Myanmar
About 2,000 soldiers have defected from Myanmar’s army to join a rebellion against the government, according to the rebels. The country has been in the grip of a low-level, but growing, insurgency since the military overthrew a democratically-elected government in February. Myanmar’s de facto leader before the coup, Aung San Suu Kyi, was this week sentenced to four years in prison by a junta court on what rights groups say were bogus charges. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have been arrested since the coup, as the military brutally cracked down on protests.
More from France 24 here.
Taiwan
The incoming government in Honduras today said it will maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a reversal of an election pledge to forge a relationship with China. The announcement came a day after neighboring Nicaragua broke off relations with Taipei to establish them with Beijing. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has been stepping up pressure on the island to submit to its sovereignty. Growing in economic and military power, China has adopted an increasingly aggressive form of diplomacy in recent years, leaning on smaller countries to bend to its will.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Philippines-Russia
Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines, and Dmitry Muratov, a journalist from Russia, were today jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo. It was the first time in over 80 years that the honor went to a journalist. Both used their speeches to defend freedom of expression in an increasingly hostile environment. “Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, no democracy, and it becomes impossible to deal with our world’s existential problems: climate, coronavirus, the battle for truth,” Ressa said.
You can watch Maria Ressa’s speech here.
And read the text of Dmitry Muratov’s speech (translated from Russian) here.