FEATURED
COVER STORY
SUPPORT DPA ON PATREON
Become a DPA Insider on DPA's Patreon to access Exclusive Reports & Content.
INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
LATEST NEWS / ARTICLES
[ Frontier Myanmar ] ‘Our revolution is starting’: Urban guerrillas prepare to step up killings, bombings
“We can’t protest on the street because the army and security forces shoot us with real bullets. But we must revolt against the junta, so we choose armed revolution,” Min Wai told Frontier on May 24, asking not to reveal his real name for safety reasons. That month, he and his friends travelled from Yangon to an…
People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Mandalay killed two police officers on Tuesday morning and confiscated a gun during a spontaneous attack.
Bo Htun Tauk, a spokesperson for the group, contacted Myanmar Now on Friday to claim responsibility for the attack. “Usually there would be five bikes or so, so since it was just two policemen we said screw it and hit them with the car,” he said. The bike got thrown onto the pavement. They were…
Alleged Explosion occurred near Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda
Both sides are alleging the other side as the perpetrator.
[ Al Jazeera ] Turkey’s troops should leave Afghanistan under 2020 deal: Taliban
Taliban spokesman tells Reuters Turkey should withdraw troops as part of deal with the US for pullout of foreign forces. Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of foreign forces, a Taliban spokesman has said, effectively rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after the United…
[ TripSavvy ] Timeline of the U.S. Reopening: A State-by-State Guide
Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, the U.S. response to control and contain the spread has mostly been at the state level with state governments (and more locally, those of cities and counties) enforcing closures, social distancing, face masks, and other safety precautions. Some states began reopening their economies as…
[ CNN ] Keystone XL pipeline project canceled by developer
The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline announced Wednesday it is pulling the plug on the controversial project after the Biden administration revoked its permit in January. TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the project, said it decided to terminate the project after a comprehensive review of its options and consulting with the government of Alberta, Canada. The company…
A bomb exploded at a Chinese-backed clothing factory in Ayeyarwady Region
A bomb exploded at a Chinese-backed clothing factory in Ayeyarwady Region on Friday morning. It is the latest attack on a Chinese-owned business in Myanmar after arson attacks on factories in the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone in Yangon in March.
Revamping DPA
Defense Politics Asia (DPA) started out in November 2017 as a community funded think tank, headquartered in Singapore, dedicated to provide vital insights into military, geopolitics, internal politics and economic developments in Asia and around the world, from an Asian perspective. After our co-founding Chief-Editor, Timothy Soh decided to go separate ways in late January…
[ Times of Israel ] Key passages from outgoing Mossad chief’s unprecedented TV interview
In an interview with Ilana Dayan on Channel 12’s “Uvda” documentary series Thursday night, recently retired Mossad chief Yossi Cohen spoke with unprecedented detail and candor about his career, actions to thwart Iran, his ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and more.
[ USA Today ] Starbucks shortage: Menu options such as oat milk and other items in short supply
In a statement emailed to USA TODAY, Starbucks spokesperson Sanja Gould confirmed shortages will vary by store or market. The nondairy oat milk option was temporarily pulled from some Starbucks stores, and drinks with oat milk will not be available until the company is able to restock.
[ Daily Mail ] Blocked by Biden: Keystone XL Pipeline is finally AXED five months after President revoked permit: Trump claims 48,000 Americans will lose their jobs
Canadian developer TC Energy announced Wednesday it was pulling the plug on the controversial $8 billion pipeline Biden revoked its permit on his first day in office, undoing Trump’s approval TC Energy alluded to Biden’s decision in its cancellation announcement The pipeline would have carried oil from the tar sands of Canada to Texas Environmentalists…
[ AFP ] New fighting in east Myanmar displaces around 100,000: UN
An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced by new fighting between Myanmar’s military and rebel groups in the east of the coup-stricken country, the UN said Tuesday. Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February, accusing it of fraud during 2020 elections. Fighting…
[ NZ Herald ] Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi faces bribery charge – with up to 15 years in jail most severe penalty yet
The Anti-Corruption Commission in military-ruled Myanmar has found that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi accepted bribes and misused her authority to gain advantageous terms in real estate deals, government-controlled media reported Thursday. Suu Kyi’s lawyers already denied the allegations when they were first raised three months ago by the military regime that toppled her…
[ Global News ] Alberta finance minister defends $1.3B loss on Keystone XL pipeline as ‘calculated decision’
Alberta’s finance minister says the province’s $1.3-billion investment of taxpayers’ money in the now-defunct Keystone XL oil pipeline project was a prudent gamble given the potential payoff in profits and jobs. … Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative government, in early 2020, committed $1.5 billion in direct financing and $6 billion more in loan guarantees to…
[ BBC ] Myanmar: The mysterious deaths of the NLD party officials
The violence used by Myanmar’s armed forces against unarmed opponents since the coup in February has shocked the world; more than 800 people have been killed, most by military gunfire. But the deaths in custody of two officials from the National League of Democracy – the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi – have…
[ Reuters ] China Will Always Support Myanmar in Choosing Its Own Path, Says Senior Diplomat
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will always support Myanmar in choosing its own developmental path, Chinese senior diplomat Wang yi told his Myanmar counterpart on Tuesday. Wang assured Myanmar foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin that China’s friendly policy towards Myanmar was not affected by changes to Myanmar’s domestic and external situation, according to a statement by…
Heavy Fighting between Military and Civilian/Armed Groups at Demoso town, Kayah State
May Wong@MayWongCNA #Demoso town in #Kayah state, eastern #Myanmar experiences heavy firing/attack again today. The town has been seeing violent clashes between civilian-formed defence forces/#ethnic armed groups & #military in recent weeks. Schools & churches not spared #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
Federal State of New China?
Disclaimer: Defense Politics Asia is in no way endorsing or supporting this movement, or acknowledging the legitimacy of such a proclamation. However, given the gravity of the people involved that are giving a face to this grouping/declaration – and the lack of reporting in any English language media – we deem it necessary to report…
Wired: Singapore Was Ready for Covid-19—Other Countries, Take Note
” Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea all share the characteristic of using their experiences with prior outbreaks to build a system—and then sustaining it. None of them had to deal with the fear of being a first-mover, of being the first city or country to institute seemingly severe countermeasures. Their countermeasures were already…
6 Feb 2020: Speculation of the Actual 2019-nCoV Numbers in China
I personally dont think anyone knows the actual number of death, with exception of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leadership and the point people who are consolidating reports from all over China. Usually in this kindda “China-numbers” cases, I will just x10 whatever “bad-news” number was officially reported by China, as a mental conditioning. Being…
30 Jan: Wuhan Coronavirus future projections and inflection points
Given the tight timelines we are looking at in regards to the appearance, spread and control of the virus, we are able to make some projections and indicators into what would happen, if its gonna get worse, or get better, in the near future. Timeline:– 8 Dec 2019 : First Reported Case– 9 Jan 2020…
Infected in China to reach 10,000-13,000 cases by end of Jan 2020
The doubling of infected numbers every 2 days had persisted so far – which means, we are still nowhere close to containment ; its still early days. Infections in China alone: Thu Jan 9 – 41 confirmedFri Jan 20 – 201 confirmed12.00pm Wed Jan 22 – 339 confirmed6:30pm Fri Jan 24 – 887 confirmed8.12pm Sun…
Wuhan Coronavirus is definitely more viral & dangerous than SARS
SARS1 Nov 2002 To: 1 Apr 2003 (6 months) China alone.Infected: 806Dead: 34 https://www.who.int/csr/sars/country/2003_04_01/en/ One Month later: accumulated numbers became… 1 Nov 2002 To: 01 May 2003 China alone.Infected: 3638Dead: 170 https://www.who.int/csr/sars/country/2003_05_01/en/ And despite this massive increase, its “merely” 450% increase over 30 days.- — Today. Wuhan Coronavirus1 Dec 2019 To: 27 Jan 2020 (2…
Jerusalem Post: Iran lacks good options – analysis
First, it is worth recalling the sequence of events. The killing on Thursday of IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani outside Baghdad International Airport by a US MQ9 Reaper Drone firing a Hellfire missile, was the latest escalation in a process that began with the killing of an American contractor by the Iran-supported Kataib Hezbollah…
Soleimani: Another miscalculation on Trump’s resolve – Episode Iran
Iran had been systematically raising the stakes across the region after Trump cancelled Obama’s marquee “Iran Nuclear Deal” and imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iran. Since then Iran had ramped up its actions abroad, with the most significant events being the seizures of foreign oil tankers in the Gulf and the “drone attack” on Saudi Arabia’s…