday for criticising Myanmar’s army chief in a Facebook post. It is the latest verdict to highlight lingering limits on free speech in the young democracy, where the military remains a powerful player despite … Read more
Aung San Suu Kyi’s one-year-old government retained most of its seats in Myanmar by-elections Sunday but braced for symbolic losses in ethnic minority areas as results from the 19-seat poll trickled in. The voting to fill vacant parliamentary seats around Myanmar was seen as a test of the de facto leader’s popularity after a bumpy … Read more
Aung San Suu Kyi’s government will face its first test at the ballot box on Saturday in by-elections around Myanmar seen as a barometer for growing disillusionment with her party a year after it took office. The euphoria that surrounded the democracy icon’s landslide electoral win in 2015 has ebbed as her party struggles to … Read more
One year after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was sworn in as Myanmar’s first elected government in half a century, opinions are mixed on its performance. Many have a saint-like adoration for “The Lady”, who championed a decades-long democracy struggle against the country’s former military oppressors. But after 12 months … Read more
A Myanmar woman is suing her own son for calling her a “prostitute” on Facebook, the latest case under a controversial law that critics say is increasingly stifling free speech. Police arrested 21-year-old Wana Oo on Tuesday after his mother Tin Tin Hla, from southern Myanmar, brought a case against him over comments he made … Read more
Thousands of people protested in eastern Myanmar on Sunday against plans to name a bridge after Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, the latest flashpoint between her administration and the country’s restless ethnic minorities. The issue highlights some of the deep distrust among Myanmar’s patchwork of minorities towards the Bamar ethnic majority from which Suu Kyi … Read more
Four men accused of plotting the murder of a prominent Myanmar lawyer and adviser to de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a Yangon court on Friday. Ko Ni was shot in the back of the head in late January in broad daylight outside Yangon’s airport while waiting for a taxi with his … Read more
Khin Khin Tun’s back is a patchwork of burns, searing memories she says from when her former employer poured two flasks of boiling water over her flesh — one for each orange she was accused of stealing. The 14-year-old and her sister spent years working as domestic helpers in the city of Mawlamyine, southern Myanmar, … Read more
A leading lawyer and adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party has been shot dead at Yangon airport in Myanmar. Ko Ni was shot in the head on Sunday after arriving from an international trip. A taxi driver was also shot. A suspect has been detained but there are no … Read more