Opposition parties in Myanmar are calling for November's election to be postponed as the country scrambles to control a coronavirus surge.New infections are doubling every week - albeit from a relatively low base - and hospitals in the biggest city, Yangon, are overwhelmed in a nation with one of the world's poorest healthcare systems.The sharp jump comes as Myanmar prepares to hold national elections on 8 November, with leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (

Myanmar's election campaign began Tuesday with Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains widely admired and respected at home despite her tarnished image abroad, hoping for a landslide win to further cement her status as the country's civilian leader.The Nobel laureate's National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to power in 2015 - the first national polls since the Southeast Asian nation emerged from decades of junta rule.Despite the coronavirus threat, campaigns are, for now, under way -

The coronavirus pandemic has heaped pressure on the troubled World Trade Organization (WTO), a WTO leadership candidate said, warning the crisis could spell the end of rules-based international trade altogether.Liam Fox, Britain's first post-Brexit international trade secretary and one of eight candidates vying to become the WTO's next director-general (DG), voiced concern that countries might turn their backs on its multilateral trading model."The reaction of some countries to

One of Myanmar's five million young adults, May Thandar Maung had been excited to cast her ballot for the very first time in November's election.But the 18-year-old is Muslim and says that means she will remain voiceless."My religion means I haven't been able to get an ID card," she said in her hometown of Meiktila in central Myanmar – and no ID means no vote.She describes how local officials have obstructed her attempts for over a year, while Buddhist peers faced no

United States (US) rapper Kanye West's chaotic launch of his unlikely campaign to oust Donald Trump in November's presidential election has sparked anger, concern for his mental health and questions about whether he is seriously running.Wearing a bullet-proof jacket marked "security," West broke down in tears during a rambling speech in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday that was supposed to kickstart his White House bid.Instead, controversial comments about renowned Ame

Singapore's parliament was dissolved Tuesday for an election even as the city-state struggles to recover from a major coronavirus outbreak that has swept through crowded migrant worker dormitories. A raft of safety measures will be in place to prevent infections, with voters required to wear masks and gloves at polling stations while campaign rallies look set to be banned. The financial hub initially won praise for keeping the virus in check with a rigorous system of te

Google has banned political ads in Singapore ahead of elections, an opposition party said Wednesday, sparking accusations the tech giant was "kowtowing" to the tightly-controlled city's government.The ban was imposed under controversial new rules aimed at fighting disinformation in the city-state, which critics fear could be used to stifle dissent.General elections are widely expected within months and weak opposition parties are relying on social media to reach voters in a cou

Prime Minister Boris Johnson locked horns Wednesday with his rivals in a fiery launch to an unpredictable early general election aimed at breaking Britain's protracted Brexit deadlock.Johnson's sparring with the main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn came a day after MPs backed the premier's call for Britain's third election in four years.The December 12 poll was decided just a few hours after Brussels extended this week's Brexit deadline to give London mor

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday proposed settling the Brexit crisis through an early election on December 12 that could help Britain finally find a way out of the European Union.The Conservative leaders' offer comes with his party leading opinion surveys and the opposition split over whether to back a snap poll or to seek a new EU membership referendum that could undo the one triggering Brexit in 2016.It also suggests that Johnson has all but given up on his repeated pledge t

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo was sworn in for a second term on Sunday, as helicopters flew overhead and troops kept watch in the capital Jakarta – days after Islamist militants tried to assassinate his top security minister.Foreign heads of state, lawmakers and political rivals looked on as Widodo, 58, and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, 76, read an oath to start a five-year tenure leading the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.Outside parliament, red-and-white Indonesian flags dotted pa