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Myanmar

Latest news, updates and opinion on Myanmar, covering politics, economy, society and the country’s relationships with China and India, and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Capital

Naypyidaw

Head of State

Acting President Min Aung Hlaing

Head of Government

Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing

A view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline. The bungalow was in an upmarket residential area of the capital. Photo: Shutterstock

Malaysia

Malaysia smashes high-end sex syndicate charging US$900 a session

The suspected ringleader and salesmen are Chinese nationals while a Singaporean and Malaysian have been asked to assist in investigations.

2 minutes agovideocam

Scams and swindles

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

12 Feb 2026 - 9:00PMvideocam

Scams and swindles

Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

9 Feb 2026 - 2:49PM

China-Asean relations

Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan

Beijing summons Southeast Asian envoys and invokes Japan’s WWII history, but campaign to isolate Tokyo gains little traction.

6 Feb 2026 - 10:19AM

Beijing has tried to drum up support among Southeast Asian diplomats following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s (centre) comments about Taiwan in November. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia

Malaysian waters see return of oil transfer by ‘dark fleet’ of tankers

A crackdown against two vessels off Penang was the first disruption of such a ship-to-ship oil transfer in the state for over 10 years.

4 Feb 2026 - 7:48PMvideocam

Mainland China

Video | 4 more telecoms fraud gang members executed in China

Members of the Bai family syndicate were convicted of telecoms fraud, murder and drug trafficking.

3 Feb 2026 - 2:41PM

Crime in China

China moves to boost cybercrime penalties by adding exit ban after sentences

Amid cross-border crackdown, draft Cybercrime Prevention and Control Law bill lists exit bans among tools to punish cybercriminals.

2 Feb 2026 - 10:24PMvideocam

A draft bill announced by China’s public security ministry aims to impose an exit ban on Chinese found guilty of cross-border online crimes for up to three years after serving their sentence. Photo: Shutterstock

Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

After the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, tens of thousands of public workers left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.

1 Feb 2026 - 4:54PM

Crime

Video | China executes 11 members of telecoms syndicate

Members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

30 Jan 2026 - 12:30PM

China-Asean relations

China executes 11 core members of Myanmar-based telecoms fraud ring

They include members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

29 Jan 2026 - 8:00PMvideocam

Members and associates of the Ming family crime ring attend a sentencing hearing at the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang province, China on September 29.

Photo: CCTV

Asean

How far can Asean engage Myanmar without legitimising military rule?

The bloc’s foreign ministers meet in Cebu amid concerns that diplomacy could slide into tacit acceptance of military rule.

29 Jan 2026 - 5:58PMvideocam

Asean foreign ministers pose for a group photo in Cebu City on Thursday where they discussed the bloc’s response to the Myanmar crisis. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia

Malaysian man arrested after secret trip to see second wife in Indonesia

The 46-year-old told officers that he could not travel by air as his passport was held by the first wife.

28 Jan 2026 - 10:34AM

Aung San Suu Kyi

‘What was the point?’: Myanmar’s loaded election brings win for junta allies

Disenfranchised citizens and migrants dismiss the election as a meaningless exercise designed solely to validate the military’s iron grip.

26 Jan 2026 - 8:37PM

Myanmar's democratic transition

Video | Can Myanmar’s elections bring an end to its civil war?

International observers and bodies have slammed the elections as a sham that is neither free nor fair.

25 Jan 2026 - 9:00AM

06:58

Malaysia

Rohingya refugees at risk of removal as Malaysia begins biometric documentation

Rohingya are often undocumented as Myanmar’s authorities refuse to recognise them as a legitimate community.

22 Jan 2026 - 4:52PMvideocam

A wooden boat carrying suspected Rohingya migrants is detained in waters off the island of Langkawi, Malaysia, in 2020. Photo: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency/AP

Indonesia

440 Indonesians freed from Cambodia cyberscam hubs in criminal crackdown

Workers seek repatriation after scam operators, fearing police raids and new government measures, abruptly release hundreds of staff.

22 Jan 2026 - 5:35PMvideocam

Asean

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

17 Jan 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

India

Why India is losing ground over Bangladesh and Myanmar to regional rivals

Pakistan and China have been drawing closer to Bangladesh and Myanmar in areas such as defence and trade at India’s expense, analysts say.

16 Jan 2026 - 6:35PMvideocam

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets then Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina before a meeting in New Delhi on June 22, 2024. Photo: AP

War and conflict

Video | Police find village-sized meth labs in Myanmar jungle

Junta authorities said they made the discovery after regaining control of land previously run by rebel groups.

15 Jan 2026 - 9:46PM

Asean

Asean urged to rethink stance as Myanmar election risks normalising junta rule

The bloc should encourage Indonesia’s approach of engaging key stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, observers say.

25 Jan 2026 - 3:01PMvideocam

Cambodia

‘Not the end’: Cambodia keeps up scam crackdown after Chen Zhi sent to China

Phnom Penh signals zero tolerance for scam centres following the deportation of the Prince Group tycoon.

14 Jan 2026 - 7:38PMvideocam

Guards escort accused scam boss Chen Zhi off a China Southern plane in Beijing on January 8, after his extradition from Cambodia. Photo: China’s Ministry of Public Security/AFP

Diplomacy

Philippine minister’s ‘premature’ Myanmar visit casts doubts over Asean’s role

Critics say the visit may be viewed as the bloc’s new chair endorsing a controversial junta-led election in Myanmar.

25 Jan 2026 - 3:00PMvideocam

A woman casts a ballot during the second phase of Myanmar’s election in Yangon on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Iran

Iranians use Musk’s Starlink to pierce internet blackout during protests

Smuggled satellite terminals offer a high-risk lifeline as Iran’s protest death toll climbs.

