Myanmar or Burma

Under mounting pressure from the Chinese government, the United Wa State Party (UWSP)—the political wing of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the most powerful ethnic armed group in Myanmar—announced on Wednesday that it will cease all forms of support to allied groups, including two ethnic armies fighting the regime near the Chinese border.

Through its WeChat account, the UWSP’s mouthpiece Wa State TV announced that the group had officially decided to halt its supply of weapons, equipment and military and financial assistance to three ethnic armies—the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP). It said the decision was announced during a meeting with the leaders of the three ethnic armies in Panghsang, the capital of Wa State, on Wednesday.

The closure, reportedly ordered to seize control of trade revenues, has brought the flow of large goods to a halt and is threatening trade worth an estimated 130 billion baht.

Paletwa is a township in Chin state that is controlled by Arakan Army after its defeat of Junta. Chin ethnic groups are objecting to Arakan control of what they consider to be Chin territory. Historically there is no rivalry between the two groups, though ethnic group rivalries and clashes are typical in Burma's civil war.

AA camps and outposts in Taungpyoletwea Town, Maungdaw Township, near the Bangladesh border, came under a large-scale ARSA attack on August 10 and 11.

“Yes, the reports of clashes are accurate. ARSA attacked AA camps around Taungpyoletwea with overwhelming force,” a Taungpyoletwea resident told DMG.

The military regime removed a statue of Myanmar’s late independence hero General Aung San—the father of jailed civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—in downtown Bago at midnight on Friday, residents told The Irrawaddy.

Thai government is stepping up in the aftermath of Trump's aid cuts.

8888 movement was a massive moment in Burma's democracy movement. Fed up with the poverty and austerity of life under a quixotic and idiotic military dictatorship and undoubtedly inspired by pro-democracy movements elsewhere in Asia, Burmese people threw the yoke of fear and rose up against the military dictatorship. This NPR article succinctly gives the timeline of events and a vivid backgrounder to the heartbreak and bitterness Burmese people feel to this day that their willful expression and voice has not been recognized nor heard.

On Friday, the regime’s new governing body, the National Security and Peace Commission (NSPC), announced the resuspension of three provisions in the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens on Friday.

The renewed suspension also removes the need for court approval to detain suspects for more than 24 hours while also permitting blanket surveillance of citizens.

Additionally, it gives authorities power to intercept private communications via mobile and internet providers and to seize and destroy private correspondence.