DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Thailand is now the Myanmar junta’s favored banking destination as military attacks ramp up, UN expert says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Helen Regan | Kocha Olarn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong/Bangkok CNN —International banks are playing a significant role in the Myanmar military junta’s ability to carry out its systematic and deadly assault on its people, a new United Nations-backed report has found. Athit Perawongmetha/ReutersThe Thai connectionSingapore-based entities were Myanmar’s third largest source of weapons and military materials. In 2022, Singapore-based banks facilitated more than 70% of the junta’s purchases passing through the banking system. Looking for other financial institutions, the junta found neighboring Thailand. “Our banking and financial institutions follow banking protocols as any major financial hub.

Persons: Tom Andrews, ” Andrews, Banks, ”, Athit Perawongmetha, “ Organizations: Bangkok CNN — International, United Nations, UN, Administration Council, SAC, “ Banking, Military Junta, States, Karen National Liberation Army, Siam Commercial Bank, CNN, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Bank Locations: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Myanmar, Singapore, Myawaddy, Thailand, Thai, Siam

☆ His Photos Exposed a Bloody Crackdown, but His Identity Was a Secret
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is an iconic image — a black-and-white photo of a blood-splattered student being clubbed by a paratrooper medic. It was the first photo to slip through the military cordon around Gwangju, South Korea, in 1980, exposing the brutal suppression of what would be known as the Gwangju Democratization Movement. But for years, the identity of the photographer — an unassuming man named Na Kyung Taek — remained a secret. Mr. Chun’s rule ended in 1988, and now many in South Korea support a Constitutional revision to sanctify Gwangju’s role in the country’s democratization. But he was still haunted by what he saw that fateful spring.

Persons: —, Na, Chun, Chun’s Locations: Gwangju, South Korea, South

☆ US begins pulling military equipment from Niger ahead of withdrawal deadline
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-08 | by ( Anneclaire Stapleton | Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The US priority was first to remove sensitive equipment from Niger, a source familiar with the matter said. Much of the US military and equipment has been in Niamey at what’s known as Base 101. A source confirmed this flight was to withdraw military equipment and some personnel. The relationship between the US and the military junta grew increasingly strained as Biden administration officials called for a clear path to free and fair elections. The US was also forced to wait for the Nigerien military junta to approve flight clearances to withdraw personnel and equipment, an agreement which was only reached last month.

Persons: Sergey Lavrov, Michael Langley Organizations: CNN, US Department of Defense, Department of National Defense of, Nigerien, US, Biden, Russia’s Defense, Russian, US Africa Command Locations: Niger, Republic of Niger, Niamey, what’s, US, West African, Kremlin, Russia, Burkina Faso, Mali

☆ Sudan’s government accuses militia of killing scores in massacre
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Hamdi Alkhshali | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Mini Arko Minawi, the governor of Sudan’s Darfur province said that at least 150 people were killed in the Wednesday attack. Another video allegedly shows the RSF militia firing heavy and medium weapons towards the village. The Transitional Sovereignty Council condemned the RSF’s actions, describing them as part of a systematic campaign of violence against civilians. “This heinous crime is added to the series of crimes committed by this rebel militia in many states of Sudan. Allegations of massacresSince the conflict started, both the Sudanese army and the RSF have faced damning accusations of civilian massacres.

Persons: ” Minawi, General Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Omar al, Bashir, Tahir Ibrahim Al, Khair, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, ” CNN’s Avery Schmitz Organizations: CNN, Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Congress Party, Sudanese Army, SAF, Rapid Support, Sovereignty, Sudanese, SUNA, UN’s, Organization for Migration, UN, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations, UN Security Council Locations: Sudan, Sudanese, Al, Jazira State, Jazira, Sudan’s Darfur, Sudan’s, Darfur

☆ Russia will increase the number of military instructors in Burkina Faso, foreign minister says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Anneclaire Stapleton | Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia will increase the number of military instructors in Burkina Faso, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday during a trip to the West African nation. “Here, Russian instructors are working; their number will increase.”Russia furthermore intends to supply Burkina Faso with military products to strengthen the country’s defense capability, he said. Burkina Faso is currently under military rule after a junta staged a coup d’état in July 2022. Engulfed in violence, Burkina Faso has been named the world’s most neglected displacement crisis for the second year, by the NRC. Burkina Faso was the first country to do this quickly and effectively,” he said.

