1 week ago Myanmar frees almost 5,000 prisoners in new year’s amnesty but no sign of Aung San Suu Kyi

Thousands released in holiday amnesty as Myanmar reels from civil war and a devastating earthquake

Events

2 w. ago The UN decries ongoing combat in Myanmar as earthquake relief faces big challenges

Human rights experts for the United Nations are expressing urgent concern about ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s civil war, despite ceasefires called by major parties to facilitate relief efforts after the country’s devastating March 28 earthquake

Politics

3 w. ago First they faced bombing during Myanmar’s civil war. Then came the devastating earthquake

Peter Popham speaks to a monk about the devastation the 7.7 magnitude tremor has wrought on the town of Mingun – a few miles from the epicentre. And how it has only added to the woes of a region caught up in the country’s civil war

Events

3 w. ago Broken and in the grip of civil war, can Myanmar rebuild after earthquake?

The junta’s poor emergency response leaves people fearing prolonged chaos, despite the relentless propaganda For seven painful days, Hnin has waited for news. Her two daughters, two and seven years old, her husband and their domestic worker, were all inside a six-storey hotel in Mandalay, central Myanmar, when it collapsed.Delays to search operations have added to her agony. Hnin rushed around the devastated city, where communication lines were barely functioning, to buy head-torches and fuel for poorly equipped teams. A hotel manager refused to allow the use of a digger, fearing the building would collapse. Days passed before Chinese and Russian rescue teams arrived. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago How will Myanmar’s earthquake impact the civil war? – podcast

Myanmar’s military junta has been losing territory for months. Will the earthquake and a new ceasefire help it turn the tide? Rebecca Ratcliffe reports“It took around four to five minutes for the earthquake to shake and then it stopped and shook again. It is the most severe earthquake I have experienced in my life.”Esther J is a reporter based in Bangkok, Thailand, more than 600 miles (966km) away from her home country of Myanmar – the epicentre of last week’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Continue reading...

Events

last month ‘I stopped counting after three’: the ‘girl sniper’ fighting on the frontline of Myanmar’s civil war

The country’s drawn out conflict has seen children recruited as soldiers on all sides. At the age of 18, Anina is a seasoned fighter with a feared reputation in her all-male resistance unitPhotographs by Valeria MongelliAnina is, in many ways, a typical teenager. She loves her boyfriend, cartoons and football – she supports Manchester City. Until recently, TikTok dancing brightened her days. “Any kind of dancing,” she says.When the Guardian met her she was about to turn 18 and was on crutches, her ankle twisted during a scramble to escape a Myanmar military airstrike. A soldier of the Chin militia, the four years of civil war against the ruling junta have consumed much of Anina’s adolescence. Continue reading...

Events