Connect with us

World

Myanmar military-backed party leads after second round of election voting

Published

on

Myanmar military-backed party leads after second round of election voting

Critics, including human rights workers and opposition groups, say the election is neither free nor fair.

Advertisement

Myanmar’s military-backed political party has extended its lead after the second round of voting, according to official figures from the country’s election body, and the country now heads into the final phase of its three-stage general election amid widespread conflict.

The latest data published on Friday indicates that the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is on track to win 182 seats from the combined first and second phases of voting, more than half of the seats in the country’s 330-member lower house.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

According to figures reported by state broadcaster MRTV, citing the Union Election Commission, the USDP won a whopping 86 of 100 seats up for grabs in the second phase of voting held on Sunday. The third and final round of voting is scheduled for January 25.

Critics, including human rights and opposition groups, say the polls are neither free nor fair and are an effort by the military to legitimise its rule after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Advertisement

The military takeover triggered widespread opposition that has grown into a civil war.

The election is being held in three phases due to armed conflicts in the country.

The first and second rounds took place in 202 of the country’s total 330 townships on December 28 and January 11. The final round will take place in more townships, but 65 others are not participating because of fighting in those areas.

Final results for all seats in both national and regional legislatures are expected to be announced by late January.

Major-General Zaw Min Tun, the military’s spokesperson, said last weekend that the two houses of parliament will be convened in March, with a new government taking up its duties in April.

Advertisement

During the first two rounds of voting, armed groups opposing the army carried out attacks against polling stations and government buildings in many townships, the military government said.

The election also comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently holding hearings in a case brought by The Gambia, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its Rohingya community.

While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 political parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six parties are contesting seats nationwide.

One of them, the People’s Pioneer Party, is facing a pending legal case that could result in its dissolution after its chairwoman, Thet Thet Khine, and another senior party member were scrutinised by authorities for holding a meeting with representatives of a foreign embassy in Yangon, the country’s largest city, without prior approval from the election commission.

A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties for most public criticism of the polls, with the authorities charging more than 330 people recently for leafleting or online activity.

Advertisement

World

Iranian man, 2nd person arrested after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base: report

Published

on

Iranian man, 2nd person arrested after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base: report

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Two people were arrested after allegedly unsuccessfully attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland on Thursday, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

One suspect was an Iranian man, while the other was a woman of unknown nationality, The Telegraph reported.

“Around 5pm on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde,” Police Scotland said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection and enquiries are ongoing.”

The Telegraph reported that the man was Iranian, while the woman’s nationality was not immediately known. Citing the Times, the Telegraph said the suspects were turned away from the base because they lacked the correct passes and were later arrested nearby for allegedly “acting suspiciously in the vicinity.”

Advertisement

IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER LINKED TO PROPERTIES WITH ‘LINE OF SIGHT’ INTO ISRAELI UK EMBASSY

HMS Artful, an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine, is shown at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A Royal Navy spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Police Scotland have arrested two people who unsuccessfully attempted to enter HM Naval Base Clyde on Thursday 19 March. As the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.”

HM Naval Base Clyde — commonly known as Faslane — is considered the primary base for the United Kingdom’s missile fleet.

PENCE BACKS TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES, SAYS PRESIDENT ‘IGNORED’ GOP ISOLATIONISTS

Advertisement

A general view of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Royal Navy says the base is home “to the core of the Submarine Service, including the nation’s nuclear deterrent, and the new generation of hunter-killer submarines.”

The U.K. Parliament says the Royal Navy currently operates a fleet of nine submarines, with the entire fleet based at HM Naval Base Clyde.

His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, also known as Faslane, hosts the U.K.’s nuclear submarines, which are armed with Trident missiles and serve as the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

 

Advertisement

“Five of those are conventionally-armed nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Astute class. A further four are ballistic missiles submarines (SSBN) of the Vanguard class that comprise the UK’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent,” it added.

Continue Reading

World

Iran’s Khamenei says enemy ‘defeated’ in written Nowruz message

Published

on

Iran’s Khamenei says enemy ‘defeated’ in written Nowruz message

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he replaced his slain father as Iran’s supreme leader.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran’s enemies were being “defeated” in a written message for the Persian New Year, as the US and Israel continue to pound the country with attacks.

In a statement read on Iranian television on Friday, Khamenei praised the steadfastness of the Iranian people marking Nowruz, which he said ushered in ‌the year of a “resistance economy under national unity and national security”.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

“At the moment, due to the particular unity that has been created between you, our compatriots – despite all the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural and political origins – the enemy has been defeated,” he said.

Advertisement

Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader, following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war on February 28.

Iran’s supreme leader said that while the US and Israel believed that after one or two days of attacks, the Iranian people would overthrow the government, but this was a “gross miscalculation”.

The war was launched under “the delusion that if the pinnacle of the regime and certain influential military figures were to attain martyrdom, it would instil fear and despair in our dear people … and through this means, the dream of dominating Iran and subsequently dismembering it would be realised”, he said.

Instead, “a fracture has emerged in the enemy,” he added.

Analysts have observed that the Iranian constitution itself was drafted with the spectre of a power vacuum in mind, a “survival protocol” designed to give the system the capacity to continue even at a moment of maximum shock.

Advertisement

Khamenei also denied that Iran or its ‌allied forces were responsible for attacks ⁠against Turkiye and ⁠Oman.

Those were “false flag” incidents used by Iran’s enemy to “sow discord among neighbours, and it may occur in other countries as well”, he claimed.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence last week said NATO air defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran. Two people were killed in Oman after drones came down in the Sohar province.

The supreme leader also called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to end their fighting and said he stood ready to assist.

“We consider our eastern neighbours to be very close to us”, the supreme leader said. “I appeal to our two brotherly countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to establish better relations with each other … and I myself am ready to take the necessary actions.”

Advertisement

The neighbouring countries agreed to a temporary “pause” in hostilities during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week, after weeks of deadly violence.

Continue Reading

World

Natasha Lyonne Posts Health Update Two Months After Relapse: ‘Doing a Whole Lot Better and Back on Her Feet’

Published

on

Natasha Lyonne Posts Health Update Two Months After Relapse: ‘Doing a Whole Lot Better and Back on Her Feet’

Natasha Lyonne is thanking fans for their support after she revealed in January that she had relapsed and was no longer sober. “Proud to report this kid is doing a whole lot better and back on her feet,” she wrote.

“Want to thank our recovery communities and the fans who stood by and were so supportive. Aiming to keep the journey somehow private, but look forward to sharing my experience, strength and hope as makes sense.”

Lyonne struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol throughout the 2000s.

After attending the Sundance Film Festival in late January, the “Poker Face” star wrote that she had relapsed and then added, “Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone. Grateful for love & smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo. Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets. If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise & baloney.”

Advertisement

“Poker Face” was canceled at Peacock in November, though Lyonne and producer MRC were shopping a new version that would star Peter Dinklage as the bullshit-detecting detective.

Lyonne has several feature projects in the works: She is set to write and direct the indie film “Bambo” about a New York boxing promoter and was previously set to make her directing debut with “Uncanny Valley,” produced by her AI film studio Asteria Film Co.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending