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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

A Thai soldier keeps guard outside a closed scam centre in O’Smach, Cambodia, on February 2. Photo: AP

Scams and swindles

Water prisons, torture: UN urges crackdown on brutal Southeast Asia scam centres

The agency’s latest report documents torture, sexual abuse, forced abortions, food deprivation and solitary confinement in the centres.

20 Feb 2026 - 7:29PMvideocam

Human rights

Myanmar rebel leader Bo Nagar surrenders to junta amid resistance infighting

19 Feb 2026 - 11:34PMvideocam

China Railway

China on track to complete world’s ‘most difficult’ railway project before 2030

19 Feb 2026 - 9:11AM

Thailand

Thailand wants to act as ‘bridge’ for Myanmar’s return to Asean fold

Myanmar’s junta leaders have been excluded from Asean summits since the 2021 military coup that toppled a democratic administration.

18 Feb 2026 - 10:15PM

Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Than Shwe (left) chats with Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow ahead of bilateral talks in Phuket on Wednesday. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Reuters

China-Asean relations

Chinese missions in Vietnam, Singapore warn citizens to stay away from gambling

Consulate and embassy issue statements after two separate incidents in which Chinese men fell to their deaths, allegedly after gambling.

18 Feb 2026 - 3:21PMvideocam

Asean

East Timor triggers Asean first, accuses Myanmar of war crimes

East Timor’s laws allow its domestic courts to investigate and potentially prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed.

16 Feb 2026 - 6:46PM

United Nations

Opinion | More than funding, the UN needs restructuring

The UN’s financial strain is a chance to rethink its structure, cut inefficiencies and empower local work that delivers more impact.

15 Feb 2026 - 5:30AM

Internally displaced Palestinians walk among the ruins of the Al Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City on February 11. The UN human rights office has maintained a presence in Gaza despite the challenges. Photo: EPA

Asean

Asian Angle | How Asean can resolve its Myanmar dilemma post-election

Asean should not discard the Five-Point Consensus, but translate it into a politically astute strategy of conditional engagement.

14 Feb 2026 - 12:30PMvideocam

Malaysia

Malaysia smashes high-end sex syndicate charging US$900 a session

The suspected ringleader and salesmen are Chinese nationals while a Singaporean and Malaysian have been asked to assist in investigations.

14 Feb 2026 - 11:37AMvideocam

Scams and swindles

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

The transactions are linked to activities such as forced labour recruited by scammers and international escort services, a report says.

16 Feb 2026 - 4:48PMvideocam

Soldiers raid the KK Park online scam centre in Myawaddy township, Karen state, Myanmar, last year. Photo: AP

Scams and swindles

Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

Core members of the Myanmar-based telecoms fraud syndicate Ming Zhenzhen and Bai Yingcang apologised for causing harm to Chinese citizens.

9 Feb 2026 - 2:49PM

02:08

China-Asean relations

Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan

Beijing summons Southeast Asian envoys and invokes Japan’s WWII history, but campaign to isolate Tokyo gains little traction.

6 Feb 2026 - 10:19AM

Malaysia

Malaysian waters see return of oil transfer by ‘dark fleet’ of tankers

A crackdown against two vessels off Penang was the first disruption of such a ship-to-ship oil transfer in the state for over 10 years.

4 Feb 2026 - 7:48PMvideocam

Mainland China

Video | 4 more telecoms fraud gang members executed in China

Members of the Bai family syndicate were convicted of telecoms fraud, murder and drug trafficking.

3 Feb 2026 - 2:41PM

01:06

Crime in China

China moves to boost cybercrime penalties by adding exit ban after sentences

Amid cross-border crackdown, draft Cybercrime Prevention and Control Law bill lists exit bans among tools to punish cybercriminals.

2 Feb 2026 - 10:24PMvideocam

A draft bill announced by China’s public security ministry aims to impose an exit ban on Chinese found guilty of cross-border online crimes for up to three years after serving their sentence. Photo: Shutterstock

Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

After the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, tens of thousands of public workers left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.

1 Feb 2026 - 4:54PM

Crime

Video | China executes 11 members of telecoms syndicate

Members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

30 Jan 2026 - 12:30PM

China-Asean relations

China executes 11 core members of Myanmar-based telecoms fraud ring

They include members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

29 Jan 2026 - 8:00PMvideocam

Members and associates of the Ming family crime ring attend a sentencing hearing at the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang province, China on September 29.

Photo: CCTV

Asean

How far can Asean engage Myanmar without legitimising military rule?

The bloc’s foreign ministers meet in Cebu amid concerns that diplomacy could slide into tacit acceptance of military rule.

29 Jan 2026 - 5:58PMvideocam

Malaysia

Malaysian man arrested after secret trip to see second wife in Indonesia

The 46-year-old told officers that he could not travel by air as his passport was held by the first wife.

28 Jan 2026 - 10:34AM

Aung San Suu Kyi

‘What was the point?’: Myanmar’s loaded election brings win for junta allies

Disenfranchised citizens and migrants dismiss the election as a meaningless exercise designed solely to validate the military’s iron grip.

26 Jan 2026 - 8:37PM

Myanmar electoral officials count ballots at a polling station in Yangon on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Myanmar's democratic transition

Video | Can Myanmar’s elections bring an end to its civil war?

International observers and bodies have slammed the elections as a sham that is neither free nor fair.

