Updated on April 30, 2025 at 7:42 p.m. ET Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been transferred to house arrest, the country’s military-controlled state media announced Thursday. Kim Aris speaks about his mother Aung San Suu Kyi’s transfer from prison to house arrest (RFA Video) The 80-year old state counselor was moved from Naypyidaw prison to “the designated residence” to serve the remainder of her sentence, state-run MRTV reported without specifying exactly where this residence was. State media also showed a the first public photo of the former…
Category: RFA
Award-winning Burmese journalist Shin Daewe released from prison
YANGON — Myanmar’s military junta Friday released award-winning documentary filmmaker and former RFA contributor Shin Daewe who had been in detention since October 2023 for buying a video drone. Outside of Yangon’s Insein Prison, Shin Daewe, who was handed a life sentence for “abetting terrorism” in 2024, told Radio Free Asia that there are still many on the inside that were in need of prayers. “I am the happiest,” she said. “Whether it’s me or one of the others, we all just wanted every day to see our families. I…
Myanmar junta says it seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam center raid
Myanmar’s junta said on Monday it raided one of the country’s most notorious cyberscam centers and seized Starlink satellite internet devices. Myanmar government media The Global New Light of Myanmar said the military “conducted operations in KK Park near Myanmar-Thai border” and had “seized 30 sets of Starlink receivers and accessories,” according to the AFP news agency. AFP said that number is only a fraction of the Starlink devices they identified using satellite imagery and drone photography. On the roof of one building alone in KK Park, images showed nearly…
Myanmar junta admits it’s unable to conduct election across entire country
The European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights Kajsa Ollongren said on Thursday that they would not send observers to an election in military-ruled Myanmar, as it was unlikely to result in a credible outcome, according to the Reuters news agency. It follows Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing admitting on Wednesday that the military-backed administration will be unable to conduct an upcoming general election across the entire country, as a civil war triggered by a 2021 coup rages on. myanmar-elections Election officials display a ballot as they count votes…
South Korea issues travel ban after nationals trapped in Cambodia scam centers
RFA Perspectives — South Korea issued a “code-black” travel ban for parts of Cambodia on Oct. 15 and dispatched a team of high-level officials to help nationals lured into working in scam compounds and secure the release of those held against their will, according to the Reuters news agency. More than 1,000 South Koreans are believed to be among about 200,000 people of various nationalities involved in the scam compounds in Cambodia, South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac told reporters. Video: Why Cambodia and Southeast Asia became a scam…
US, UK sanction Cambodian conglomerate, alleging role in scam networks
The U.S. and British governments on Tuesday announced a sweeping crackdown on cyber-scam networks in Southeast Asia accused of luring workers with fraudulent job ads or fake romantic relationships, forcing them to extract billions from people across the world through a range of deceptions, then laundering the money they received. The U.S. Treasury Department said it had targeted 146 people in the Prince Group, a multibillion-dollar Cambodian conglomerate, including its 38-year-old leader Chen Zhi. “The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings…
China arrests underground church founder, pastors
The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches and dozens of its pastors and members have been arrested, the founder’s family and a church spokesperson said, part of a multi-city crackdown in recent days. Jin Mingri, who founded Zion Church, a house of worship not sanctioned by the Chinese government, was arrested at his home in the city of Beihai in the southern region of Guangxi on Friday evening, his daughter, Grace Jin, and a church spokesperson, Sean Long, told reporters. Grace Jin said she was concerned for…
China sharpening forces for possible future attack, Taiwanese report says
China is growing more aggressive in its military activities near Taiwan and also in its online efforts to weaken Taiwanese trust in government, the island’s defense ministry said on Thursday. In a new edition of a report released every two years, the defense ministry said that Beijing is sharpening its ability to stage a surprise attack against the democratically governed island, which China claims as its territory. The report cited seven rounds of major Chinese war games around the island since 2022 and other non-combat operations — known as grey…
Strike on festival protest in Myanmar kills at least 20, residents say
A military strike on Monday night hit a group in central Myanmar’s Chaung U township who were gathered to mark the Thadingyut full moon festival and to demonstrate against the military junta that rules the country. Video: Myanmar junta bombs full moon gathering (RFA) The attack killed at least 20 people, according to a Reuters report that cited an eyewitness, the human rights group Amnesty International, and members of the shadow National Unity Government and an armed resistance group in the area. An event organizer told Agence France-Press that 40…
Hanoi floods again amid typhoon-spawned rains
Residents and businesses in Hanoi on Tuesday were coping again with flooding as storms triggered by Typhoon Matmo have submerged major roads, particularly in inner-city districts. Commuters pushed motorbikes through calf-deep water in some areas. Several schools closed or moved classes online. Some flights from Noi Bai International Airport have been rescheduled or delayed. For many, it’s an unpleasant return to the flooding just last week from Typhoon Bualoi, which killed at least 51 people in Vietnam and caused around $600 million in damage. Flooding caused by Typhoon Matmo in…