Burmese people

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday said the country had "not returned to normalcy" almost two years after its coup, casting doubt over plans for elections and ending a state of emergency.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military toppled democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government, alleging massive fraud during elections her party won in 2020.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that the rule of law is at grave risk of becoming "the rule of lawlessness," pointing to a host of unlawful actions across the globe from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and coups in Africa's Sahel region to North Korea's illegal nuclear weapons program and Afghanistan's unprecedented attacks on women's and girls' rights.

Air strikes by Myanmar's military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority's main political organization, members of the group and a rescue worker said Monday.

China's top diplomat on Saturday arrived on his first visit to Myanmar since the military seized power last year to attend a regional meeting that the government said was a recognition of its legitimacy and opponents protested as a violation of peace efforts.

A nationwide strike marked the one-year anniversary Tuesday of the army's seizure of power in Myanmar, as protests and sporadic violence across the country renewed concern over the ongoing struggle for power.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to downgrade Myanmar's participation in an upcoming summit in their sharpest rebuke yet of its leaders following a Feb. 1 military takeover.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will invite a non-political representative instead of Myanmar's military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the grouping's chair Brunei said on Oct. 16.

The U.N. General Assembly on June 18 took the rare step of calling on member states to "prevent the flow of arms" into Myanmar, part of a non-binding resolution condemning the military coup in the violence-wracked country.

Myanmar's election last year reflected the will of the people and the army was unjustified in using alleged flaws as a reason to seize power, an international monitoring group said on May 17 in its final report.

The Feb. 1 coup cut short a decade of tentative democratic reforms and led to the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had swept the Nov. 8 election.

A security guard was wounded in a bomb blast outside a military-owned bank in Myanmar's second-biggest city on April 11 morning, as the civilian death toll from the junta's brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700 at the weekend.

Britain on April 8 condemned "bullying" by the Myanmar junta after the country's ambassador to London was ousted in an extraordinary diplomatic coup after calling for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Diplomats loyal to the Myanmar military authorities seized control of the embassy on Wednesday, leaving ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn locked out in the street.