7 d. ago ‘Thousands have been killed. Why would I vote?’ Myanmar’s people despair over sham election and plea for Aung San Suu Kyi’s return

Opposition groups and the UN have called for the international community to boycott the results of elections held by the military junta. Maung Maung, Peter Popham and James C Reynolds report

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9 d. ago Toni Geitani: Wahj review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month

(Self-released)The Beirut-born producer’s masterly second album revels in dark tension to cinematic effect, finding beauty in ruinous soundArabic electronic experimentalism is thriving. In recent years, diaspora artists such as Egyptian producer Abdullah Miniawy, singer Nadah El Shazly and Lebanese singer-songwriter Mayssa Jallad have each released records that combine the Arabic musical tradition of maqam and its slippery melodies with granular electronic sound design, rumbling bass and metallic drum programming to create a dramatic new proposition.Beirut-born and Amsterdam-based composer Toni Geitani is the latest to contribute to this growing scene with his masterfully produced second album Wahj (“radiance” in Arabic). Working as a visual artist and sound designer, Geitani is well versed in creating imaginative soundscapes for films such as 2024 sci-fi Radius Collapse, as well as referencing the shadowy nocturnal hiss of producers such as Burial on his dabke-sampling 2018 debut a...

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1 week ago Inside Asia’s scam sweatshops – and why they are so hard to shut down

An estimated 120,000 people in Myanmar are being forced to work in online scam operations

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2 w. ago ‘We are always living in fear’: inside Myanmar’s ‘sham’ election

Myanmar’s military rulers are holding the first elections since the 2021 coup, and life in the country’s biggest city is fraught with anxiety Yangon feels, on the surface, like a normal, bustling city. In downtown areas, commuters stream past roadside sellers and diners perch beneath parasols. Packed buses and cars chug along the roads. At sunset, young people stop to pose for photos opposite the famous Sule pagoda, as it gleams against a pink-blue sky.But almost five years on from the military seized power in a coup, ousting and imprisoning then de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, life for local people feels anything but stable. Myanmar’s military rulers are in the process of holding the first elections since before the coup, a vote that the junta has touted as a return to democracy and stability. The UN and western governments have called the process, which will be held in three phases ending on 25 January, a sham. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Polls close in first phase of Myanmar elections widely condemned as a sham

Turnout appears to be low in vote in which most candidates seen as allies of military junta and large areas excluded by warPolls have closed in conflict-racked Myanmar, ending the first phase of an election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to legitimise the military junta’s rule.The military has touted the vote as a return to democracy almost five years after it seized power in a coup, ousting the country’s then de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, detaining her and sparking a spiralling civil war. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Myanmar elections: voting begins under junta stranglehold with Aung San Suu Kyi banned

War with opposition groups means large areas are excluded from poll, while recent law prohibits criticising a process regarded internationally as a shamPolling stations have opened in some areas of conflict-racked Myanmar for an election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to legitimise the military junta’s rule.The most popular party is banned from running in the election, and large areas of the country will be completely excluded because they are under the control of anti-junta groups or racked by fierce fighting. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Myanmar is going to the polls. But it’s not the people who hold the power – it’s China

As the military pushes ahead with a widely condemned election, Beijing’s priorities are proving decisiveMyanmar’s first election since the 2021 coup: everything you need to knowMyanmar’s military has managed to regain momentum in its battle against a determined patchwork of opposition groups, retaking some territory, and pushing ahead with a widely condemned election that begins on Sunday.It is a turnaround for the military, which had appeared so beleaguered that some dared to question if it could collapse. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Myanmar votes in sham election under atmosphere of fear and coercion: ‘What will change? Nothing’

With only parties vetted by the military allowed to contest Myanmar’s first election in five years, Sara Perria speaks to people in Yangon and Mandalay who are heading out to vote because they are being forced – not out of any hope for a better future

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3 w. ago ‘Not for the people’: Myanmar junta prepares for elections designed to legitimise grip on power

Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracyMyanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”.“This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar after the military seized power. “They [the ruling junta] are looking for a way out of the trap they are [in].” Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Myanmar junta using ‘brutal violence’ to force people to vote in sham election, UN says

Prominent cultural figures have been handed harsh years-long prison sentences for questioning a state propaganda film

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4 w. ago I’ve seen the new Jaguar GT uncovered – here’s my honest verdict

After the furore over the Jaguar Type 00, I was nervous to see the finished car – and it’s better than I expected

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