Persons: Sergey Lavrov, ” Lavrov, Lavrov, Ibrahim Traoré, Yevkurov, Traoré, Thomas Waldhauser, ” Organizations: CNN, Russian, Russian Federation, Russian Deputy Defense, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, US Africa Command, Africa Command Locations: Russia, Burkina Faso, West African, Russian, Ouagadougou, “, China, Africa, Ukraine, ”

☆ A Myanmar Rebel Group Is Accused of Persecuting Rohingya
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Verena Hölzl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

International courts are still investigating the Myanmar military’s slaughter of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017 that the United States has called a genocide. Now a new threat to the group is looming, this time at the hands of a powerful rebel force. That force, the Arakan Army, has won control of large parts of Rakhine State in Myanmar over the past few months, most recently the northern section where many Rohingya still live. The Arakan Army has rejected these allegations. Formed roughly 15 years ago, the Arakan Army claims to be 40,000 people strong and has fought Myanmar’s military for years.

Persons: Rohingya Organizations: Arakan Army Locations: Myanmar, United States, Bangladesh, Arakan, Rakhine State, Rakhine

☆ Buthidaung: Fires rage as Rohingya caught up on the front lines of Myanmar’s civil war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Helen Regan | Avery Schmitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

This satellite image shows Buthidaung, Myanmar, on January 17, 2024. © 2024 Maxar Technologies This satellite image shows Buthidaung, Myanmar, on May 18, 2024. This satellite image shows a damaged bridge in Buthidaung, Myanmar, on May 18, 2024. Warnings of further atrocitiesAn immediate concern is a humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state, with newly displaced residents unable to access food or clean water. The Myanmar military has blocked all access,” said Nay San Lwin.

Persons: Farooq, ”, Young, Volker Türk, Kyaw, –, Buthidaung –, “, John Quinley, Khaing, Lwin, Rohingya, Pan, Matthew Miller Organizations: CNN, Arakan Army, AA, Resource Management, Free Rohingya Coalition, International Court of Justice, Council, Myanmar, UN Human Rights Council, National Unity Government, Free Rohingya Coalition –, Maxar Technologies, “, ” CNN, Bangladesh, Labs, Medecins, Rakhine . State Department, Unity Government Locations: Myanmar’s, Myanmar, Rakhine, Arakan, Bangladesh, Buthidaung, Lwin, Indonesia, San Lwin, Rakhine State

☆ Kenyan President’s State Visit: An Antidote to U.S. Troubles in Africa?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As other African nations move away from the United States, disillusioned with democracy or lured by rival powers, President William Ruto of Kenya arrives in Washington on Wednesday for a three-day state visit intended to showcase a stalwart American ally on the continent. Relations with once-firm American allies like South Africa and Ethiopia are decidedly cool. Mr. Ruto, the Biden administration hopes, is the antidote to those troubles. Since he came to power two years ago, Mr. Ruto, 57, has pulled Kenya, the economic powerhouse of East Africa, ever closer to the United States. His visit is just the sixth state visit hosted by the Biden administration, and the first for an African president since 2008.

Persons: William Ruto, Ruto, Biden Locations: United States, Kenya, Washington, American, Russia, China, Niger, South Africa, Ethiopia, Senegal, East Africa

☆ US reaches agreement with Niger to withdraw military forces by September 15
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Oren Liebermann | Anneclaire Stapleton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US has reached an agreement with Niger to withdraw its military forces from the African nation by September 15, according to the US Defense Department and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense. Niger’s military government announced in March that it had ended an accord with the US that allowed military personnel and civilian staff from the Department of Defense to operate in the country. The US delegation met with Niger’s ruling military junta last week to try to reach an agreement that would allow for the secure withdrawal of US forces and for clearances for military flights. The delegations also established procedures to facilitate the entry and exit of U.S. personnel, including overflight and landing clearances for military flights,” the joint statement said. Rebuffing the calls, the military junta instead began partnering more with Russia, whose forces are now operating at the same base from which US forces are withdrawing.

