MIN AUNG HLAING

Myanmar’s ruling military council says it is releasing more than 2,100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Myanmar’s ruling military to take the initiative in finding a way out of the country’s violent political crisis after a surprise meeting with the army leader who seized power two years ago.

Myanmar’s military governmenttook another major step in its ongoing attempts to cripple its political opponents on Wednesday , dissolving dozens of opposition parties including that of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to meet a registration deadline ahead of elections.

Myanmar’s military government has announced it is extending a state of emergency it imposed when it seized power two years ago, a move that appears to set back its plans for an election that had been expected in August.

The prospects for peace in Myanmar, much less a return to democracy, seem dimmer than ever two years after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Two years after Myanmar's generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, thousands of people have died in civil conflict and many more have been forced from their homes in a dire humanitarian crisis.

Myanmar’s ruling military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has detailed plans for an election later this year and called for national unity in a speech as he led a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of independence from Britain.

The U_N_ special envoy for Myanmar is warning that the political, human rights and humanitarian crisis in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation is deepening and taking “a catastrophic toll on the people.”.

A court in Myanmar has sentenced the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years' imprisonment after finding her guilty of involvement in election fraud.

The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, has met with the head of its military-installed government and urged him to halt all violence and support a political path back to civilian rule and democracy, Heyzer also called on Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to allow the country’s imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi to return home and to meet with her.

The White House says President Joe Biden will host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian nations in Washington next month for a summit.

Myanmar’s leader has vowed to intensify action against homegrown militia groups fighting the military-run government, saying the armed forces would “annihilate” them.

Several top Myanmar celebrities who were detained for criticizing the army's seizure of power have been released from prison under pardons issued by the military government.

Myanmar says it will not participate in this week’s meetings in Cambodia of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, spurning an invitation to send a non-political representative instead of its chief diplomat.

An award-winning film director in Myanmar has been arrested almost a year after appearing on a wanted list for encouraging government employees to join in protests against military rule.

Protests and violence have marked the one-year anniversary of the army's seizure of power in Myanmar.

Security forces in Myanmar have arrested dozens of people in a preemptive move to suppress plans for a nationwide strike on Tuesday, which is the one-year anniversary of the army’s seizure of power.

The army takeover in Myanmar a year ago that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi unexpectedly aborted the ongoing restoration of representative democracy in the Southeast Asian country after decades of military rule.

A report based on U.S. trade data shows American companies are still importing teak from Myanmar despite sanctions imposed after the military seized power.

Cambodia’s foreign minister has defended Prime Minister Hun Sen’s trip to Myanmar, the first by a foreign leader since the military takeover plunged the country into turmoil, though there was little evidence the mission yielded any immediate breakthrough.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar to revive peace efforts after last year’s military takeover is provoking an angry backlash among critics, who say he is legitimizing the army’s seizure of power.

A court in military-ruled Myanmar has postponed its verdicts on two charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in which she is accused of importing and possessing walkie-talkies without following official procedures.

Human rights activists are lobbying major jewelers to stop buying gems sourced in Myanmar as a way to put pressure on Myanmar's military leaders by limiting profits from the country's lucrative mining industry.

A human rights group is calling on an international court to open an investigation into a crackdown on dissent by Myanmar’s military rulers.

Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced a new ban on postings linked to Myanmar’s military to include all pages, groups, and accounts representing military-controlled businesses.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping says his country will not seek dominance over Southeast Asia or bully its smaller neighbors, despite a rise in regional frictions.

Bill Richardson’s success in helping secure the release of journalist Danny Fenster from a Myanmar prison is the latest demonstration of the former New Mexico governor’s knack for flying into some the most closed societies on earth and persuading those in charge to do Washington a favor.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson acknowledges criticism of his humanitarian visit to Myanmar, but he tells The Associated Press he feels his trip was constructive.

The sultan of Brunei says Myanmar remains an integral part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the bloc hopes its military government will work with an ASEAN envoy to defuse the political crisis triggered by its seizure of power in February.

President Joe Biden has told leaders at the East Asia Summit that China’s recent actions in the Taiwan Straits are “coercive” and undermined peace and stability in the region.

Southeast Asian leaders have begun their annual summit without Myanmar amid a diplomatic standoff over the exclusion of the leader of the military-ruled nation from the group’s meetings.

Southeast Asian leaders are holding their annual summit with world leaders this week but without Myanmar’s top general.

The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar is warning that February's military takeover has led to armed conflict and if power isn’t returned to the people in a democratic way the country will go in the direction of a failed state.

A senior U.S. official says the United States is at a turning point in deciding how to handle the crisis in military-ruled Myanmar, weighing further political and economic steps to pressure the government to change its behavior.

Crowds have gathered for a second day outside prisons around Myanmar, waiting for at least a glimpse of friends and relatives who are being freed under an amnesty for people arrested for protesting against military rule.

The leader of Myanmar’s military-installed government says other Southeast Asian countries should share responsibility for failing to help quell the violence that has engulfed his nation since the army seized power in February.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to downgrade Myanmar’s participation in an upcoming summit in their sharpest rebuke yet of its leaders following a Feb. 1 military takeover.

A senior diplomat says Southeast Asia’s foreign ministers have decided not to invite Myanmar’s military leader to an annual summit for refusing to let an envoy meet ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar says a special envoy appointed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations canceled his visit after the government told him he would not be able to meet with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others.

A human rights group says more than 1,000 people have been killed by security forces in Myanmar since the military seized power about six months ago.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have picked Brunei's second foreign minister as their special envoy to Myanmar, in a breakthrough for regional mediation aimed at ending the country’s deepening crisis.

The United Nations is calling the Myanmar military’s extension of the state of emergency and election delay moves in the wrong direction from international calls for the restoration of democracy.

Six months after seizing power from the elected government, Myanmar’s military leader has declared himself prime minister and said he would lead the country under the extended state of emergency until elections are held in about two years.

As COVID-19 deaths rise in Myanmar, allegations are growing that the military government is using the coronavirus pandemic to consolidate power and crush opposition.

Myanmar is facing a a rapid rise in COVID-19 patients and a shortage of oxygen supplies, just as the country is consumed by a bitter and violent political struggle since the military seized power in February.

The leader of Myanmar’s military junta has attended an international conference in Moscow, an appearance that reflects Russia’s eagerness to develop ties with the junta despite international criticism.

Myanmar state media say a well-known senior Buddhist monk was among at least 12 people who died when a military plane crashed in the country’s central Mandalay region.

Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have met with Myanmar’s junta leader six weeks after an emergency regional summit on the coup in the country drew promises of progress toward a solution but produced no tangible results.

The head of Myanmar’s military-appointed state election commission says his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi’s former ruling party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud and having its leaders charged with treason.

An independent election monitoring organization says the results of last November’s voting in Myanmar were representative of the will of the people, rejecting the military’s allegations of massive fraud that served as its reason for seizing power.

One hundred days since their takeover, Myanmar’s ruling generals maintain just the pretense of control over the country.

A United Nations report says political turmoil and disruptions following the coup in Myanmar could undo years of progress and double the number of its people living in poverty to nearly half the population.

Protesters in Myanmar’s largest city have braved potential violence by security forces to demonstrate against February’s military coup, showing their resolve to continue their resistance two days after Southeast Asian leaders met to address the country’s crisis.

Southeast Asian leaders have demanded an immediate end to killings and the release of political detainees in Myanmar during an emergency summit in Jakarta with its top general and coup leader.

Protesters against Myanmar’s military coup have returned to the streets of downtown Yangon, defiantly chanting their opposition to the army’s seizure of power as the junta chief prepared to attend a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders on the country’s crisis.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be under as much scrutiny as Myanmar's junta leader when the 10-member regional body meets Saturday.

Myanmar’s junta has released more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the traditional new year holiday, including at least three political detainees, and the military leader behind the February coup confirmed he would attend a regional summit later this month.

U.S. sanctions on Myanma Gems Enterprise target an army-controlled business rife with corruption and abuses that is one of the junta’s key sources of revenue.

Anti-coup protesters prepare makeshift bow and arrows to confront police in Thaketa township Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo)YANGON – As Myanmar’s military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade Saturday in the country's capital, soldiers and police elsewhere killed scores of people while suppressing protests in the deadliest bloodletting since last month's coup. “We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions.”AdThe European Union’s delegation to Myanmar said that the 76th Myanmar Armed Forces Day “will stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonor.”“The killing of unarmed civilians, including children, are indefensible acts,” it added. Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing did not directly refer to the protest movement when he gave his nationally televised Armed Forces Day speech before thousands of soldiers in Naypyitaw. In contrast, security forces have used live ammunition for weeks against what have still been overwhelmingly unarmed and peaceful crowds.

