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☆ Tiny fish can make noises louder than an elephant, says new study
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A small species of fish that measures no more than half an inch in length is capable of producing sounds louder than an elephant, according to a new study. Danionella cerebrum, tiny translucent fish that live in shallow waters off Myanmar, can make noises of more than 140 decibels, an international team of scientists report in a press release published Tuesday. Large animals tend to be capable of producing louder noises than small ones, with elephants able to make sounds up to 125 decibels with their trunks. There are also some fish species that make unusually loud noises, such as the male plainfin midshipman fish, which is capable of making mating calls up to 130 decibels, but Danionella cerebrum appears to be unique among fish. “No other fish has been reported to use repeated unilateral muscle contractions for sound production,” reads the study.

Persons: Danionella, ”, Ralf Britz, Danionella cerebrum Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Myanmar, Dresden, Germany

☆ A 'family vacation' for two: Why more parents are taking trips with one child at a time
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Marylou Costa | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

They travel together, but time away with just one child and one parent has perks that family trips don't often provide, she said. "Travelling with only one child allows you to focus on the needs of only that child," she said. Source: Sonja ProkopecProkopec hasn't taken solo trips with her two youngest children, mostly because of Covid-19, she said. Mother-and-daughter trips in particular are on the rise, though father-and-child trips are also becoming more popular, according to the company. She said she vividly remembers the trips she took as a child with her mother and grandmother.

Persons: Sonja Prokopec, Prokopec, she's, —, Prokopec's, Laith, Sonja Prokopec Prokopec hasn't, Scott Dunn, Scott Dunn's, Mike Harlow, Scott Dunn's Mike Harlow, Harlow, Chiang, Monica Pitrelli, Madeline Austin Organizations: CNBC Travel, Istock, Getty, Yellowstone, Hollywood Locations: Rome, London, Turkey, Norway, Finland, Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, South Korea, India, Chiang Rai, Myanmar, Thai, California, Los Angeles , California

☆ US agents fooled a yakuza boss into giving them weapons-grade plutonium he thought would be sold to Iran: court docs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US officials say they arrested a Japanese crime boss trying to sell nuclear fuel. The documents said Takeshi Ebisawa thought the fuel would go to an Iranian nuclear-weapons program. AdvertisementUS agents say they tricked a Japanese crime lord into handing over nuclear fuel to them in an audacious sting operation. They said the DEA fooled Ebisawa into believing he was selling them a shipment of plutonium and uranium to help Iran to build nuclear weapons. AdvertisementThey say Ebisawa was invited onto a video call with somebody posing as an Iranian general as part of the ruse.

Persons: Takeshi Ebisawa, —, Ebisawa, Damian Williams, Somphop Singhasiri Organizations: Service, Business, Department of Justice Locations: Iranian, Iran, Brooklyn, Myanmar, Thailand, Burma

☆ Delivery Hero ends talks to sell Foodpanda in Southeast Asia after months of negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Insulated food bags branded with the logo of Foodpanda, a meal-delivery service operated by Delivery Hero, sit at the company's operations center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 16, 2018. German food delivery giant Delivery Hero announced it has ended negotiations with an undisclosed third party regarding the potential sale of its Foodpanda business in selected Southeast Asian markets, where it is attempting to downsize. In a press release on Wednesday, Delivery Hero said the relevant parties failed to agree on the terms. "The decision to terminate negotiations after months of discussions was taken after careful consideration," said Niklas Östberg, CEO and co-founder of Delivery Hero. Just last week, Östberg said he was happy to hold onto the Foodpanda brand, after the German company's share price plunged on reports that negotiations to sell the Southeast Asian units had collapsed.

Persons: Niklas Östberg, Östberg Locations: Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos

☆ Myanmar military conscription law sparks panic and fear as youth prepare to flee
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Helen Regan | Angus Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

It’s a terrifying prospect that could become a reality for Anna and millions of her peers across Myanmar after the military junta activated a mandatory conscription law for all young men and women. “While wounded and increasingly desperate, the Myanmar military junta remains extremely dangerous,” Tom Andrews, United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said in a statement. “People know for sure that no matter what is written in the conscription law, they will have to go to the front lines. “In Myanmar, young people are not safe anymore,” said Maung Nyein, who also requested to use a pseudonym for safety reasons. “Our villagers won’t join the military forces or leave the country, instead we will join our resistance forces.

Persons: Anna, ”, “, ” Tom Andrews, — “, Aung, —, Ting Aung, Zaw Min Tun, Young, Kyaw Naing, Sen, Min Aung Hlaing, Kyaw, doesn’t, ” Anna, he’s, he’ll, Khin Ohmar, Stringer, Maung, Maung Nyein, terrifies, Ko, Maung Aye, he’d Organizations: CNN, Thai Embassy, Getty, Analysts, United Nations, People’s Defense Forces, National Unity Government, United, CNN Defense, Armed Forces, Reuters, Facebook, Foreign Ministry, Myanmar, Mandalay People's Defense Forces, Immigration, International Labour Locations: Myanmar, Myanmar’s, Yangon, AFP, United States, Naypyidaw, Thailand, Rakhine, Mandalay, Shan State, “, Shwebo, Sagaing

☆ Japanese Crime Boss Trafficked Nuclear Material From Myanmar, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Ed Shanahan | More About Ed Shanahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A man identified by federal prosecutors as a leader of Japan’s Yakuza organized crime syndicate was charged on Wednesday with trafficking uranium and plutonium from Myanmar with the expectation that Iran would use the material to make nuclear weapons. The man, Takeshi Ebisawa, is accused of conspiring with a network of associates to sell the weapons-grade material and illegal narcotics and to buy surface-to-air missiles on behalf of an ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. “It is impossible to overstate the seriousness of the conduct alleged in today’s indictment,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in announcing the charges. Mr. Ebisawa, 60, is being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn after being charged, along with three co-defendants, with international drug and weapons trafficking crimes in 2022. A lawyer representing him in connection with that indictment did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Persons: Japan’s, Takeshi Ebisawa, ” Damian Williams, Ebisawa Locations: Myanmar, Iran, Burma, U.S, Manhattan, Brooklyn

☆ Female Recruits Head Into Battle With Myanmar's Pro-Democracy Rebels
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Lilian Manansala | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Women in Myanmar are upending cultural norms by enlisting in the fight against the military junta that took control of the country in 2021.

Locations: Myanmar

☆ Feds charge Japanese Yakuza leader with nuclear materials trafficking
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The DOJ alleges that a high-ranking member of the Yakuza, Takeshi Ebisawa, was the central figure in a plot to funnel American weapons to ethnic militias in Myanmar in exchange for heroin and meth. Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday said they charged a Japanese Yakuza leader with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to other countries in the belief that they would be used by Iran to make a nuclear weapon. "A U.S. nuclear forensic laboratory later analyzed the samples and confirmed that the samples contain uranium and weapons-grade plutonium," the statement said. Williams said Ebisawa "brazenly trafficked" the nuclear material while believing it would be used to develop a nuclear weapons program." The top prosecutor also said that even as he tried to sell the nuclear materials, the Yakuza leader "also negotiated for the purchase of deadly weapons, including surface-to-air missiles," M60 machine guns, AK-47s and armor-piercing ammunition.

Persons: Takeshi Ebisawa, Ebisawa, Damian Williams, Williams Organizations: DOJ, U.S . Drug, Administration, Attorney's, U.S, AK Locations: Myanmar, New York, Japanese, Burma, Iran, Thailand, Iranian, Manhattan, U.S

☆ Takeshi Ebisawa: Alleged yakuza leader charged with attempting to sell nuclear materials from Myanmar
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An alleged leader of a Japanese organized crime syndicate has been charged with attempting to sell weapons-grade nuclear materials from the leader of an ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar, according to a new indictment from the US Justice Department. Takeshi Ebisawa, an alleged leader in the yakuza who was arrested in 2022 on charges over drug and weapons trafficking conspiracies, faces several new charges for allegedly attempting to sell nuclear materials to someone he believed was an Iranian general, in exchange for a significant weapons cache. The agent asked Ebisawa if the material was usable for nuclear weapons, saying that Iran needed “it for nuclear weapons.”“I think so and I hope so,” Ebisawa said, according to the indictment. In a recorded video call, brokers for the leader of the insurgent group claimed the leader had thousands of kilograms of nuclear material and “could produce as much as five tons of nuclear materials in” the territory the leader controlled. During the call, the DEA undercover agent asked about exchanging uranium for weapons from Iran, which the brokers and the leader agreed with.

Persons: CNN —, Takeshi Ebisawa, Ebisawa, ”, ” Ebisawa Organizations: CNN, US Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Court, Southern, of New Locations: Myanmar, Iranian, Iran, Burma, Ebisawa

☆ Two Dead, Scores Injured After Police Open Fire in India's Manipur State
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Tora AgarwalaGUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - At least two people were killed and scores injured in India's northeastern Manipur state after security forces opened fire at a mob in Churachandpur district late on Thursday, a police official said, as sporadic violence continued in the region. Churachandpur, home to the Kuki-Zo community, was among the first areas in the state to witness ethnic clashes when violence first erupted in May. About 400 people stormed the district police chief's office at around 7.30 p.m. (1400 GMT), demanding the order be revoked. The official said about 25 people were injured, and were being treated in hospital. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), an apex tribal body, warned district police chief Shivanand Surve, who had issued the suspension order, to leave Churachandpur within the next 24 hours.

Persons: Tora Agarwala, Shivanand Surve, Sudipto Ganguly, Kim Coghill Organizations: Security, Authorities, Indigenous Tribal Leaders ' Locations: Tora Agarwala GUWAHATI, India, India's, Manipur, Churachandpur, Kuki, Myanmar

☆ Analysis-Myanmar Junta's Conscription Plan Lays Bare Toll of Fighting Rebels
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

A junta spokesman did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment. The current size of the anti-junta resistance is now likely higher with the emergence of more resistance groups as the conflict drags on, analysts said. The Tatmadaw, as the military is known, has not publicly declared the size of its fighting force in recent years. A dozen people eligible to serve also told Reuters that they would rather leave the country than join the military. "They couldn't send backup troops in Rakhine battles," AA spokesman Khine Thu Kha told Reuters via phone.

Persons: Richard Horsey, Nobel, Aung, Suu Kyi, Ye Myo Hein, Generals, Anthony Davis, Miemie Winn Byrd, Htet Myat, Min Aung Hlaing, Andrew Selth, Selth, Khine Thu Kha, Devjyot, Miral Fahmy Organizations: Reuters, United States Institute of Peace, British, U.S ., Griffith Asia Institute, Arakan Army, Reuters Staff Locations: China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Suu, U.S, Rakhine

“Climate and conflict are two leading drivers of (our) global food crisis,” the secretary-general said. And in Myanmar, prospects of ending hunger have gone into reverse because of conflict and instability, he said. Simon Stiell, the United Nations climate chief, told the council that climate change is contributing to food insecurity and to conflict. Framework Convention on Climate Change said the Security Council “must acknowledge more can be done rather than hoping the problem will go away — which it won’t.”The U.N.’s most powerful body should be requesting regular updates on climate security risks, he said. But climate change, environmental and security pressures have led to increased tensions and competition between herders and farmers for scarce resources including water and land, she said.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, “, ”, Guterres, Simon Stiell, ” Stiell, Beth Bechdol, ” Bechdol, Bechdol, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, ” Ali, U.N, Vassily Nebenzia, Nebenzia Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, ”, . Security Council, Security, Agriculture Organization Locations: Russia, “, Gaza, Syria, Myanmar, United, Food, Central Africa, Africa, Haiti, United States, Yugoslavia, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Russian

☆ Myanmar Junta Enforces Mandatory Military Service for Young People
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

Myanmar’s junta has declared mandatory military service for all young men and women, state media said on Saturday, as it struggles to contain armed rebel forces fighting for greater autonomy in various parts of the country. All men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 must serve for up to two years, while specialists like doctors aged up to 45 must serve for three years. The service can be extended to a total of five years in the ongoing state of emergency, state media said. Myanmar has been gripped by chaos since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup. So I want to tell everyone to proudly follow this people's military service law," junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told state media.

Persons: Zaw Min Tun, Deepa Babington Organizations: Reuters Locations: Myanmar, British

The law has been activated in the wake of the army’s biggest setbacks since the countrywide conflict erupted after the takeover. The rout inspired resistance forces in other parts of the country to launch their own attacks. The military government’s forces were stretched thin by the recent upsurge in resistance activity. The 2021 military takeover was met by widespread nonviolent protests and civil disobedience. But the confrontations escalated into violence after security forces used deadly force against the protesters, giving birth to organized armed resistance that has spiraled into civil war.

Persons: —, extendable, Aung, Suu Kyi, Zaw Min Tun, ”, Min Tun Organizations: Service Law, State Administration Council, National Unity Government, Frontier Myanmar Locations: BANGKOK, State, Suu, Myanmar, Rakhine, Bangladesh, Maj, Zaw, Yangon

☆ Myanmar junta enforces compulsory military service law
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Alex Stambaugh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Myanmar’s government has enforced a compulsory military service law as the junta continues to battle armed ethnic militias and resistance forces on multiple fronts across the nation. The junta “issued the notification of the effectiveness of People’s Military Service Law starting from February 10, 2024,” televised state media reported Saturday. The law was enacted in 2010 by a previous military government but had never been enforced before. The introduction of the People’s Military Service Law maintains citizens have a duty to protect “non-disintegration of the union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty,” state media said, adding the law has been enacted “in order to serve this duty.”State media said the defense ministry would release details and instructions at a further date. The fighting escalated last October, when powerful armed ethnic militias joined with resistance forces to mount major new offensives against the military.

Persons: CNN —, “, Aung San, Aung San Suu Kyi Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Military Service, People’s Military, Law, “ Locations: Aung San Suu

☆ India Interior Ministry Recommends Suspending Free Movement With Myanmar
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's interior ministry has recommended the immediate suspension of its free movement regime with Myanmar, Interior Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday. The free movement regime allows people from both countries to travel visa-free across borders for a few kilometres. Since a military coup in Myanmar in 2021, hundreds of civilians and troops have fled to Indian states where communities between the two countries share ethnic and familial ties. This has worried New Delhi because of risks of tensions spreading to India. (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in New Delhi; Editing by Kim Coghill and Himani Sarkar)

Persons: Amit Shah, Bansari Mayur, Kim Coghill, Himani Sarkar Locations: DELHI, Myanmar, Indian, New Delhi, India

They said the requested funds would go to help millions of civilians in Sudan and others who have fled abroad. “They have lost so much," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who recently met with displaced families in Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia. "Time after time, we hear the same message from them: We want peace so we can go home, and we need support to rebuild our lives.”“They desperately need help, and they need it now,” Grandi added. UNHCR is seeking $1.4 billion to help nearly 2.7 million people who have fled into five neighboring countries. The United Nations says the war in Sudan has killed at least 12,000 people, although local doctors groups say the true toll is far higher.

Persons: Filippo Grandi, ” “, ” Grandi, Martin Griffiths, Abdel, Fattah Burhan, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo Organizations: GENEVA, UNHCR, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Gaza, Khartoum

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nine members of the United Nations Security Council condemned “indiscriminate” airstrikes by Myanmar's military against civilians before an envoy briefed the council Monday as part of regional efforts to implement a peace plan that has so far been largely ineffective. Before the council meeting, nine of the 15 council members stood before reporters to support a statement read by Britain’s U.N. The United States pushed for an enforceable Security Council resolution to prevent Myanmar from getting jet fuel, the council diplomat said. According to the council diplomat, China, which has close ties to Myanmar, emphasized the need to give ASEAN's efforts time and space. Russia, which also has links to Myanmar, reiterated that the council shouldn’t be interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

Persons: Alounkeo Kittikhoun, —, Kittikhoun, Britain’s U.N, Barbara Woodward, Myanmar’s, Aung, Suu Kyi, United States —, Saleumxay Kommasith, Win Myint, U.N, Kyaw Moe Tun, Suu Kyi’s Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations Security Council, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Lao, Arakan Army, Bangladesh, Myanmar’s Border Guard Police, Democratic, Amnesty Locations: Myanmar, ASEAN, Laos, Suu, China, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Thailand, Rakhine, Bangladesh, Arakan, U.S, Union, Vietnam, Russia

☆ Myanmar Border Guards Flee to Bangladesh Amid Clashes With Rebels
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Ruma Paul and Sudipto GangulyDHAKA (Reuters) - At least 95 Myanmar border guards, some of them wounded, have fled to Bangladesh over the last few days as fighting intensifies between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta regime, officials in Bangladesh said on Monday. Members of the Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) entered Bangladesh with their weapons and 15 of them had bullet wounds when they crossed the border, Shariful Islam, a spokesman for Border Guard Bangladesh, said on Monday, adding that the wounded received treatment at different hospitals. Bullets and mortar shells from across the Myanmar border landed on Bangladesh territory on Monday, killing at least two people, a government official in Cox's Bazar said. Panic has gripped the refugee camps in Myanmar with many waiting to cross over to Bangladesh as supply chains have been cut off due to the ongoing conflict, according to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Some of the Rohingya Muslims want to flee here as they are living in constant fear without basic needs," Rohingya refugee Oli Hossain said.

Persons: Ruma Paul, Sudipto Ganguly, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Rahman, Mohammad Shamsud Douza, Oli Hossain, Nick Macfie Organizations: Sudipto Ganguly DHAKA, Myanmar Border Guard Police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh Locations: Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bangladesh's, Cox's Bazar, Islam, Bandarban, Bazar

☆ Before He Was George Orwell, He Was Eric Blair, Police Officer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( William Boyd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

BURMA SAHIB, by Paul TherouxGeorge Orwell died of tuberculosis in 1950, at the age of 46. The word “Orwellian” is as omnipresent as “Kafkaesque.” His two dystopian novel-allegories — “Animal Farm” and “1984” — have sold in the millions around the world. Almost everything that Orwell wrote seems to be in print. But there is one area of his life that is relatively unexplored and full of baffling gaps, not to say mystery. He was still several years removed from becoming “George Orwell” by adopting the nom de plume that would carry his legacy.

Persons: Paul Theroux George Orwell, Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, ”, Albert Camus, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Tolstoy, Orwell, Eric Blair, “ George Orwell ”, Paul Theroux Organizations: Eton College Locations: BURMA, Britain, British, Burma, Myanmar

SYDNEY (AP) — Across a treacherous stretch of water, the Rohingya came by the thousands, then died by the hundreds. Last year, nearly 4,500 Rohingya — two-thirds of them women and children — fled their homeland of Myanmar and the refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh by boat, the United Nations’ refugee agency reported. On Thursday, Indonesian officials said another boat carrying Rohingya refugees landed in the country’s northern province of Aceh. Global indifference toward the Rohingya crisis has left those languishing in the overcrowded camps with few alternatives to fleeing. “Of course I understand how dangerous the boat journey by sea is,” Ayub says.

Persons: —, Marzuki, Andi Susanto, ”, Babar Baloch, — that’s, Mohammed Ayub, Myanmar’s, Ayub, ” Ayub, “, It’s, UNHCR’s Baloch, Mohammed Taher’s, Mohammed Amin, Taher, ” Taher, Niniek Karmini Organizations: SYDNEY, United Nations ’, UNHCR, Fishermen, Associated Press Locations: Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bengal, Andaman, Aceh, Lhokseumawe, Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, UNHCR’s, Jakarta

Export manufacturing and other mainstream business activities in Myanmar have suffered since the military takeover, wiping out jobs that millions relied on to get by. The economy is forecast to grow at a meager 1% pace this year and about half the population is estimated to be living in poverty. Fighting with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed groups has escalated in recent months, raising pressure on the military, which has suffered some key defeats. However, United Nations officials estimate that nearly 18 million of the country's nearly 57 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. The Myanmar military administration reported $602 million in foreign direct investment last year, mostly in the energy sector, with only $112 million invested in manufacturing.

Persons: Aung, kyat, ” Miemie Winn Byrd, Daniel K, Inouye, “, ” Jeremy Douglas, ” Organizations: —, vise, Export, United Nations, U.S ., Pacific Center for Security Studies, U.S . Trade, Drugs, Southeast Locations: BANGKOK, Thailand, — Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, Yangon, Myanmar's, North Korea, Inouye Asia, Bangkok, “

☆ H&M CEO quits abruptly after ‘very demanding’ times
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

“However, it has been very demanding at times for me personally and I now feel that it is time to leave the CEO role, which of course has not been an easy decision.”Helmersson, who is leaving H&M after 26 years at the company, has been replaced as CEO by Daniel Erver. He was most recently head of the H&M brand, which is the largest within the group. H&M shares plunged after the announcements and were more than 9% lower in midday trade in Stockholm. Earlier this month, it was forced to remove a school uniform advertisement in Australia after social media users complained it sexualized children. “We are deeply sorry for the offense this has caused,” H&M told CNN.

Persons: London CNN — Helena Helmersson, ”, ” Helmersson, Daniel Erver, Helmersson, “ Organizations: London CNN —, Reuters, CNN Locations: Swedish, Stockholm, Myanmar, Australia

☆ Arms Dealer Linked to Myanmar Junta Acquitted in Thai Money Laundering Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Richard C. Paddock | Muktita Suhartono | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A wealthy Myanmar arms broker with close ties to the leader of Myanmar’s brutal military regime was acquitted on Tuesday by a Bangkok court on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, raising fears that he will be free to resume his activities aiding the junta. U Tun Min Latt, who was placed under sanctions by the United States last year for supplying the Myanmar regime with weapons, had spent 16 months in a Thai jail awaiting trial. The Thai authorities had accused Mr. Tun Min Latt and three associates of engaging in a scheme to launder drug money by using it to buy electricity in Thailand and sending it across the border to Myanmar. But the Thai criminal court found that the record of bank transactions presented by prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges. With the ruling, about two dozen family members and supporters of the accused burst into applause in the courtroom.

Persons: Latt, Min Aung, Tun Min Latt Organizations: United Locations: Myanmar, Bangkok, United States, Thailand

☆ The Activist Who Inspires Our Resistance in Myanmar - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Petr Lom | Corinne Van Egeraat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

San Zaw Htway was an artist, activist, political prisoner and dear friend. From 2013 to 2017, we lived and worked in Myanmar with San Zaw Htway, who spent 13 years — of a 36-year-sentence — imprisoned under harsh conditions. San Zaw Htway touched many lives, serving as a dedicated trauma counselor to former political prisoners and teaching children and refugees to make artwork using recycled materials, as he did when he was in prison. After the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, a Burmese friend wrote to us asking, “What would San Zaw Htway have done in a time like this?”And so, the idea for this short documentary was born. This film is composed of their words, read by narrators to protect the identity of the writers.

Persons: Zaw Htway, Zaw, Zaw Htway’s Locations: Zaw, Myanmar

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