Persons: Balima, Chris Meier, Mamane Sani Kiaou, Biden, ” Organizations: CNN, US Defense Department, Nigerien Ministry of National Defense, Department of Defense, Getty, Nigerien Locations: Niger, Niamey, Anadolu, Russia, US, United States

☆ US hopes to maintain some forces in Niger as talks on withdrawal continue, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Haley Britzky | Katie Bo Lillis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Officials said a US delegation will travel to Niger over the weekend to discuss how it will be carried out. “Niger is pretty profound in the decision of the government there … to have us depart or at least go to very low numbers,” Maier said. Since the coup in July, airspace has been closed over Niger to foreign militaries who have all had to submit individual requests for airspace to conduct military flights, one US official told CNN. A US military official explained that the withdrawal will come in phases over a period of months. The footprint will continue to shrink in phases as equipment and personnel not deemed necessary are moved out of country.

Persons: “ We’ll, ” Chris Maier, ” Maier, Michael Langley, ”, — Organizations: CNN, Pentagon, US Africa Command, Russian Federation Locations: Niger, West African, “ Niger, Africa, Russia, United States, Chad, Russian, China, Israel

In flip-flops and shorts, one of the finest soldiers in a resistance force battling the military junta in Myanmar showed off his weaponry. Nearby, electrical innards foraged from Chinese-made drones used for agricultural purposes were arrayed on the ground, their wires exposed as if awaiting surgery. Other parts needed to construct homemade drones, including chunks of Styrofoam studded with propellers, crowded a pair of leaf-walled shacks. Despite the ragtag conditions, rebel drone units have managed to upend the power balance in Myanmar. By most measures, the military that wrested power from a civilian administration in Myanmar three years ago is far bigger and better equipped than the hundreds of militias fighting to reclaim the country.

Persons: Ko Shan Organizations: Karenni Nationalities Defense Force Locations: Myanmar

☆ The Bleak Life of a Deposed President and His Wife, Held Captive
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Elian Peltier | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Held captive by his former security guards in an isolated wing of his house, the deposed president of Niger paces a bedroom with no direct daylight, cut off from the world and unable to talk to his lawyers, according to people with direct knowledge of the conditions of his detention. Nine months since he was toppled in one of the coups that have recently wracked West Africa, Mohamed Bazoum is lingering in detention with no end in sight. The military junta that deposed him is seeking to strip him of presidential immunity, paving the way for him to be prosecuted on charges such as treason, for which the penalty could be life imprisonment, his lawyers said. His only visitor is a doctor, who brings him food once a week. Many of Mr. Bazoum’s closest allies — his cabinet members and advisers — have been thrown into jail or forced to flee Niger.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Hadiza, Bazoum’s, — Locations: Niger, West Africa

☆ Russian forces are operating at same base as US troops in Niger
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Russians have been using a separate hangar on the base, known as Air Base 101, the sources said, and are not operating in the same space as the Americans. They also raised questions about the future of Air Base 101 and whether it would be ceded to the Russians, CNN previously reported. Reuters first reported that the Russians troops had entered Air Base 101. Russian media reported on April 11 that Russia was sending equipment and 100 military trainers to Niger, though one of the sources said Russian troops were in the country well before April. More than half of the US troops stationed at the French military base in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have now left the country and relocated to Germany.

Persons: Michael Langley, Celeste Wallander, Sabrina Singh Organizations: CNN, Russian, Air Base, US Africa Command, Nigerien, Pentagon, Reuters, Russia’s Defense Locations: Niger, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Chad, N’Djamena, Germany

☆ India deports Myanmar refugees who fled 2021 coup
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Guwahati, India — India on Thursday deported the first group of Myanmar refugees who had sought shelter after a 2021 military coup, a top state minister said, following weeks of efforts that were hampered by fighting between Myanmar’s rebel forces and the ruling junta. Thousands of civilians and hundreds of troops from Myanmar have crossed the border to India after the coup. This has worried New Delhi, which has announced plans to fence its border with Myanmar and end a visa-free movement policy. “Without any discrimination, we have completed the first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar,” Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a social media post. “The state government is continuing the identification of illegal immigrants.”Thousands of people have crossed from Myanmar into India since the 2021 coup, like these civilians seen in India's border state of Mizoram on November 20, 2021.