Opposition against the Feb 1 military coup continues in Myanmar. The civil disobedience movement has used widespread boycotts, strikes and other actions to demand that power be returned to the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The allegations against Suu Kyi made by former Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein were first mentioned by the military several weeks ago. Last week the military-controlled Myawaddy TV station aired a similar video with a construction magnate who also claimed to have made large payoffs to Suu Kyi. The junta repeated its claims that civil servants, teachers and doctors joined the CDM under threat.

(AP Photo)YANGON – At least two people protesting last month's military coup were reported shot and killed by Myanmar security forces Tuesday after a morning of peaceful marches. Mobile data service had been used to stream live video coverage of protests, often showing security forces attacking demonstrators. So, security forces had to handle the situation very hard,” according to the account. Meanwhile, the shooting had to disperse the protesters, resulting in some security forces and protesters’ casualties.”Virtually all independent accounts blame security forces for initiating violence against unarmed protesters. “In Burma, the military is attempting to overturn the results of a democratic election and is brutally repressing peaceful protests."

Security forces have attacked previous protests with live ammunition as well, leading to the deaths of at least 60 people. On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously called for reversing the coup and strongly condemned the violence against peaceful protesters. Reports from Kachin, the northernmost state, said guerrilla forces from the Kachin ethnic minority attacked a government base on Thursday and were in turn attacked. The reports could not be independently confirmed, and ethnic guerrilla armies as well as the government often release exaggerated information. Myanmar has more than a dozen ethnic guerrilla armies, mostly in border areas, a legacy of decades-old struggles for greater autonomy from the central government.

(AP Photo)The United States announced sanctions Wednesday on two family members of Myanmar’s commander in chief, beefing up U.S. financial penalties in response to the military’s five-week-old coup and its deadly ongoing crackdown on protesters. The Feb. 1 coup reversed years of internationally supported progress toward democracy in Myanmar after five decades of military rule and international isolation. The military staged the coup the same day newly elected lawmakers were due to take office. Wednesday's were the latest in a series of penalties imposed by the U.S. over the military takeover, including new export restrictions announced earlier this month. The United States already had many of Myanmar’s military leaders under sanctions for mass killings of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in recent years.

Anti-coup protesters hold makeshift shields during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar Tuesday, March 9, 2021. The death of Zaw Myat Lin in custody was the second in recent days. Zaw Myat Lin was arrested Monday night as he tried to escape from a police raid, the Voice of Myanmar online news service and other media reported. Maung Saungkha, an activist and friend of Zaw Myat Lin, said his family was summoned to retrieve his body on Tuesday and was not told how he died. It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — had been canceled.

FILE - In this June 15, 2018, file photo, United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener arrives to meet Myanmar's Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission Shwe Mann, at the Parliament Building in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Schraner Burgener said she receives about 2,000 messages a day from people in Myanmar, many desperate to see an international response. It aims for a national cease-fire agreement with all 21 ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, which Schraner Burgener said is going to be difficult as 10 have already taken a strong stand against the coup. She said the army is surprised by the opposition, which has been led by young people. “I always felt she was on a tightrope dealing with the army,” Schraner Burgener said of Suu Kyi.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed groups attacking people in downtown Yangon as police stood by without intervening. According to accounts and photos posted on social media, hundreds of people marched Thursday in support of the coup. AdMarsudi's efforts echo those of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has urged Myanmar’s military to make some concessions to help ease tensions. Several countries have levied or are considering new sanctions against the military junta, and on Thursday, Facebook announced it, too, was taking action. The junta has tried to block Facebook and other social media platforms, but its efforts have proven ineffective.

Buddhist monks and nuns display pictures of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. (AP Photo)YANGON – Police in Myanmar filed a new charge against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer said Tuesday, as the military authorities who seized power in a coup intensified their crackdown against their opponents. Suu Kyi, who was detained in the Feb. 1 military takeover, already faced a charge of illegally possessing walkie-talkies — an apparent attempt to provide a legal veneer for her house arrest. Suu Kyi’s lawyer told reporters he has not seen her since her arrest — and only arrived after an unexpected videoconference the judge said had been held with her. AdAround 3,000 demonstrators — mainly students — had returned to the streets of Mandalay, carrying posters of Suu Kyi and shouting for the return of democracy.

A man is held by police during a crackdown on anti-coup protesters holding a rally in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, Myanmar on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. Security forces in Myanmar intensified their crackdown against anti-coup protesters on Monday, seeking to quell the large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that seized power earlier this month to reinstate the elected government. (AP Photo)YANGON – Security forces in Myanmar pointed guns toward anti-coup protesters and attacked them with sticks Monday, seeking to quell the large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that seized power this month to reinstate the elected government. It circulated widely on social media, as did a notice said to be from service provider Oredoo Myanmar containing the same details. “She has conveyed to the Myanmar military that the world is watching closely, and any form of heavy-handed response is likely to have severe consequences,” Haq said.

