YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A key aide to Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested Friday, days after a coup that has sparked outrage and calls by US President Joe Biden for the generals to relinquish power. The arrest came after the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city were filled for a third night with the sound of people banging pots and honking car horns, voicing their opposition to the coup. The military […]
Tag: Myanmar
Biden demands Myanmar military ‘relinquish power
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Myanmar’s military to “relinquish power” in the Southeast Asian nation and release the government officials and activists detained in this week’s coup. “There can be no doubt: in a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” Biden said in his first major foreign policy speech as president. […]
Facebook blocked in Myanmar as UN chief says coup must fail
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s generals ordered internet providers to restrict access to Facebook Thursday, as UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world must rally to ensure the military coup fails. The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back into direct military rule on Monday as de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders were detained in a series of dawn raids, ending the country’s brief experiment with democracy. The coup sparked […]
World’s longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The world’s longest internet shutdown — affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar’s ethnic conflict zones — has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar’s troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following “emergency” orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. […]
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi charged as calls to oppose coup grow
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was formally charged on Wednesday two days after she was detained in a military coup, as calls for civil disobedience to oppose the putsch gathered pace. The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back into direct military rule when soldiers arrested key civilian leaders in a series of dawn raids on Monday, ending the army’s brief flirtation with democracy. Su Kyi, who has not […]
US determines Myanmar army carried out coup, blocking aid
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Washington formally determined Tuesday that Myanmar’s military carried out a coup, legally requiring an end to US assistance to the government. “We have assessed that the Burmese military’s actions on February 1, having deposed the duly elected government, constituted a military coup d’etat,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, using Myanmar’s former name of Burma. “The United States will continue to work closely with our partners throughout the region […]
DFA: PHL following situation in Myanmar with “deep concern”
(Eagle News) — The Philippine government on Tuesday, Feb. 2, said it was following with “deep concern” the situation in Myanmar. In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is “especially concerned about the safety” of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who, along with others, has been detained by Myanmar’s military. The military, which alleged voting irregularities in November’s election, later declared a one-year state of emergency over the country. “Myanmar has made substantial […]
Myanmar coup just a ‘cabinet reshuffle’: Chinese state media
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The military takeover in Myanmar and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi was “a major cabinet reshuffle” according to Chinese state media, who rolled out the euphemisms to avoid calling a coup a coup. As democratic leaders around the world slammed the Burmese military and President Joe Biden said the US was “taking note” of who was standing up for Myanmar’s people, China’s communist leadership took a softly-softly approach. Beijing […]
Ousted Myanmar party calls for release of Suu Kyi, other leaders
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s ousted National League for Democracy party called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders on Tuesday, describing the coup a day earlier as a “stain” on the military’s history. Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, was detained by the military in the early hours of Monday along with President Win Myint. The army installed an ex-general as president and handed “legislative, judicial and executive powers” […]
Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand protest against coup
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Scores of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand protested in front of their embassy on Monday, waving posters of leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she was detained during a military coup. Myanmar’s army took over early Monday, taking Suu Kyi into custody and announcing a state of emergency and power transfer to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing. Dressed in red — the signature colour of Suu Kyi’s National League […]
Anger and confusion in Myanmar as coup sweeps away democratic hopes
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — There was panic-buying of food, military roadblocks in the capital Naypyidaw and a triumphant pro-army rally in Yangon in the hours after a coup in Myanmar. But there was also quiet anger simmering among those whose hopes for the country’s democratic future have been stolen. “It’s extremely upsetting — I don’t want the coup,” said a 64-year-old Burmese man in Hlaing township, standing with a crowd outside a grocery stall. […]
UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Myanmar on Tuesday
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday on the situation in Myanmar, following the coup by the country’s military, according to an official calendar of events. The meeting, to be held by videoconference, will take place behind closed doors, says the calendar — which was approved Monday by council members. The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener, is expected to brief the […]