Persons: Biren Singh, Rupak De Chowdhuri, Singh, Narendra Modi’s, Modi Organizations: “, Reuters, Indian, Refugee Convention, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: Guwahati, India, Myanmar, New Delhi, Manipur, India's, Mizoram

☆ Burkina Faso army executed over 220 villagers in February, HRW says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Burkina Faso’s military in February summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Burkina Faso government did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the HRW report. Retaliatory attacksRights groups have previously accused the military in junta-ruled Burkina Faso of attacking and killing civilians suspected of collaborating with militants in retaliatory operations. Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions. Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.

Persons: Witnesses, HRW, Tirana Hassan, Mali’s Organizations: Reuters, Burkina, jihadist, Human Rights Watch, Ouahigouya, HRW, Facebook, Burkina Faso, Authorities, Rights Watch, Burkinabe, African Union, United Nations, Islamic Locations: Burkina Faso’s, Yatenga, Burkina Faso, Komsilga, Burkina, Nodin, Soro, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Mali, Niger

☆ A Gen Z Resistance, Cut Off From Data Plans
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Hannah Beech | Adam Ferguson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the night, the mountain air not quite chill enough to still the insects, young people gathered around a glow. The light attracting them was not a phone screen, that electric lure for people almost everywhere, but a bonfire. Moths courted the flame, sparking when they veered too close, then swooning to their deaths. For months now, these hills of Karenni State in eastern Myanmar have been severed from modern communications. In these resistance strongholds, where people from around the nation have congregated, there is almost no internet, cell service or even electricity.

Persons: strummed Locations: Karenni State, Myanmar

☆ Kim Aris: Aung San Suu Kyi’s son casts doubt on reports Myanmar former leader has been moved from prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Drn/Getty Images Suu Kyi, front center, is seen with her parents and her two elder brothers in 1947. Kyodo News Stills/Getty Images Suu Kyi poses with Burmese comedian Par Par Lay, who was part of the pro-democracy act "The Moustache Brothers." Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images Suu Kyi meets US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon in 2011. Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images Suu Kyi is presented with the Congressional Gold Medal while visiting the US Capitol in 2012. U Aung/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Suu Kyi addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2016.

Persons: Aung, Suu, ”, Kim Aris, Suu Kyi, she’s, ” Aris, CNN’s Anna Coren, “, Michael Aris, ” “, Zaw Min Tun, Min Aung Hlaing, Aris, they’ve, Ma Khin Kyi, Par, Karl Malakunas, David Brunnstrom, Jonathan Karp, Price, Luis D'Orey, David Van Der Veen, Jonathan Utz, Michael Wolf, Pornchai Kittiwongsakul, Soe, Hillary Clinton, Paula Bronstein, Minzayar Oo, Kyi, Bono, Peter Muhly, Alex Wong, Barack Obama, Obama, Brendan Smialowski, Chris Ison, Ragnar Singsaas, Romeo Gacad, Lauren DeCicca, Lam Yik Fei, Htin Kyaw, Aung Naing, Min Aung, Aung Htet, Kyaw, Jewel SamadD, John Kerry, Jonathan Ernst, Reuters Suu Kyi, Heath Mitchell, Pope Francis, Elizabeth II, John Stillwell, Mike Pence, Bernat, Myanmar's, Koen Van Weel, ’ Aris, I’d, Suu Kyi’s NLD Organizations: CNN, Aung, National League for Democracy, Aris, Reuters, Burma Independence Army, Kyodo, Stills, Oxford University, Getty, Embassy, Suu Kyi, Panos, Congressional, Capitol, Suu, Xinhua News Agency, United Nations General Assembly, National Park Service, Palace, ASEAN, Court of Justice, Association for Political, United Nations Locations: Myanmar, Britain, Rangoon, Yangon, Myanmar’s, Zaw, heatstroke, Naypyidaw, India, Par Par Lay, England, AFP, Bangkok, Thailand, Bagan, Pathein, Camberley, Oslo, Norway, Kawhmu, New York, Washington ,, Washington, DC, Singapore, Gambia, “, Burma, doesn’t

