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Poppy McPherson
Donald Trump has halted most U.S. government-funded aid globally for 90 days, while moving to dismantle USAID, which he accused of being run "by a bunch of radical lunatics."
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 11, 2025
U.S aid freeze risks handing influence to China in Beijing's backyard
Trump has halted most U.S. government-funded aid globally for 90 days, while moving to dismantle USAID, which he accused of being run "by a bunch of radical lunatics."
Chinese actor Wang Xing shakes hands with a Thai police officer after being assisted in his return to the country, after being kidnapped into one of the telecom fraud centers, at a police station in Thailand-Myanmar border's Mae Sot district, Tak province, Thailand, on Jan. 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
China families appeal to free relatives held by scam gangs in Myanmar
Chinese law does not consider men as potential victims of human trafficking.
Sulaiman, a Rohingya refugee who recently fled Myanmar, poses for a picture at a refugee camp near the town of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Nov. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
How Myanmar’s junta is suppressing information about a hunger crisis
Junta representatives have warned aid workers against releasing data and analysis that indicate millions of people in Myanmar are experiencing serious hunger.
A Rohingya child walks across a bamboo bridge at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 25, 2024
In world's largest refugee camps, Rohingya mobilize to fight in Myanmar
The emergence of Rohingya fighters and weapons in camps is regarded as a ticking time bomb by Bangladesh, one source said
New recruits of the Bamar People's Liberation Army (BPLA) march during a training session at a camp in territory belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army, in Myanmar's Karen state, in March.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2024
How an anxious China is backing Myanmar's faltering junta in civil war
Beijing is increasingly alarmed at the rapid degeneration of the military, which it still sees as a guarantor of stability in its neighbor.
A new U.N. report claims that use of the Telegram messaging app by criminal networks in Southeast Asia has enabled a fundamental change in the way organized crime operates.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024
Southeast Asian crime networks thriving on Telegram, U.N. reports
Scrutiny of the app has brought attention to the criminal liability of app providers and the debate on where freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the law begins.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stands with Mech Dara in Washington on June 15, 2023. An award-winning Cambodian journalist known for his reporting on human trafficking in the cyber scam industry, Dara has been arrested in Cambodia, police said on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 2, 2024
Cambodia charges journalist who exposed trafficking and scam compounds with incitement
In a statement, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in the country’s capital said Mech Dara had posted "provocative" and "false" messages.
The Typhon missile system at Laoag International Airport, in Laoag, Philippines, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 19, 2024
U.S. keeps missile system in Philippines as China tensions rise
China and Russia condemned the move — the first deployment of the system to the Indo-Pacific — and accused Washington of fueling an arms race.
Myanmar's junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, at a parade in Naypyitaw in March 2021
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2023
Losing ground to rebel alliance, Myanmar junta faces biggest test
The fiercest fighting has been near Myanmar's border with China in northern Shan state.
U.S and Philippine military officials link arms with U.S. Embassy representative Heather Variava during the opening ceremony of the annual Philippines-U.S. joint military exercises at the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on April 11.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2023
U.S. military in talks to develop port in Philippines facing Taiwan
The move could stoke tensions at a time of growing friction with China.
Maung Saungkha at an undisclosed location in the jungles of southeast Myanmar
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 4, 2023
Myanmar poet turned rebel leader seeks new base to confront junta
The growth of Maung Saungkha's BPLA owes much to his skills in building bridges with other armed groups, according to allies and analysts.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 11, 2023
Myanmar junta chief's family assets found in Thai drug raid, sources say
Title deeds and bankbooks belonging to Min Aung Hlaing's daughter and son were found at the home of Tun Min Latt, 53, when he was arrested in the Thai capital.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 15, 2022
Monk militia: The Buddhist clergy backing Myanmar's junta
Buddhist monks in Myanmar previously sought to topple successive military dictatorships that kept citizens impoverished and isolated, but many are now supporters of the new junta.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 14, 2022
Troops burn villages in Myanmar heartland as they seek to crush resistance
The military and pro-military militias have been setting fire to villages in central Myanmar almost every day since December.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 11, 2021
The young generation risking it all to topple the Myanmar junta
The battle has made guerrilla fighters of university lecturers, day laborers, tech workers, students and artists and forced countless young men and women into a life on the run.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 19, 2021
Tradition versus credibility: Inside the ASEAN meet that snubbed Myanmar
Southeast Asian ministers were divided between sticking to a tradition of non-interference and the need to retain credibility by sanctioning coup leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 8, 2021
How family of a Myanmar junta leader are trying to cash in
Family members of the air force chief have enjoyed a lifestyle that is out of reach for the vast majority of Myanmar's people.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2021
How Myanmar's military moved in on the telecoms sector to spy on citizens
Intercept spyware gives the military the power to listen in on calls, view text messages and web traffic, and track the locations of users without the assistance of telecom firms.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Mar 23, 2021
Inside the 'spring revolution' opposing Myanmar's military coup
Scores of politicians, officials and activists are taking part in an unprecedented struggle for control of Myanmar playing out across the country and overseas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 10, 2021
'Rude and insolent': Fraught talks preceded coup by Myanmar army
Interviews with government advisers and others who worked with Aung San Suu Kyi help reconstruct the events that led to the Feb. 1 coup.

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