Myanmar's media has long been on the rack. On Wednesday the situation worsened markedly when police formally charged two Reuters reporters with breaching the Official Secrets Act.
The case against Myanmar nationals Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, follows their work on the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Hopes of a new dawn for free speech under the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi have been dashed.
At least 11 journalists were arrested in 2017 and dozens of non-media workers have been charged with online defamation since she took office the year before.
At the same time, rights groups say the Rohingya crisis has created a toxic atmosphere of self-censorship among the media.
Here are some of the other prominent legal cases involving the media and freedom of expression in recent months in Myanmar, which ranked 131st out of 180 countries in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index. North Korea came in at 180, with Norway in pole position.
In October three journalists and their driver were arrested for flying a drone near parliament while working for Turkish broadcaster TRT.
The reporters, Myanmar national Aung Naing Soe, Malaysian journalist Mok Choy Lin and Singaporean cameraman Lau Hon Meng, were later jailed for two months along with their driver Hla Tin for violating a colonial-era aircraft act.
They were released in December shortly before finishing the sentence.
Observers linked the case to antipathy towards Turkey after its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
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Read more:
Rohingya insurgents launch rare attack on Myanmar military
Myanmar court remands journalists for two more weeks
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Investigative journalist Swe Win was arrested at Yangon's airport in July and charged under the notorious 66(d) statute, which covers online defamation.
His case stemmed from Facebook comments in which he criticised a nationalist monk. Mr Win was released on bail but the case is continuing in the city of Mandalay.
Scores of writers, poets, journalists and civilians have been subject to 66(d) complaints, which have soared under Ms Suu Kyi's administration.
Complaints have been filed against critics of both Ms Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Three Myanmar journalists from the Irrawaddy and the Democratic Voice of Burma were arrested in June after reporting on a drug-burning ceremony.
The event took place in territory controlled by the rebel group the Ta'ang National Liberation Army.
The reporters were charged with unlawful association, a law used against supporters of Myanmar's many ethnic armed organisations fighting for autonomy in border areas.
The case was eventually withdrawn but the reporters spent more than two months in jail, in what was seen as a warning against giving publicity to rebel groups.
Pre-publication censorship was abolished in 2012. But articles critical of the security forces and senior officials still give editors reasons to be afraid.
Sometimes this reaches absurd heights: a satirist from the Voice newspaper was arrested in June along with his editor for publishing an essay gently mocking Myanmar's failed efforts to make peace with ethnic armed groups.
Charges were eventually dropped against both of them.
Allegations of atrocities by security forces in Rakhine state also pose acute problems for Myanmar-based media.
They fear a backlash from the government and the Buddhist-majority public, who consider condemnation over the Rohingya crisis unfair and one-sided.
Several staff members at the Myanmar Times quit in protest at the firing of a colleague who had raised allegations of sexual assault against security forces in Rakhine.
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RACECARD
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Everything Now
Arcade Fire
(Columbia Records)
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The%20Last%20White%20Man
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
More on Quran memorisation:
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
