Aung San Suu Kyi

Alamy Photo

Swedish clothing giant H&M has said it would begin closing its operations in Myanmar, after reports of abuse against garment workers in the wake of the 2021 military takeover.

"After careful consideration we have now taken the decision to gradually phase out our operations in Myanmar," H&M said in an email to AFP.

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday said the country had "not returned to normalcy" almost two years after its coup, casting doubt over plans for elections and ending a state of emergency.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military toppled democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government, alleging massive fraud during elections her party won in 2020.

Air strikes by Myanmar's military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority's main political organization, members of the group and a rescue worker said Monday.

Japanese energy conglomerate ENEOS Holdings said yesterday it will withdraw from a gas project in coup-hit Myanmar, days after its Thai and Malaysian partners announced they would pull out.

A nationwide strike marked the one-year anniversary Tuesday of the army's seizure of power in Myanmar, as protests and sporadic violence across the country renewed concern over the ongoing struggle for power.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to downgrade Myanmar's participation in an upcoming summit in their sharpest rebuke yet of its leaders following a Feb. 1 military takeover.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will invite a non-political representative instead of Myanmar's military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the grouping's chair Brunei said on Oct. 16.

The U.N. General Assembly on June 18 took the rare step of calling on member states to "prevent the flow of arms" into Myanmar, part of a non-binding resolution condemning the military coup in the violence-wracked country.

Myanmar's election last year reflected the will of the people and the army was unjustified in using alleged flaws as a reason to seize power, an international monitoring group said on May 17 in its final report.

The Feb. 1 coup cut short a decade of tentative democratic reforms and led to the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had swept the Nov. 8 election.

A security guard was wounded in a bomb blast outside a military-owned bank in Myanmar's second-biggest city on April 11 morning, as the civilian death toll from the junta's brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700 at the weekend.

Britain on April 8 condemned "bullying" by the Myanmar junta after the country's ambassador to London was ousted in an extraordinary diplomatic coup after calling for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Diplomats loyal to the Myanmar military authorities seized control of the embassy on Wednesday, leaving ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn locked out in the street.