double-skinned crabsVietnamese crab exporter
Advertisement
Advertisement
Myanmar
TOPIC
 / location

Myanmar

Myanmar
Myanmar
Latest news, updates and opinion on Myanmar, covering politics, economy, society and the country’s relationships with China and India, and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Capital
Naypyidaw
Head of State
Acting President Min Aung Hlaing
Head of Government
Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing
The US National Archives will be the last stop on President Xi Jinping’s trip to the United States. Photo: Getty Images
2026 Xi-Trump summits

Why is the National Archives the last stop on Xi and Trump’s summit itinerary?

The presidents and their wives will get a personal view of the National Archives and the documents that define the American system.

Malaysia

‘Helpless’ Rohingya who fled Myanmar chaos now dread return from Malaysia

videocam
Southeast Asia forced-labour scams

Video | Chinese live-streamer held for US$90,000 ransom in Myanmar

Human rights

Beatings, electric shocks, burns: women endure torture in Myanmar prisons

Human Rights Watch said detainees routinely experienced systemic abuse and life-threatening medical neglect.

videocam
A prison in Yangon, Myanmar. According to Human Rights Watch, female prisoners in the country suffer brutal torture and sexual violence. Photo: AP
United Nations

Burning questions: world leaders meet at UN amid climate, war and AI worries

As we face ‘three existential threats,’ says the UN chief, ‘international cooperation is more necessary than ever’.

Malaysia

Malaysia to invite Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing for Rohingya repatriation talks

Anwar Ibrahim says it is necessary to formally recognise Minh Aung Hlaing’s government if Malaysia wants to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Malaysia

Who will look after ageing Asia when its carers grow old?

Asia’s care economy is booming, but its biggest supplier nations are ageing too, raising fears of a coming carer shortfall.

Filipino nurses, many of whom were bound for work abroad as carers, take an oath in Manila in 2009. Filipino carers have become an expensive “gold standard”, according to a recent white paper. Photo: AFP
An elderly woman is pushed through the an old covered shopping street in Osaka. Japan had 67,871 foreign nationals employed in its skilled nursing-care category as of late 2025. Photo: AFP
A Filipino nurse attends to an elderly woman at a temporary shelter in Tagbilaran city following an earthquake in 2013. The Philippines certifies about 41,000 carers per year. Photo: AFP
Elderly Thai women take part in Buddhist New Year celebrations in Narathiwat province. Thailand is projected to need more than 250,000 additional paid care workers by 2037. Photo: AFP
Asean

Up in smoke: why Southeast Asia failed to halt the haze

Asean was going to eliminate transboundary haze by 2020. What happened?

videocam
7
Singapore

As Singapore weighs joining China-led AI body, does it risk US retaliation?

Joining the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation gives Singapore influence, but may affect its Pax Silica role, analysts say.

8
US-China relations

US sanctions Chinese-language Xinbi Guarantee marketplace over cyber scams

Washington also seizes Telegram channels and US$52 million in cryptocurrency linked to the platform’s alleged illicit operations.

videocam
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announces enforcement actions against the Chinese-language marketplace Xinbi Guarantee in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Thailand

12 South Koreans arrested in Thailand scam centre crackdown

Police say the alleged scammers entered Thailand from a neighbouring country and rented a luxury house south of Bangkok.

videocam
A Royal Thai Army soldier walks beyond barbed wire outside hospital buildings of an abandoned scam centre in O’Smach town on the Thai-Cambodian border, on Monday. Photo: AFP
United States

‘Can’t live without fighting’: Myanmar youth find solace in bareknuckle lethwei

Amid five years of devastating conflict, young fighters embrace the traditional bloodsport as both self-defence and refuge.

Cambodia

Southeast Asia’s scam gangs regroup after Cambodia’s crackdown

Dislodged from Cambodian compounds, cyberscam cartels have been setting up shop in Laos, Myanmar and even Malaysia.

videocam
US-China relations

US Congress seeks to identify foreign countries behind scam calls

Inquiry comes as US government reports tying much of the financial damage from scams to Chinese criminal networks based in Southeast Asia.

videocam
US government reports have connected much of the financial damage from scam calls to Chinese criminal networks based in Southeast Asia. Photo: Shutterstock
Singapore

Small state, big agenda: Singapore prepares to steer Asean through crisis

The city state takes the helm on Asean’s 60th anniversary amid civil war, tariff threats and rising global tensions.

Singapore’s Lawrence Wong attends an Asean meeting in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE
India

India rescues 2 Chinese nationals from sunken cargo ship, searches for others

The Panama-flagged vessel had ‌24 crew on board, including 20 Chinese nationals, according to India’s coastguard.

War and conflict

Myanmar air strike kills 14 praying at monastery, rebel witnesses say

Public buildings, most often monasteries and schools, are frequently the sites of reported air strikes according to a UN report from last week.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Starlink

Asian Angle | SpaceX’s Starlink blackout punishes Myanmar civilians, not just cybercriminals

An estimated 13 million people – nearly a quarter of Myanmar’s population – rely on Starlink for internet access.

A man uses his mobile phone while sheltering under an umbrella as rain falls in Yangon, Myanmar, on August 11. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Exclusive | Waico vs Pax Silica: Southeast Asia caught between China and US in AI race

Beijing reportedly offers exclusive perks to attract Global South partners while describing the American-led body as exclusionary.

videocam
14
Scams and swindles

Asia faces scam ‘epidemic’ threat as gangs exploit agentic AI, analyst warns

The technology could allow scam syndicates to carry out multiple tasks to cheat victims at the same time without needing human intervention.

videocam
US-China relations

US designates academic Min Zin as ‘wrongfully detained’ in China

Case adds friction weeks before Trump-Xi summit, with Washington pressing Beijing over Americans held in the country.

videocam
11
Min Zin founded the Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar in 2016 and has written extensively about the country’s politics and economy. Photo: LinkedIn
US-China trade war

Editorial | ‘Transshipment scam’ is not a global conspiracy but a warning to the US

The White House’s accusation that over 40 nations are involved in a shadow network that harms the US betrays a misunderstanding of how trade works.

7
Containers at the Port of Long Beach in the US on May 20. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS
Thailand

Fake residency of foreign children in Thailand spotlights widening corruption

Seven people were arrested after nearly 200 children from Myanmar were found falsely registered as occupants in cramped flats in Bangkok.

videocam
Indonesia

Indonesia seizes 2.6 tonnes of liquid meth in record drug bust

This is the second raid involving a Tanzanian-flagged vessel in two weeks. Almost all the crew are from Myanmar.

Vladimir Putin

Russia’s Putin hosts Myanmar leader, talks up energy projects

The president says the two countries are cooperating across a range of sectors, including energy, defence and even space exploration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing shake hands during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
Russia

Myanmar’s president heads to Moscow seeking Russian arms and oil

Fresh off a five-year military deal, Min Aung Hlaing is meeting Vladimir Putin for talks on further economic and security cooperation.

Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing waves as he boards a plane bound for Russia on Monday. Photo: Myanmar’s Presidential Press and Information Bureau / AFP
Thailand

Thailand to review pardon rules after release of drug lord, 85, brings backlash

Laota Saenlee, a former anti-communist guerrilla turned drug runner, is freed after serving less than a decade of a life sentence.

US-Asean relations

US transshipment ‘scam’ claims put Asean exporters in a bind

Analysts say a report accusing nine Southeast Asian nations of helping China skirt tariffs conflates cheating with legitimate trade.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement