Canada says China and India may seek to meddle in election

Thailand-based human rights group Fortify Rights in a report said that Rohingya armed groups killed at least 219 Rohingyas in the camps in Bangladesh in four years between 2021 and 2024 as killings.

An airstrike carried out by Myanmar`s military on a village controlled by anti-junta resistance fighters has resulted in the deaths of at least 12 individuals. The strike reportedly targeted civilian-populated areas.

Myanmar`s military government will hold a general election in December 2025 or January 2026, state media said on Saturday, citing the junta chief, who provided the first specific time frame for the long-promised polls in the war-torn nation.

China on Wednesday announced a 7.2 per cent hike in its annual defence budget to take it to over $245 billion.

Arab leaders have approved a $53 billion (£41.4 billion) reconstruction initiative as an alternative to the proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump, which suggested the relocation of over two million Palestinians and US oversight of Gaza. The decision was reached during an emergency summit held in Cairo, Egypt.

US President Donald Trump has suspended military aid to Ukraine, a White House official confirmed on Monday. This decision intensifies pressure on Kyiv to engage in peace talks with Russia.

The Trump administration has announced plans to reduce more than 90% of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign aid contracts and cut 60 billion US dollar in global assistance. This move signals a major shift in US international development and humanitarian aid efforts.

The skies above the borders of India, Pakistan, and China have increasingly become a stage for high-tech conflicts, with drones playing a crucial role in surveillance and military operations. The use of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), many enhanced with artificial intelligence, has surged, raising security concerns in the region.

The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, has called for a swift political resolution in Myanmar to facilitate the safe return of the Rohingya refugees to their homeland.

European leaders meeting in Paris for emergency talks on Monday called for higher spending to ramp up the continent`s defence capabilities but remained split on the idea of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday, ahead of anticipated discussions with Russian officials regarding efforts to end Moscow’s nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump stated that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conveyed a willingness to achieve peace during separate phone conversations with him on Wednesday. Following these discussions, Trump directed senior US officials to initiate talks aimed at ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The European Union will counter any tariffs imposed by the United States with equivalent measures, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated on Monday, cautioning Washington against escalating a trade conflict.

Saudi Arabia reaffirmed on Wednesday that it will not establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is created. 

Four years after overthrowing Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a 2021 coup, the military regime is intensifying efforts to legitimize its rule by advancing plans for a 2025 election. 

In 2024, China’s state-owned aerospace company Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), provided the Myanmar military with eight new aircraft, according to a report by Burma Campaign UK.