EU backs international arms embargo after killings in Myanmar

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell accuses Myanmar’s military rulers of carrying out an ‘appalling act of violence’ in Kayah State. The European Union has called for an international arms embargo on Myanmar’s military government and for toughening its own sanctions following last week’s massacre of more than 35 people. The killings took place on Christmas Eve

All-women militia formed in Myanmar’s Sagaing region in response to military violence

Fighters say the group empowers women, who have been targeted by soldiers in village raids. Activists in Myanmar’s Sagaing region have formed the country’s first women-only anti-junta militia, a collection of students, teachers, farmers and white-collar workers fighting to take back the country from well-armed government troops who toppled the democratically elected government in a

Former US ambassador Bill Richardson heads to Myanmar

Former U.S. ambassador and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is heading to Myanmar on a private humanitarian mission that will focus on pandemic support, his spokesperson said Sunday. Myanmar has been mired in violence and civil unrest since a military coup seized power in February. Protesters have faced beatings and arrests. The United States

Fear and uncertainty for Myanmar dissidents in Thailand

Myanmar dissidents who fled army crackdown are living in hiding in Thailand as they try to seek humanitarian protection in third countries. When Myanmar’s military staged a coup on February 1, Kaung Latt’s career as an entertainer came to an abrupt halt. A prominent supporter of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) government and

Protest erupts at Myanmar’s Insein prison amid COVID outbreak

Anti-military government chants heard from inside the notorious colonial-era jail, which is used to hold opponents of the February coup. A protest has erupted at a prison in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon against what activists said was a worsening COVID-19 outbreak at the jail, which is used to hold opponents of February’s military takeover.

Myanmar caught off guard as cases surge, oxygen dwindles

Soe Win stood in line at a plant to buy oxygen for his grandmother, who is struggling with COVID-19 symptoms. “I have been waiting since 5 in the morning until 12 noon but I’m still in line. Oxygen is scarcer than money,” said the resident of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon. Consumed by a bitter and

Myanmar army officers broke into Japanese diplomat’s home

Just a few months after Myanmar’s army seized power through a coup in February, military officers forced their way into the homes of a Japanese diplomat and a Japanese aid agency official, sources said. In mid-April, the army searched the residences of a local Japanese embassy official and an official of the Japan International Cooperation

Myanmar forces clash with villagers in delta region, media report 20 dead

Myanmar’s security forces clashed with villagers armed with catapults and crossbows during a search for weapons in the Ayeyarwady river delta region on Saturday and local media reported as many as 20 people had been killed. State television news said three “terrorists” had been killed and two arrested at the village of Hlayswe as security

Karenni resistance fighters open new front against junta

The Karenni People’s Defence Force went on the offensive over the weekend, but now faces an overwhelming show of force As armed resistance to the Myanmar military’s February 1 coup continues to grow around the country, a new front has opened in the struggle between regime forces and civilians fighting back with homemade weapons.  Since

American journalist detained in Myanmar while trying to board flight out of country

An American journalist working in Myanmar has been detained there by local authorities, according to his employer and his family. Frontier Myanmar, a Yangon-based news and business magazine that publishes in print and online in both English and Burmese, said in a statement Monday that its managing editor, Danny Fenster, was detained at Yangon International Airport in