13 Jan 2026 - 8:16PM

Singapore

Singapore jails helper who slapped, hit and kicked elderly dementia patient

Nwe Nwe San also grabbed the 90-year-old woman by her shirt, swung her around several times and repeatedly pushed her onto the sofa.

13 Jan 2026 - 11:43AM

Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s pro-junta party wins Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat: ‘surprise no one’

The military-backed party claims to have won 90 per cent of the available seats so far in a poll activists have derided as ‘engineered’.

25 Jan 2026 - 3:02PMvideocam

A protester holds up a poster featuring Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup on February 15, 2021. Photo: AFP

Scams and swindles

Editorial | Regional cooperation led to arrest of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi

The cross-border nature of his alleged criminal network required governments and law enforcement agencies to work together.

10 Jan 2026 - 6:45AM

This undated photo shows Chen Zhi (centre), who is accused of running a crime network from Cambodia, amid his extradition to China. Photo: Handout

Asean

Why investors continue betting on Southeast Asia amid global tensions

The region’s young labour force, rapid urbanisation and emergence as a tech hotspot have made it attractive to investors, analysts say.

8 Jan 2026 - 5:14PMvideocam

The Philippines

‘Not very high’ bar: Philippines inherits Thailand-Cambodia border crisis

Given Asean’s policy of non-interference, the Philippines may be better off leaving peace negotiations to the US and China, experts say.

5 Jan 2026 - 5:20PMvideocam

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Myanmar

Malaysia smashes high-end sex syndicate charging US$900 a session

The suspected ringleader and salesmen are Chinese nationals while a Singaporean and Malaysian have been asked to assist in investigations.

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

.css-rcruog{color:#C79A00;}Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan

Beijing summons Southeast Asian envoys and invokes Japan’s WWII history, but campaign to isolate Tokyo gains little traction.

Malaysian waters see return of oil transfer by ‘dark fleet’ of tankers

A crackdown against two vessels off Penang was the first disruption of such a ship-to-ship oil transfer in the state for over 10 years.

Video | 4 more telecoms fraud gang members executed in China

Members of the Bai family syndicate were convicted of telecoms fraud, murder and drug trafficking.

China moves to boost cybercrime penalties by adding exit ban after sentences

Amid cross-border crackdown, draft Cybercrime Prevention and Control Law bill lists exit bans among tools to punish cybercriminals.

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

After the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, tens of thousands of public workers left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.

Video | China executes 11 members of telecoms syndicate

Members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

China executes 11 core members of Myanmar-based telecoms fraud ring

They include members of the Ming family crime syndicate found guilty of murder, illegal detention, running casinos and other offences.

How far can Asean engage Myanmar without legitimising military rule?

The bloc’s foreign ministers meet in Cebu amid concerns that diplomacy could slide into tacit acceptance of military rule.

Malaysian man arrested after secret trip to see second wife in Indonesia

The 46-year-old told officers that he could not travel by air as his passport was held by the first wife.

‘What was the point?’: Myanmar’s loaded election brings win for junta allies

Disenfranchised citizens and migrants dismiss the election as a meaningless exercise designed solely to validate the military’s iron grip.

Video | Can Myanmar’s elections bring an end to its civil war?

International observers and bodies have slammed the elections as a sham that is neither free nor fair.

Rohingya refugees at risk of removal as Malaysia begins biometric documentation

Rohingya are often undocumented as Myanmar’s authorities refuse to recognise them as a legitimate community.

440 Indonesians freed from Cambodia cyberscam hubs in criminal crackdown

Workers seek repatriation after scam operators, fearing police raids and new government measures, abruptly release hundreds of staff.

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

Why India is losing ground over Bangladesh and Myanmar to regional rivals

Pakistan and China have been drawing closer to Bangladesh and Myanmar in areas such as defence and trade at India’s expense, analysts say.

Video | Police find village-sized meth labs in Myanmar jungle

Junta authorities said they made the discovery after regaining control of land previously run by rebel groups.

Asean urged to rethink stance as Myanmar election risks normalising junta rule

The bloc should encourage Indonesia’s approach of engaging key stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, observers say.

‘Not the end’: Cambodia keeps up scam crackdown after Chen Zhi sent to China

Phnom Penh signals zero tolerance for scam centres following the deportation of the Prince Group tycoon.

Philippine minister’s ‘premature’ Myanmar visit casts doubts over Asean’s role

Critics say the visit may be viewed as the bloc’s new chair endorsing a controversial junta-led election in Myanmar.

Iranians use Musk’s Starlink to pierce internet blackout during protests

Smuggled satellite terminals offer a high-risk lifeline as Iran’s protest death toll climbs.

Singapore jails helper who slapped, hit and kicked elderly dementia patient

Nwe Nwe San also grabbed the 90-year-old woman by her shirt, swung her around several times and repeatedly pushed her onto the sofa.

Myanmar’s pro-junta party wins Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat: ‘surprise no one’

The military-backed party claims to have won 90 per cent of the available seats so far in a poll activists have derided as ‘engineered’.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Editorial | Regional cooperation led to arrest of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi

The cross-border nature of his alleged criminal network required governments and law enforcement agencies to work together.

Why investors continue betting on Southeast Asia amid global tensions

The region’s young labour force, rapid urbanisation and emergence as a tech hotspot have made it attractive to investors, analysts say.

‘Not very high’ bar: Philippines inherits Thailand-Cambodia border crisis

Given Asean’s policy of non-interference, the Philippines may be better off leaving peace negotiations to the US and China, experts say.

Video | Scam centre members apologise in broadcast confession

Exclusive | Inside China’s rare meeting to lobby Southeast Asia against Japan

Editorial | Regional cooperation led to arrest of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi