Myanmar, Turkey, Ethiopia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Nov 11, 2022

Myanmar

It’s one of the world’s most under-reported wars but Myanmar is descending further and further into chaos. A summit of Southeast Asian leaders, from which Myanmar’s leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was barred, today demanded the military government implement a peace plan. Several analysts, though, called it a relatively weak statement that would achieve little. An insurgency has raged in Myanmar since the military toppled a democratically-elected government in February 2021.

Turkey

The trial of Istanbul’s popular mayor, charged with insulting Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, resumed today in the third hearing of what his supporters say is a blatant attempt to neutralize an opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. If convicted, Ekrem Imamoglu could face up to four years in prison and - crucially - be banned from holding office. Imamoglu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party, won the mayorship in 2019 dealing a bloody nose to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century.

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government’s lead negotiator in ongoing peace talks said today that 70 percent of the country’s Tigray region, the center of a two-year civil war, was now under its control. A representative of its Tigray People’s Liberation Front opponents, immediately denied the assertion, saying Redwan Hussein was “plucking his facts out of thin air.” Ethiopia and the TPLF agreed a peace deal more than a week ago and are now attempting to implement it on the ground. As part of the deal, the Ethiopian government agreed to allow aid into the region. Redwan said on Twitter today that "aid is flowing like no other times." One humanitarian worker in the region, though, told the AFP news agency that aid was still not reaching key areas.