In this image made from video by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), two armored personnel carriers were seen traversing on a road in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. "We support the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy, freedom, peace, and prosperity,” they said in a joint statement issued late Sunday night. It circulated widely on social media, as did a notice said to be from service provider Oredoo Myanmar containing the same details. People have also been rattled by police raids carried out during curfew hours to seize individuals seen as opposed to the coup. The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says 400 people have been detained since the coup, with 375 still being held.

Mass street demonstrations in Myanmar have entered their second week with neither protesters nor the military government they seek to unseat showing any signs of backing off from confrontations. (AP Photos)YANGON – Mass street demonstrations in Myanmar entered their second week Saturday, with neither protesters nor the military government they seek to unseat showing any signs of backing down from confrontations. The military ousted the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her government and prevented recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament. Suu Kyi and other senior members of her government and party remain in detention. Saturday’s protests coincided with the birthday of Gen. Aung San, the country’s independence leader and father of Suu Kyi.

Demonstrators in traditional dance costumes display an upside-down begging-bowl, a form of protest symbolizing the refusal of charity from the military government, during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. Thousands of protesters, including Myanmar celebrities, demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon on Friday to criticize what they said was Beijing's failure to condemn the coup. AdMany of the protesters were students from local international schools and universities, and they held signs that read “We don’t want dictatorship,” “Stop helping the military coup” and “Free our leader." AdThe move will prevent the generals from accessing more than $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States. It remains to be seen what, if any, impact the U.S. action will have on Myanmar’s military regime.

Ethnic Entha fishermen display placards during a protest against the military coup on Inle Lake, Taunggyi, Myanmar Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Aung Ko San)YANGON – Members of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities marched through streets in traditional dress and floated on wooden long boats in a scenic lake Thursday to protest last week’s coup, a sign of the broad and growing resistance to the military takeover. This is not Zoom meeting.”Min Aung Hlaing indirectly acknowledged the widespread opposition to his government in a televised speech Thursday. The junta leader also touched on the issue of civil servants joining the protests. It remains to be seen what, if any, impact the U.S. action will have on Myanmar’s military regime.

Protesters continued to gather Wednesdayin Mandalay breaching Myanmar's new military rulers' decrees that effectively banned peaceful public protests in the country's two biggest cities. Witnesses estimated that tens of thousands of protesters, if not more, turned out in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s biggest cities. The protesters are demanding that power be restored to Suu Kyi’s deposed civilian government. Others marched through the city, chanting and waving flags of Suu Kyi’s party. In Naypyitaw and Mandalay on Tuesday, police sprayed water cannons and fired warning shots to try to clear away protesters.

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Police were cracking down on the demonstrators against Myanmars military takeover who took to the streets in defiance of new protest bans. “The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable,” said Ola Almgren, the U.N. resident coordinator in Myanmar. AdPolice also used water cannons in the capital, Natpyitaw, for a second day and fired shots into the air. The military used deadly force to quash a massive 1988 uprising against military dictatorship and a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks.

Protesters are sprayed with water fired from a police truck's water cannon in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. They say they were issued in response to people carrying out unlawful actions that harm the rule of law, a reference to the protests. AdState media for the first time on Monday made reference to the protests, claiming they were endangering the country’s stability. AdThe growing protests recall previous movements in the Southeast Asian country’s long and bloody struggle for democracy. Aside from a few officers, soldiers have not been in the streets at protests this past week.

People clap to make noise as they participate in a civil disobedience action to protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2021. (AP Photo)YANGON – Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday's coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The military seized power shortly before a new session of Parliament was to convene on Monday and detained Suu Kyi and other top politicians. AdBut Suu Kyi, the daughter of an independence hero and a pro-democracy activist for more than three decades, remains the country's most popular politician. AdIn 2018, Facebook removed several accounts linked to Myanmar’s military, including that of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the new government's leader, because their content appeared to fuel hatred toward the Muslim Rohingya minority.

In the early hours of Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, the Myanmar army took over the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup over allegations of fraud in November's elections. The military announced Monday that it would take power for one year — accusing Suu Kyi's government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. Suu Kyi's party swept that vote, and the military-backed party did poorly. National League for Democracy spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge against Suu Kyi that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Ad___This story has been updated to correct that the charge against Suu Kyi carries a maximum sentence of three years, not two.

