Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule. Final results are expected to be announced in late January.

Analysts warn that conflict, power shortages and resource extraction under military rule are pushing Myanmar’s economy further into reverse.

Myanmar's military rulers are holding a general election in phases starting Dec. 28 amid the country's civil war. The head of the U.N. says the vote will be anything but free and fair.

The voting for Parliament is almost sure to favor the ruling military junta, which is stage-managing the polls. Still, some see them as the most pragmatic way to try to improve conditions.

Myanmar has been hammered by a conflict triggered by a 2021 coup in which the military ousted an elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

A Pentagon report reveals China is looking at setting up military bases in South Asia, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. This has India on alert as Beijing pushes to expand its influence a

A coup set off a brutal civil war and made a poor country poorer. Now its military rulers are seeking a veneer of legitimacy by holding elections.

The compounds, located in Karen State near the Thai border, were run by criminal syndicates conducting online fraud. Workers, including East Africans, were lured with false job offers. Recent raids by Myanmar authorities and fighting involving rebel groups have left hundreds stranded in military shelters and across the border in Thailand.