25 Jan 2026 - 9:00AM

06:58

Malaysia

Rohingya refugees at risk of removal as Malaysia begins biometric documentation

Rohingya are often undocumented as Myanmar’s authorities refuse to recognise them as a legitimate community.

22 Jan 2026 - 4:52PMvideocam

Indonesia

440 Indonesians freed from Cambodia cyberscam hubs in criminal crackdown

Workers seek repatriation after scam operators, fearing police raids and new government measures, abruptly release hundreds of staff.

22 Jan 2026 - 5:35PMvideocam

Asean

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

17 Jan 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand are among countries affected by the United States’ 75-country visa suspension. Photo: TNS

India

Why India is losing ground over Bangladesh and Myanmar to regional rivals

Pakistan and China have been drawing closer to Bangladesh and Myanmar in areas such as defence and trade at India’s expense, analysts say.

16 Jan 2026 - 6:35PMvideocam

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets then Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina before a meeting in New Delhi on June 22, 2024. Photo: AP

War and conflict

Video | Police find village-sized meth labs in Myanmar jungle

Junta authorities said they made the discovery after regaining control of land previously run by rebel groups.

15 Jan 2026 - 9:46PM

Asean

Asean urged to rethink stance as Myanmar election risks normalising junta rule

The bloc should encourage Indonesia’s approach of engaging key stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, observers say.

25 Jan 2026 - 3:01PMvideocam

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Myanmar

Water prisons, torture: UN urges crackdown on brutal Southeast Asia scam centres

The agency’s latest report documents torture, sexual abuse, forced abortions, food deprivation and solitary confinement in the centres.

Myanmar rebel leader Bo Nagar surrenders to junta amid resistance infighting

China on track to complete world’s ‘most difficult’ railway project before 2030

Thailand wants to act as ‘bridge’ for Myanmar’s return to Asean fold

Myanmar’s junta leaders have been excluded from Asean summits since the 2021 military coup that toppled a democratic administration.

Chinese missions in Vietnam, Singapore warn citizens to stay away from gambling

Consulate and embassy issue statements after two separate incidents in which Chinese men fell to their deaths, allegedly after gambling.

East Timor triggers Asean first, accuses Myanmar of war crimes

East Timor’s laws allow its domestic courts to investigate and potentially prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Opinion | More than funding, the UN needs restructuring

The UN’s financial strain is a chance to rethink its structure, cut inefficiencies and empower local work that delivers more impact.

Asian Angle | How Asean can resolve its Myanmar dilemma post-election

Asean should not discard the Five-Point Consensus, but translate it into a politically astute strategy of conditional engagement.

Malaysia smashes high-end sex syndicate charging US$900 a session

The suspected ringleader and salesmen are Chinese nationals while a Singaporean and Malaysian have been asked to assist in investigations.

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

The transactions are linked to activities such as forced labour recruited by scammers and international escort services, a report says.

.css-rcruog{color:#C79A00;}Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

Core members of the Myanmar-based telecoms fraud syndicate Ming Zhenzhen and Bai Yingcang apologised for causing harm to Chinese citizens.

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan

Beijing summons Southeast Asian envoys and invokes Japan’s WWII history, but campaign to isolate Tokyo gains little traction.

Malaysian waters see return of oil transfer by ‘dark fleet’ of tankers

A crackdown against two vessels off Penang was the first disruption of such a ship-to-ship oil transfer in the state for over 10 years.

Video | 4 more telecoms fraud gang members executed in China

Members of the Bai family syndicate were convicted of telecoms fraud, murder and drug trafficking.

China moves to boost cybercrime penalties by adding exit ban after sentences

Amid cross-border crackdown, draft Cybercrime Prevention and Control Law bill lists exit bans among tools to punish cybercriminals.

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

After the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, tens of thousands of public workers left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.

Video | China executes 11 members of telecoms syndicate

Members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

China executes 11 core members of Myanmar-based telecoms fraud ring

They include members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

How far can Asean engage Myanmar without legitimising military rule?

The bloc’s foreign ministers meet in Cebu amid concerns that diplomacy could slide into tacit acceptance of military rule.

Malaysian man arrested after secret trip to see second wife in Indonesia

The 46-year-old told officers that he could not travel by air as his passport was held by the first wife.

‘What was the point?’: Myanmar’s loaded election brings win for junta allies

Disenfranchised citizens and migrants dismiss the election as a meaningless exercise designed solely to validate the military’s iron grip.

Video | Can Myanmar’s elections bring an end to its civil war?

International observers and bodies have slammed the elections as a sham that is neither free nor fair.

Rohingya refugees at risk of removal as Malaysia begins biometric documentation

Rohingya are often undocumented as Myanmar’s authorities refuse to recognise them as a legitimate community.

440 Indonesians freed from Cambodia cyberscam hubs in criminal crackdown

Workers seek repatriation after scam operators, fearing police raids and new government measures, abruptly release hundreds of staff.

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

Why India is losing ground over Bangladesh and Myanmar to regional rivals

Pakistan and China have been drawing closer to Bangladesh and Myanmar in areas such as defence and trade at India’s expense, analysts say.

Video | Police find village-sized meth labs in Myanmar jungle

Junta authorities said they made the discovery after regaining control of land previously run by rebel groups.

Asean urged to rethink stance as Myanmar election risks normalising junta rule

The bloc should encourage Indonesia’s approach of engaging key stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, observers say.

Opinion | More than funding, the UN needs restructuring

Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan