Vote counting continued late into the night in Myanmar after an election Sunday that is expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains a hero at home in spite of a reputation abroad shattered by the Rohingya crisis.Several hundred ardent supporters ignored coronavirus warnings and gathered in a premature celebration, dancing, singing and waving flags outside the Yangon headquarters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).Overall results, however, wil

Myanmar is set to hold general elections on 8 November amid a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

An armed group in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state confirmed Monday it had taken three election candidates of Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party prisoner ahead of a November election already marred by mass disenfranchisement.Militant group the Arakan Army (AA) has for nearly two years been locked in battle against the military, fighting for more autonomy for the state's ethnic Rakhine population.Both sides stand accused of rights abuses, with hundreds killed or injured and some 20

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had a long-awaited meeting with the king Tuesday, seeking to prove he has support to take power and fulfil a decades-old ambition of becoming premier.The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since a reformist government headed by Mahathir Mohamad - which included Anwar - collapsed in February amid bitter infighting.Muhyiddin Yassin became premier without an election, but his coalition's support is shaky and critics accuse it of lacking legi

Outraged over ongoing discrimination in Myanmar, Myo Min Tun decided to stand as the first openly gay election candidate in a country where same-sex relations are illegal.His decision to enter the political fray came after transgender friends told him how they had suffered police harassment.The officers allegedly forced them to remove their bras and kneel in humiliating positions before touching them inappropriately, Myo Min Tun told the media. "This was a violation of their rig

Booted from Aung San Suu Kyi's "chaotic and autocratic" party, one female MP is now taking on Myanmar's national heroine in the upcoming election, claiming the country needs to work with, not against, a military accused of genocide.Voters are expected to return Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party to power at the 8 November polls - only the second since the country emerged from decades of outright military rule - but Thet Thet Khine is still hoping to make h

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