Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

What We're Watching: Suu Kyi's verdict in Myanmar

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi attends the joint news conference of the Japan-Mekong Summit Meeting at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan October 9, 2018
Make us preferred on Google

Suu Kyi's first verdict handed down. On Monday, a Myanmar court sentenced deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison for breaking COVID rules and incitement. Suu Kyi faces 11 charges in total, including corruption and leaking state secrets – which could land her in prison for more than 100 years. The UN has said the charges are a sham meant to secure the military junta’s hold on power. To date, the trial has been closed to the media, while Suu Kyi’s lawyers have also been banned from making public statements. Suu Kyi, who is seen by many in Myanmar as the only politician that can steer the country’s full democratic transition, has not been seen in public since the coup. Since then, the military has been accused of human rights violations for cracking down on peaceful anti-junta demonstrators, resulting in at least 1,200 deaths. Just this past weekend, the military rammed vehicles into a group of demonstrators, injuring dozens. The UN has warned that armed groups are training in jungles to overthrow the military, and that the country is on the cusp of full-blown civil war.

More For You

​Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 3, 2026.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te speaks at a press conference on the latest round of economic talks with the United States, in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 3, 2026.

REUTERS/Ann Wang
While the world has its eyes on the Strait of Hormuz, China’s gaze is fixed farther east: Taiwan. For decades, Beijing’s “One China” policy has asserted that there is only one sovereign Chinese state and that Taiwan is a breakaway province that must return to mainland control – peacefully if possible, but by force if necessary. Now, are the stars [...]
Descendants of Escobar’s hippos live to see another day
Natalie Johnson
With the cocaine trade booming in the 1980s, Escobar decided to create a zoo at his Hacienda Nápoles akin to the one at Hearst Castle in California during the first half of the 20th century. The drug kingpin imported all kinds of animals from Africa, including hippos, zebras, and even an ostrich. However, after Escobar was killed in 1993, the [...]
​Assimi Goita, the leader of Mali's military government, meets with Russian officials, according to Mali's presidency, at Koulouba Palace in Bamako, Mali, in this handout photo released April 28, 2026.

Assimi Goita, the leader of Mali's military government, meets with Russian officials, including Russian ambassador Igor Gromyko, according to Mali's presidency, at Koulouba Palace in Bamako, Mali, in this handout photo released April 28, 2026.

Mali Presidency via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS
Is Russia losing influence in insurgency-hit Mali?The Russian-backed Malian army is starting to regain ground following coordinated attacks by terrorist insurgents and Tuareg secessionists over the weekend. On Wednesday, they wrestled back control of a town along the Niger border from Islamic State-linked insurgents. Calm has also returned to the [...]
The world hedges its bets on America
The prevailing view a few months ago was that Democrats were likely to retake the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections. In recent decades, these cycles have tended to cut against the party in control of the White House, and Republicans held a razor-thin House majority in a political environment that was already tilting blue.The [...]