Politics

31 October 2025
A man prepares fish for sale in one of Thailand’s camps for refugees from Myanmar, one of the few job opportunities for the residents. (Photo by The Border Consortium)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at an event that was part of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 27.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar to hold second phase of election in January

Western countries and UN have dismissed vote as a sham

29 October 2025
Members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party gather on the first day of the campaign for the general election at their headquarters in Yangon on Oct. 28.
Myanmar Crisis

Pro-military party in Myanmar rallies ahead of December polls

Two months before polls, experts question legitimacy of election

28 October 2025
In this image provided by the Myanmar military on Oct. 19, soldiers stand next to Starlink machines after raiding an online scam center in Myawaddy township, Karen State, Myanmar. (Myanmar military via AP)
Crime

Myanmar military raids cyberscam hub, seizes 30 Starlink terminals

Over 2,000 people detained near border with Thailand

21 October 2025
A Rohingya refugee girl holds a jar emblazoned with a USAID logo at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on March 16.
International relations

China slowly steps in to fill foreign aid vacuum left by Trump

Beijing helps unlock places like Myanmar but 'democratic alternative' needed: experts

16 October 2025
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar sit at a fraud factory on the Thailand-Myanmar border, after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, on Feb. 26.
Crime

US charges Cambodian executive in massive crypto scam

Over $14bn in bitcoin seized in fraud case amid allegations of forced labor

15 October 2025
A Myanmar protester in Japan takes part in a rally outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Tokyo in February 2023.
Opinion

US and Japan must work together to free Aung San Suu Kyi

The case is not only moral but also strategic

13 October 2025
Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, left, and Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar's military regime. The two men met on Thursday during a visit by Hasan to Myanmar to discuss the regime's planned general election in December.
Myanmar Crisis

Malaysia stresses to Myanmar that December election must be inclusive

Foreign minister appears to make little progress at meeting with regime leader

11 October 2025
People in Myanmar dance as they hold candles during the Buddhist festival of light, or Thadingyut, in October 2020. The military attacked a similar event on Oct. 6, opposition groups say.
Myanmar Crisis

Military airstrike in Myanmar kills over 20 people during festival vigil

Troops used motorized paragliders to drop bombs on anti-regime event, opposition says

8 October 2025
Soldiers take part in a military parade in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. The regime's forces have started to turn the tide in the years-long civil war thanks to significant help from China. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Myanmar Crisis

China's tilt boosts regime in Myanmar's civil war

Beijing's drones, military technology transfer and pressure on ethnic rebels have helped the generals

3 October 2025
Residents of Myanmar's Mae Ka Nel village flee conflict on a tractor. In the first week of September, the country's military launched a large-scale offensive to regain control of areas held by the joint revolutionary forces of the Karen National Union (KNU) and the People's Defense Force (PDF). 
Opinion

The Myanmar conflict is entering a new phase

New military tactics and China's influence changing situation ahead of elections

1 October 2025
The remains of a burned Rohingya village is seen in this aerial photograph near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine state in Myanmar, on Sept. 27, 2017.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military razed Rohingya villages for security outposts, report says

UN-backed report details systematic destruction; Myanmar has denied genocide in 2017 operation

30 September 2025
A deliberately set fire burns through farmland on the Thai-Cambodia border.  Crop-burning to clear land for the next planting cycle is a major contributor to haze across the Mekong Basin. (Photo by Anton L. Delgado)
Policy Asia

Thailand's political turmoil shrouds long-awaited law to tackle smog

Bill to cut haze from crop burning and forest fires left in limbo pending new election

26 September 2025
Refugees from the civil war in Myanmar have taken shelter close to the border with Thailand. 
Opinion

Myanmar's most vulnerable are being starved by global neglect

International community must stop enabling the military rulers ahead of sham elections

2 September 2025
The commander-in-chief of Myanmar's armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. With the country preparing its first election since the 2021 military takeover, observers worry the new cybersecurity law could be used to silence dissent. 
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's cybersecurity law comes into force, putting businesses on alert

Lack of clarity over VPN use threatens online sales and sparks wider fears about surveillance

20 August 2025
Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing is also commander-in-chief of Myanmar's armed forces, which have controlled the Southeast Asian nation since 2021.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar to hold first phase of general election on Dec. 28: state media

55 political parties registered, of which 9 plan to compete nationwide, reports say

18 August 2025
United Nations investigators say their work is threatened by budget cuts.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, UN report says

investigators allege victims were subjected to strangulation and electric shocks

13 August 2025
A mine in the state of Kachin in northern Myanmar. Kachin is one of the country's main rare-earth producing regions.
Commodities

China pressures Myanmar rebels in bid to lock down rare-earth supplies

Beijing sees minerals as key bargaining chip in tariff standoff with US

13 August 2025
Myanmar interim President Myint Swe died on Aug. 7 at the age of 74 after spending more than a year on medical leave.
Obituaries

Myanmar interim President Myint Swe dies at 74

Key figure in 2021 coup had been diagnosed with Parkinson's

7 August 2025
Military officers march during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 80th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar regime targets resistance forces with new laws ahead of election

Overseas companies face potential compliance risks with cybersecurity measure

7 August 2025
Myanmar's Gen. Min Aung Hlaing pictured here in July 2022, chairs the State Peace and Security Commission and will prepare for a general election in December or January. (Reuters) 
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military lifts state of emergency, revamps government

Min Aung Hlaing leaves PM role, chairs new commission with eye on election

31 July 2025
Jeremy Douglas is chief of staff to the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  (Photo by Takayuki Tanaka)
Crime

UN seeks to boost fentanyl info-sharing in Asia following Nikkei report

Office on Drugs and Crime official calls Japan 'key partner' for regional strategy

16 July 2025
Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing says the general election will be held sometime in December or January. Observers see the election as the regime's attempt to legitimize its rule. 
14 July 2025
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise signed an agreement with Thailand's energy group PTT this April to expand production at an offshore gas field. (Government of Myanmar)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar signs cross-border business deals as election nears

Thailand, other friendly nations see electoral transition as business opportunity

10 July 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump released the first batch of letters on July 7 informing countries of the tariff rates their exports to the U.S. will face, starting Aug. 1.
Trump tariffs

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea, Malaysia

Myanmar and Laos see 40% rate, among slew of levies to take effect Aug. 1

8 July 2025
Women wait for checkups at a health care center on May 26 at a camp Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Photo by Valeria Mongelli)
Politics

US aid cuts leave Rohingya in Bangladesh vulnerable to hepatitis C

Groups struggle to meet refugee health care needs in face of shortfall

18 June 2025
Medics treat injured students after a school was hit by a military airstrike in Ohe Htein Twin village in Tabayin township, Myanmar, on May 12, 2025. 
Opinion

The Myanmar regime's war on children

An airstrike on a school killed 22 students. Global inaction allows these atrocities to continue

30 May 2025
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar's military government, presides over a parade. He has declined to engage fully with ASEAN to secure a lasting ceasefire in the country's protracted civil war.
Myanmar Crisis

ASEAN set to create permanent Myanmar envoy in bid to end crisis

Leaders to approve role after annual appointments fail to achieve breakthrough

26 May 2025
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim briefs journalists in Kuala Lumpur on May 21 ahead of an ASEAN summit. (Photo by Norman Goh)
22 May 2025
Min Lwin Oo, a technical intern in nursing care from Myanmar, speaks with a patient at a hospital in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo. (Photo by Akitoshi Sugiura)
Japan immigration

Myanmar workers head to Japan as turmoil deepens at home

Labor shortages drive demand for nursing and manufacturing jobs in host nation

20 May 2025