While little may be known about Myanmar cinema outside the country, the industry is rapidly expanding thanks to a new generation of filmmakers who are looking to break away from the comedy genre so popular with local cinema goers.One of these rising filmmakers is John La Raw, a Catholic priest who has always had a lifelong passion for filmmaking.
The death toll from a landslide triggered by monsoon rains in eastern Myanmar rose to at least 41, an official said late Saturday, as emergency workers continued for a second night their desperate search through thick mud for the scores feared missing.A huge brown gash on the hillside marked where the deluge of mud flooded onto Ye Pyar Kone village in Mon state on Friday, wiping out 27 homes.Search and rescue teams worked through Friday night and into late Saturday, using excavators and their
A Myanmar court on Wednesday sentenced a veteran Australian media publisher to 13 years in jail after a police raid uncovered a stash of drugs at his home last year. Ross Dunkley, 60, has long had links with the media industry across Southeast Asia, co-founding English language newspaper The Myanmar Times when the country was in the tight grip of a military dictatorship. He also used to be a co-owner of Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post. Police arrested him, his busin
Major dam construction projects have become a favourite pastime of some autocratic governments, with China leading the way. But, far from protecting against water shortages, as supporters promise, large dams are contributing to river depletion and severely exacerbating parched conditions.
Raids on jungle drug labs have been met with heavy artillery fire, Myanmar narcotics police said Thursday, in an area riddled with armed groups accused of pumping out much of the world's methamphetamine.Myanmar is under increasingly intense pressure from its neighbours to close down the meth labs festooning lawless parts of Shan State, the heart of the notorious "Golden Triangle".A major crackdown kicked off last month in Kutkai township, northern Shan, the army has said, where
Talks between Myanmar and Rohingya leaders will be extended after "positive" discussions about the refugees' return to their homeland, Bangladesh officials said. Some 740,000 Rohingya fled a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar's military and joined another 200,000 already living in squalid conditions in nearly three dozen camps in Bangladesh's coastal Cox's Bazar district.The two nations signed a repatriation deal two years ago but so far virtually no Rohingya hav
At least 13 jade mine workers and security guards in northern Myanmar were killed in a landslide Sunday, authorities said, as rescuers frantically searched for more victims.Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a dangerous and poorly regulated industry in Kachin state between the country's borders with China and India.Myanmar's fire services department said in a Facebook post the accident happened in the early morning in Hpakant township."We have sent two in
Myanmar’s launch of its first commercial solar plant last month is a step in the right direction for a country that has yet to provide more than half of its citizens with proper access to electricity.Constructed on over 836 acres of land, an area equivalent to almost 530 football fields, the Minbu Solar Power Plant will be ASEAN’s largest solar power plant according to Thailand’s META Corporation – the project’s contractor and developer.
When the 34th ASEAN Summit concluded last month in Bangkok, Thailand, it came as no surprise that the bloc was met with heavy criticism for suggesting Rohingya refugees will repatriate back to Myanmar within two years. More than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee northern Rakhine state in western Myanmar during a 2017 military-led crackdown the United Nations (UN) has said included mass killings and gang-rapes executed with “genocidal intent”.
The launch of the Myanma Tourism Bank (MTB) earlier this year is the latest initiative by the Myanmar government to spur development in its growing tourism sector.Offering low interest loans to Myanmar’s tourism players, the bank started operations at its headquarters in Yangon on 6 May – with offices in the capital Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay among those in the bank’s ambitious plan for a network of 10 branches by the end of 2019. Boasting a multitude of religious landmarks, luxury res
A sweeping internet shutdown in Myanmar's conflict-hit Rakhine state went into its fifth week Monday as residents called on the government to end an information blackout that rights groups say could provide cover for rights abuses.Mobile phone operators suspended internet data on 21 June in eight townships across northern Rakhine and one in neighbouring Chin state – where soldiers are fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels known as the Arakan Army (AA) who want greater autonomy.Authorities say t
A US travel ban on Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing over his role in orchestrating a bloody crackdown against Rohingya Muslims harms the dignity of the military, a spokesman said Wednesday, adding critics failed to properly understand the crisis.The sanctions against the army chief and three other top military brass was the strongest censure from a western power since the army launched its offensive against the Rohingya in August 2017 following attacks on police posts.Secretary of State Mik