☆ A Ragtag Resistance Sees the Tide Turning in a Forgotten War
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Hannah Beech | Adam Ferguson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The night Ma Suu Kyi thought she would die of her wounds on the front lines of a forgotten war, a crescent moon hung overhead. Or maybe, she said, it was not yet time for her to die. “I’m an ordinary girl, an ordinary young person. I believe in federal democracy and human rights.”Ms. Suu Kyi said the words “federal democracy” in English. A new generation, which came of age during the civilian administration of the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has taken to arms, joining rebels who have opposed military dictatorship for decades.

Persons: Suu, Virgin Mary dangled, ” Ms, Suu Kyi, Ms, Daw Aung Organizations: Virgin Locations: Myanmar, Suu

☆ What’s Happening In Myanmar’s Civil War?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Hannah Beech | Weiyi Cai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

RUSSIA CHINA INDIA Pacific Ocean MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian Ocean AUSTRALIA RUSSIA CHINA INDIA Pacific Ocean MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian Ocean AUSTRALIAWhat’s Happening In Myanmar’s Civil War? Parliamentary rule 1962 Military coup 1988 Nearly five decades of military rule Widespread pro-democracy protests followed by bloody military crackdown. National civil unrest 2021 Military coup ended power sharing with civilian government. Parliamentary rule Nearly five decades of military rule National civil unrest British colonial rule 1948 1988 1990 2007 2011 2021 1962 2015 Widespread pro-democracy protests followed by bloody military crackdown. National civil unrest 2021 Military coup ended power sharing with civilian government.

Persons: Adam Ferguson, Min Aung, Daw Aung, Suu Kyi, Aung, —, Tom Andrews, Chin, Rakhine Karen Mon Bamar, Kayan, Karen, Ms, hideouts Organizations: MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian Ocean, Insurgent, Council, Myanmar, 8th Battalion, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, The New York Times, Senior, National Unity Government, People’s Defense Forces, Rebels, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Myanmar Peace Monitor, United Nations, General Administration Department, Union of, United, National Liberation Army Locations: RUSSIA CHINA, MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian Ocean AUSTRALIA RUSSIA CHINA, MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian, MYANMAR INDONESIA Indian Ocean AUSTRALIA, INDIA CHINA BANGLADESH Mandalay MYANMAR LAOS Naypyidaw Bay, Bengal Yangon THAILAND, INDIA CHINA Mandalay MYANMAR, Yangon THAILAND Bay, Bengal, Myanmar, Ukraine, Gaza, India, China, Karenni State, country’s, Suu, Myanmar’s, British, Sagaing Region, MYANMAR, Naypyidaw, Burma, United States, Rakhine, Thailand, Union, Union of Burma, Afghanistan

☆ Why Myanmar’s War Matters, Even if the World Isn’t Watching
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

An escalating civil war threatens to break apart a country of roughly 55 million people that sits between China and India. That has international consequences, but the conflict hasn’t commanded wide attention. Over the past six months, resistance fighters in Myanmar’s hinterlands have been defeating the ruling military junta in battle after battle, stunning analysts. That raises the possibility that the junta could be at risk of collapsing.

Persons: hasn’t Locations: China, India

☆ Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, a spokesperson for the military government told media. It was not immediately clear where Suu Kyi had been moved to. Suu Kyi has been detained by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her government in a 2021 coup. A spokesperson for the NUG shadow government called for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi and U Win Myint, Myanmar’s ousted president, who has also been moved to house arrest according to the media reports. They must take full responsibility for the health and security of Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint,” spokesperson Kyaw Zaw told Reuters late on Tuesday.

