Several Asean member states are believed to be upset with Thailand for organising direct talks with Myanmar.

Chin rebels will now look to consolidate their control along the India-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar military has two more camps.

The incident on Monday night saw 29 bodies and 56 wounded pulled from debris at a camp near the northern town of Laiza, on the border with China.

Budget cuts forced the UN to steeply reduce aid to the camps this year – where malnutrition was already rampant – rations are now just US$8 a month per refugee.

In 2021, diplomats close to the junta seized the embassy in London and refused access to Kyaw Zwar Minn – a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi’s overthrown government – and he hasn’t left the ambassador’s residence since.

East Timor has been a strong advocate of democracy, but has also had to moderate its views in order to gain Asean membership.

Myanmar’s ex-leader will be pardoned for five of the 19 offences for which she was jailed for a total of 33 years following the 2021 coup. Former president Win Myint was also pardoned.

Malaysia – a vocal critic of the junta – and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have previously rejected any possibility of dialogue because of human rights issues.

Thailand’s unilateral approach has undermined Asean’s centrality principle and the power of the bloc’s chair, Indonesia, to drive inclusive dialogue with Myanmar, observers note.

The 2 banks receive and transmit foreign currencies for Myanmar’s government, including state-owned enterprises that raise revenue for the junta.

Thai policy could shift to less support for the junta if the pro-democracy Move Forward Party becomes a coalition partner in the new government, observers note.

Asean member states took part in low-key dialogues that included India, China, Japan and Bangladesh earlier this year, as the bloc seeks to help Myanmar resolve its crisis.

During a rare visit, China’s foreign minister meets Myanmar’s junta leader, the most senior official to do so since the 2021 military coup.

Deputy director Sai Kyaw Thu of the Union Election Commission was shot dead and the anti-coup People’s Defence Forces are responsible for the killing, the army’s information team says.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 77, faces 33 years in detention – if her appeal is upheld her sentence could be reduced by 13 years.

As many as 100 people, including schoolchildren performing dances, were killed in the early morning air strike on a remote township. The UN’s rights chief said he was ‘horrified’ by the attack.

Myanmar doesn’t have the financial or technical capabilities to carry out the military modernisation seen on the Coco Islands, analysts say.

The value of food aid will be reduced to US$10 per person from US$12 starting next month due to donor budgets stretched by the pandemic and economic crises.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has made the request as Thailand appears reluctant to hold the junta to account while other neighbouring countries are vocal about the conflict that has sparked a refugee crisis.

France, Germany and Austria among nations named in report by human rights group Special Advisory Council for Myanmar.

Any polls will fall short of democratic standards, and prospects for peace and stability are ‘extremely bleak’ this year, critics say.

Economic, security and governance disruptions followed the military takeover in 2021, leaving many farmers in remote border states little option but to return to growing opium, UN says.

Deal was made even though Israel claimed it stopped defence technology transfers to Myanmar following a 2017 court ruling.

The bombing by jets killed fighters at the headquarters of the Chin National Front; reports say one bomb landed in India’s Mizoram state, but police say it landed on the international boundary.

Title deeds and bank books belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s son and daughter were seized from the Thai home of Tun Min Latt, arrested for trafficking narcotics and money laundering.