NEWSWORTHY
In Myanmar, new parties challenge Suu Kyi's grip on power
New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar's next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth. Those factors were blamed by party officials ...
Rohingya refugee women take on new roles as workers and learners amid 'forced societal change'
On a blue mat in their mud-and-bamboo home in the middle of the world's largest refugee settlement, Mohammad Selim is pacing his 9-year-old daughter Nasima Akter on her taekwondo drill. As a local taekwondo champion in his majority-Rohingya district in Myanmar before fleeing to Bangladesh ...
U.N. envoy Angelina Jolie urges Myanmar to end violence against Rohingya Muslims
Angelina Jolie on Tuesday urged Myanmar to show a genuine commitment to ending violence and displacement in its Rakhine state, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighboring Bangladesh for safety. Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N.'s refugee agency, spoke as ...
Amnesty slams India for deporting Rohingya family to Myanmar
Amnesty International on Monday accused India of disregarding international law after a Rohingya family was deported to Myanmar, where the military is accused of genocide against the stateless Muslim minority. The family of five, who had been in prison in India's northeastern Assam state since ...
The Japan Times newsroom selected the following world news stories as the most important of 2018.
Myanmar court set to hear appeal in case of jailed Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo
A Myanmar court is on Monday due to hear an argument in the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty in September ...
Myanmar says missing policeman found dead near border with Bangladesh after attack
The body of a missing Myanmar policeman was found on the country's troubled border with Bangladesh, state media and officials said on Sunday after a clash with unknown gunmen last week. Pvt. Aung Kyaw Thet had been missing since his patrol was fired on from ...
Tokyo's 'values-free' diplomacy and the Rohingya crisis
It's time for Japan to rediscover its values and pressure Myanmar to find justice for the Rohingya
The U.N. Security Council is considering action to push Myanmar to work with the United Nations to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, although China and Russia have so far boycotted talks on a British-drafted resolution, diplomats said Monday. The draft resolution aims to put a ...
U.S. House of Representatives accuses Myanmar of Rohingya 'genocide' and demands reporters be freed
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Thursday calling Myanmar's expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims a "genocide." The lower house of Congress also accused the Myanmar military of "crimes against humanity" and called for the immediate release of two Reuters ...
Rohingya sent back to Myanmar camps in 'acute need,' U.N. refugee agency says
Rohingya Muslims who paid hundreds of dollars to flee squalid Myanmar camps by boat are destitute since they were stopped at sea and returned, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. Images of hungry and thirsty Rohingya huddled on boats have stirred memories of a ...
Tribunal for crimes committed in Myanmar against Rohingya urgently needed, rights law group says
A human rights law group contracted by the U.S. State Department to investigate atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar said on Monday there was an urgent need to establish a criminal tribunal to bring those responsible to justice. A report released on Monday by the ...