Persons: Myanmar’s, Nobel, Aung, Suu Kyi, Zaw Min Tun, Min Tun, Kim Aris, Kyaw Zaw Organizations: Aung, Reuters Locations: heatstroke, Zaw, Myanmar

☆ Middle class wiped out: Half of Myanmar’s people forced into poverty by civil war, UN report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Once considered among the most promising economies in Southeast Asia with a growing middle class, Myanmar is now suffering from soaring levels of poverty as a devastating civil war drives tens of millions further into destitution, according to a new United Nations report. Poverty has not only doubled but people are also more deeply poor, the report found. Wignaraja said Myanmar’s middle class is “literally disappearing.”“A 50% collapse of the middle class over two and a half years is quite astounding for this country, but for any country,” she said. The value of Myanmar’s local currency, the kyat, has plummeted, along with rising costs for food and other basic necessities. “We call on all stakeholders — inside and outside Myanmar — to take action and preserve vulnerable households from slipping into irreversible poverty and despair.”

Persons: Aung, Suu Kyi, ”, Kanni Wignaraja, Wignaraja, Achim Steiner Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UN Development Program, UNDP, Asian Development Bank, Bank, Asia Locations: Southeast Asia, Myanmar, destitution, Suu, Yangon, Mandalay

☆ Niger: Russian weapons and trainers arrive, weeks after US military agreement ends
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Michael Rios | Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Russia has delivered military equipment to Niger that will provide the African country with the “latest generation of anti-aircraft defense systems,” Nigerien state broadcaster RTN said Thursday. The equipment arrived in Niamey on Wednesday along with 100 Russian military instructors who will install the system and train Nigerien soldiers to use it, RTN added. AFP/Getty ImagesThe arrival of Russian instructors followed a recent phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nigerien General Abdourahamane Tiani on March 26 when the two leaders discussed “ensuring security and combating terrorism.”Since seizing power in a coup last year, Niger’s junta has been strengthening military ties with Russia while turning away from the US and France. Last month, the junta said it was ending an accord with the US that allowed military personnel and civilian staff from the US Department of Defense to operate in Niger. France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, withdrew its troops from the African nation at the end of 2023.

Persons: RTN, Novosti, Seyni, Vladimir Putin, Abdourahamane Tiani Organizations: CNN, RIA Novosti, NATO, Niger's National Council, Safeguard, Getty, Nigerien, US Department of Defense Locations: Russia, Niger, Nigerien, Niamey, Africa, ”, Agust, AFP, France, Niger . France

CNN —Myanmar rebels fighting the junta say they have seized the last remaining military base in a key border town, dealing the latest significant blow to the country’s military rulers as they struggle to cling to power. About 200 soldiers abandoned their base in the southeastern town of Myawaddy and have been pushed to the No 2. “Officially we (are in) control of the town Myawaddy since last night,” KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee said. Footage also showed Thai military vehicles and troops stationed along the border. CNN has reached out to Myanmar’s military junta for comment.

Persons: Karen, ”, Saw Taw, Thailand’s Mae Sot, Manan Vatsyayana, “, Naw Tee, Aung, Thailand's, Prasarn Saengsirirak, ” Prasarn, Prasarn, Kim Jolliffe, it’s Organizations: CNN, Myanmar, Karen National Union, UN, Reuters, Getty, Karen National Liberation Army, Command, National League for Democracy, Army, Arakan Army Locations: Myawaddy, Myanmar, Thailand, Thailand’s, Tak, Thailand's Mae Sot, AFP, Teetering, Aung San, Kachin, China, Rakhine, Arakan

☆ Challenged by Uprising, Myanmar Junta Cracks Down Harder
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Caleb Quinley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tens of thousands more pro-democracy protesters locked up. The return of military rule has wreaked havoc in Myanmar in recent years. Now the junta is growing increasingly brutal as a rebel uprising has gained ground in the countryside. Conditions in military-run prisons have deteriorated further, they say, with prisoners being deprived of food, proper sanitation and health care, and facing horrific torture. They also threatened to shoot me in the head, and shot live rounds beside my head.”

Persons: ”, Myar Reh Locations: Myanmar, Karenni State

Search resuls for: "junta"

25 mentions found