The Irrawaddy

Senior junta officials and military-backed USDP figures will be among the candidates in Sundays voting across 12 states and regions.

Rakhine rebels spilling into neighboring Bago region en route to the juntas ordnance factories on the banks of the Irrawaddy River overran a regime column near Point 666.

Decisions made in Beijing to dramatically alter the flow of rivers originating in China have devastating consequences for nations downstream, warns Chandu Doddi.

Early ballots and proportional representation saw the junta-backed party turn voting in a handful of townships into control of the two state legislatures.

Trump claims control over Venezuelan oil as interim leader Delcy Rodriguez denies any foreign power is running the country.

On the eve of the election, our editors predicted that the juntas proxy USDP would sweep the board and all the other parties would be annihilated by the military organizing the sham polls.

Several parties say advance votes swung results in favor of the USDP, echoing irregularities seen in the widely discredited 2010 poll.

Min Aung Hlaing boasts of building a world-class fighting force as his militarys reputation for atrocities against civilians grows.

Resistance fighters push into Katha, a strategic Irrawaddy River town offering leverage over battles in Kachin and northern Shan states.

The USDP won 89 of 102 Lower House seats in the first phase of the much-criticized election, according to an AFP tally of official results.

Washingtons statement on Myanmar Independence Day flooded with calls to arrest dictator for war crimes in five-year military campaign targeting civilians.

From an unpopular new government and ceasefires to economic strain and regional pressure, another difficult year no doubt awaits Myanmar.

The military-backed USDP trounced Dr. Aye Maungs Arakan Front and Ba Sheins Rakhine Nationalities Party in the three western-state enclaves still under regime control.

After months of threats and pressure tactics, the United States on Saturday bombed Venezuela and toppled authoritarian left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro, who was seized to face trial in New York.

Myanmar's junta said on Sunday it would release more than 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country's independence day.

The junta is using heavy artillery and airstrikes in a bid to defend the strategic town on the border between Sagaing and Kachin State.

For 35 years, Myanmars elections have followed a familiar pattern: real victories for voters are rejected, a free and fair election is impossible and voter turnout irrelevant.