Conflict

Myanmar town near India border sees exodus as thousands flee fighting A Myanmar soldier stands guard near the congress compound in Nay Pyi Taw on Feb 2, 2021. (Reuters photo) Most of the population of a Myanmar town near the Indian border have fled after buildings were set ablaze by artillery amid fighting between militia forces opposed to military rule and the army, according to residents and media reports. About 10,000 people normally live in Thantlang in Chin state, but most had left to seek shelter in surrounding areas including in India, a community leader said. In India's neighbouring state of Mizoram, the head of a civil society group said 5,500 people from Myanmar had arrived in just two districts over the past week, as they scrambled to escape a military crackdown. Myanmar ha...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — In parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, people now eat only green leaves for days. At a health center last week, a mother and her newborn weighing just 1.7 pounds died from hunger. In every district of the more than 20 where one aid group works, residents have starved to death. For months, the United Nations has warned of famine in this embattled corner of northern Ethiopia, calling it the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade. Now internal documents and witness accounts reveal the first starvation deaths since Ethiopia’s government in June imposed what the U.N. calls “a de facto humanitarian aid blockade.” Forced starvation is the latest chapter in a conflict where ethnic Tigrayans have been massacred, gang-raped and expelled. Months after crops were burned and com

Press freedom, Belarus opposition or Greta for Nobel Peace Prize? This year, experts agree there has been little progress made in peace processes around the world. OSLO: Media watchdogs, Belarus opposition leaders and climate campaigners such as Greta Thunberg are among those seen as contenders when the Nobel Peace Prize is announced on Friday. The highlight of the Nobel season, the prestigious peace prize always elicits a flurry of speculation. But predicting the winner is a giant guessing game. There is no public shortlist, and only the number of nominations is known -- 329 this year. The nominees' identities are also kept secret for 50 years. The image of the prestigious award has been hit hard over the past years as one of its previous laureates, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahm...