Myanmar, Belarus, Ethiopia.
Today's three stories you should know.
Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi, deposed as Myanmar’s de facto leader in a military coup four months ago, today began the first in a series of trials charged with an eclectic collection of crimes. The 75-year-old is accused of breaking a colonial-era secrecy law, violating coronavirus restrictions and importing walkie-talkies among other charges. The New York-based Human Rights Watch called the charges “bogus and politically motivated” and said the military was trying to ensure Suu Kyi doesn’t run for office again. Myanmar has seen almost daily protests since the military junta deposed the government in February and at least 850 civilians have been killed in a brutal crackdown, according to a local monitoring group.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Belarus
Roman Protasevich, the young journalist arrested by Belarus after it diverted a passenger plane to Minsk last month, has appeared at a news conference alongside military chiefs, during which they again denied the flight was deliberately diverted. Protasevich told the assembled journalists that he was feeling fine, that he had wronged Belarus and that he was ready to rectify things. The Belarusian opposition said the appearance proved that Protasevich was “a hostage.”
More from BBC here.
Ethiopia
“Today there is famine! There is hunger!”
Pope Francis has added his voice to the growing chorus of governments, aid groups and UN agencies calling on the Ethiopian government to allow full humanitarian access to its Tigray region, where a conflict has been going on since December. A UN assessment last week found that 350,000 people were living in famine conditions, including more than 30,000 children. Ethiopia continues to resist the pressure.
More from the Associated Press here.