Shouts could be heard wishing detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi good health and calling for freedom. A senior politician and close confidante of Suu Kyi also urged citizens to defy the military through civil disobedience. Ad“The curse of the coup is rooted in our country, and this is the reason why our country still remains poor. He said Suu Kyi was in good health at a separate location where she was being held and would stay there for the time being. Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army during her years in detention.

Myanmar military television said Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 that the military was taking control of the country for one year, while reports said many of the countrys senior politicians including Suu Kyi had been detained. Immediately after he was named president, Myint Swe handed power to the country’s top military commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Min Aung Hliang, 64, has been commander of the armed forces since 2011 and is due to retire soon. AdIn 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department froze Min Aung Hliang's U.S.-based assets and banned doing business with him and three other Myanmar military leaders. Soon afterward, Myint Swe assumed command of the former military regime’s sprawling military intelligence apparatus.

Myanmar military television said Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 that the military was taking control of the country for one year, while reports said many of the countrys senior politicians including Suu Kyi had been detained. “There’s internal military politics around that, which is very opaque,” said Kim Jolliffe, a researcher on Myanmar civilian and military relations. AdMyanmar's military leaders “must immediately free the democratic leaders of Myanmar and remove themselves from government,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “If not, the United States and other countries should impose strict economic sanctions, as well as other measures” against the military and military leaders, he said. He also questioned Suu Kyi's ability to lead given her defense of the military's actions against ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel joined the criticism after Myanmar military television said the military was taking control of the country for one year. ___4:17 p.m.Italy strongly condemned the military takeover in Myanmar and demanded that Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders be released. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “I condemn the coup and unlawful imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar. ___11:10 a.m.Human rights groups are calling for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders in Myanmar. ___7:15 a.m.Reports says a military coup has taken place in Myanmar and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest.

FILE - In this May 6, 2016, file photo, Aung San Suu Kyi, left, Myanmar's foreign minister, walks with senior General Min Aung Hlaing, right, Myanmar military's commander-in-chief, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. While Suu Kyi had been a fierce antagonist of the army while under house arrest, since her release and return to politics, she has had to work with the country's generals, who never fully gave up power. The first signs that the military was planning to seize power were reports that Suu Kyi and Win Myint, the country’s president, had been detained before dawn. By midday, people were removing the bright red flags of Suu Kyi’s party that once adorned their homes and businesses. AdIn November polls, Suu Kyi's party captured 396 out of 476 seats up for actual election in the lower and upper houses of Parliament.

A cyclist bikes past a signboard with an image of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)NAYPYITAW – Myanmar’s military on Saturday denied its chief was threatening to stage a coup over complaints of election fraud, saying the media had misinterpreted his words. The military has publicly complained several times of electoral fraud and called on the government and the Union Election Commission to review the results. The military ran Myanmar for some 50 years before beginning a transitioning to democracy in 2010. Ad___Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.

Myanmar's election commission rejected allegations by the military that fraud played a significant role in determining the outcome of November's elections, which delivered a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)NAYPYITAW – Myanmar’s election commission rejected allegations by the military that fraud played a significant role in determining the outcome of November’s elections, which delivered a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party. The military has been calling on the government and the Union Election Commission to review the results. It says it has found 8.6 million irregularities in voter lists in 314 townships that could have let voters cast multiple ballots or commit other "voting malpractice,” but the election commission said there was no evidence to support these claims. The party of Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace prize laureate, won the previous elections in 2015 also in a landslide.

Some of MEHL's domestic and foreign partners, including Kirin, have said they are investigating the concerns raised by the report. The Amnesty report, compiled in collaboration with the human rights group Justice for Myanmar, outlines links between key military units and leaders involved in what Myanmar's military has called a clearance campaign in the northwestern Rakhine. It was home to more than 700,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh and other countries since August 2017. Another of the documents presented in the report shows top military leaders holding key executive posts in MEHL. Both it and Myanma Economic Cooperation, another big military-linked company, act as unofficial gatekeepers," for business dealings in Myanmar, the report says.

LONDON Britain on Monday announced economic sanctions against individuals and organizations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea under new U.K. powers to punish human rights offenders. Britain has previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations. Since leaving the EU in January, it has implemented its own version of the United States Magnitsky Act, which allows authorities to ban or seize assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses. The U.K. law authorizes the British government to prevent sanctioned individuals from entering the country, channeling money through British banks, or profiting from the U.K. economy. Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who heads the Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, said there had been a remarkable silence on human rights violations in China."