The leader of Myanmar’s military-installed government has announced the extension of its mandate to rule for another six months in preparation for an election it has said will be held next year. The army seized power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover was met with widespread non-violent protests around the country. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the ruling State Administration Council, said in a broadcast speech Monday that the state of emergency declared after last year’s takeover was extended because time was needed to prepare for new elections. There is doubt they will be free and fair because most of the leaders of Suu Kyi’s party have been locked up.
International outrage over Myanmar’s execution of four political prisoners is intensifying with grassroots protests and strong condemnation from world governments. Myanmar’s military-led government has been accused of thousands of extrajudicial killings since it seized power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. But the hangings over the weekend were the first official executions in decades. Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters outside Myanmar’s embassy in neighboring Thailand waved flags and chanted slogans Tuesday amid a heavy downpour. New Zealand’s foreign minister called the executions a “barbaric act by Myanmar's military regime.” Myanmar’s government spokesperson rejected criticisms, saying the executions were conducted in line with domestic law.
Myanmar has carried out its first executions in nearly 50 years, hanging a former lawmaker, a democracy activist and two other political prisoners who had been accused of a targeted killing after the country’s military takeover last year. The executions announced Monday were carried out despite worldwide pleas for clemency for the four. State media said they planned, directed and organized terrorist killings. Opposition figures and rights activists say their convictions were politically motivated and condemned the executions while Myanmar rejected all criticism. The wife of one of the prisoners urged the world to hold Myanmar's military leadership accountable. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was dismayed by “this cruel and regressive step.”
Reported executions mark first use of capital punishment in the Southeast Asian country since the 1980s.
Scattered pro-democracy rallies have taken place across military-ruled Myanmar to mark the 75th anniversary of the assassination of the independence hero and father of the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in last year’s military takeover. The protests generally dispersed within a short time to avoid confrontations with security forces. Since the army took power and detained Suu Kyi and thousands of supporters, 2,091 civilians including poets, activists, politicians and others had been killed in the crackdown, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The shadow prime minister of the parallel civilian government in a message promised to fight until democracy is restored in Myanmar.
Al Jazeera follow the plight of villagers of the Karen minority escaping attacks by Myanmar’s Army.
Danny Fenster, an American journalist imprisoned for half a year by Myanmar’s military junta government, was freed on Nov. 15 into the custody of Bill Richardson, the former U.S. diplomat who helped secure his freedom, and they left the country bound for the United States, the New York Times reported.
American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, has arrived in the United States. Fenster wa…
American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, has arrived in the United States. Fenster wa…
American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, arrived in the United States on Tuesday. Fen…
American journalist Danny Fenster said he was healthy and happy to be heading home after being freed from prison in Myanmar and flying to Qata…
American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar and was sentenced last week to 11 years of ha…
Crowds gathered Tuesday outside prisons around Myanmar, waiting for at least a glimpse of friends and relatives who were being freed under an …
The parents and brother of an American journalist who has been detained in Myanmar for 100 days vowed Tuesday to never stop working to secure …
Police officers testifying before a House committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection gave emotional and occasionally angry accounts of the attack, i…
Breathe easy, python fans: The search for Cara, a 12-foot serpent on the loose from her Louisiana mall aquarium exhibit, has ended happily.
A group of Myanmar police officers have fled to neighboring India after defying orders to shoot people opposed to last month's coup.
The United Kingdom is condemning the ongoing violence in Myanmar following last month's coup.
New protests against the coup in Myanmar erupted on Friday, with demonstrators taking to the streets of Mandalay in defiance of the country's …
‘Myanmar coup poses test for Biden and the U.S.”
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price says the U.S. is "saddened" by the latest brutal crackdown in Myanmar and is calling on China to join …
A video of the arrest of Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw as he was photographing Myanmar security forces charging at anti-coup protester…
Grieving relatives have collected the blood-soaked bodies of family members shot dead by security forces.
New video shows the arrest of Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw in Yangon, Myanmar.
Police in Myanmar's biggest city fired tear gas Monday at defiant crowds who returned to the streets to protest last month's coup, despite rep…