- Harris slams Ukraine 'surrender' policy with Trump confirming Zelensky meet
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Athletics pay emotional farewell to Oakland in last home game before move
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Americans sweep four-balls to grab 5-0 lead at Presidents Cup
- Armenian PM says peace with Azerbaijan 'within reach'
- Israel defies ceasefire calls and vows to keep battling Hezbollah
- 'Stir crazy' McKeown breaks 100m backstroke short-course world record
- Ten-man Spurs cruise in Europa League opener despite Son injury scare
- Iran shows 'willingness' to re-engage on nuclear issue: IAEA chief to AFP
- Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan accused of sexual asault
- Harris slams Ukraine 'surrender' policy as Zelensky visits White House
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Teenager seeking to halt Ohtani 50-50 ball auction
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Packers clash awaits for 'late developer' Darnold
- Israel pours cold water on US-backed call for ceasefire with Hezbollah
- US, allies urge pressure on Venezuela's Maduro after disputed vote
- Zelensky meets Biden after US unveils Ukraine military aid surge
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Eric Adams, New York's criminally charged mayor of 'swagger'
- Ten Hag says lack of goals Manchester United's biggest problem
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Emotional Almodovar wins lifetime award at San Sebastian festival
- Putin rachets up nuclear rhetoric, but is he ready to act?
- Former MVP Derrick Rose retires from NBA
- England's Hull out of Pakistan tour
- US urges pressure on Venezuela's Maduro after disputed vote
- US announces new half billion dollars for Syria aid
- Lawson to replace Ricciardo at RB F1 team for rest of season
- New York mayor charged with years of bribery, fraud
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- Myanmar junta invites armed groups to stop fighting, start talks
- Kenya set for full Haiti deployment amid call for shift to UN mission
- Argentina change seven of team that beat Springboks for rematch
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Marsh adamant Australia have 'moved on' from Lord's row
- Monet's odes to London's 'beautiful' smog appear in city
- Pakistan braces for 'transitional pain' as IMF approves $7 bn loan
- New York mayor charged with bribery, fraud in bombshell indictment
- Van Gogh painting falls short of expectations in Hong Kong auction
- Potts glad to learn from England great Anderson
- Palestinian leader calls for world to stop sending Israel weapons
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- Dyche says Everton takeover should bring 'stability'
- 'The last straw': gang-plagued Ecuador now fighting record fires
- Italy and Britain tied after Louis Vuitton Cup final day one
- Survivor of Mexican mass disappearance fights for truth
Myanmar junta invites armed groups to stop fighting, start talks
Myanmar's embattled junta on Thursday invited armed groups opposed to its rule to stop fighting and start talks to bring peace, after three-and-a-half years of conflict.
The unexpected offer comes after the junta suffered a series of major battlefield reverses to ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy "People's Defence Forces" that rose up to oppose the military's seizure of power in 2021.
As well as battling determined resistance to its rule, the junta is also struggling with the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, which triggered major flooding that has left more than 400 dead and hundreds of thousands in need of help.
"We invite ethnic armed groups, terrorist insurgent groups, and terrorist PDF groups which are fighting against the state to give up terrorist fighting and communicate with us to solve political problems politically," the junta said in a statement.
The military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government in February 2021, triggering mass protests that were met with a brutal crackdown.
Civilians set up PDFs to fight back and ethnic minority armed groups -- many of which have fought the military for decades -- were reinvigorated, plunging the country into civil war.
- Election pledge -
Armed groups should follow "the path of party politics and elections in order to bring about lasting peace and development", the statement said.
“The country's human resources, basic infrastructure and many people's lives have been lost, and the country's stability and development have been blocked" by the conflict, the junta said.
The junta, which justified its coup with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in the 2020 elections won by Suu Kyi's party, has long pledged to hold fresh polls when conditions permit.
Census takers are due to start collecting data in early October in preparation for possible polls in 2025.
The military has lost swathes of territory in border areas in the past year after a major surprise offensive led by a trio of ethnic minority armed groups.
The groups have seized control of lucrative border crossings and last month took Lashio, a city of 150,000 people -- the biggest urban centre to fall to rebels since 1962.
Batches of conscripts have been training after the military enforced a draft law in February -- prompting tens of thousands of eligible young people to flee the country to avoid being called up, according to rights groups.
More than 5,700 civilians have been killed and over 20,000 arrested in the military crackdown since 2021, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.
The United Nations warned last week that Myanmar was plunging into a human rights "abyss", detailing shocking torture meted out by the military on people in its custody.
Detainees reported being beaten with iron poles, bamboo sticks and motorcycle chains, and being terrorised with snakes and insects.
Pope Francis has offered refuge on Vatican territory to Suu Kyi, Italian media said on Tuesday.
The 79-year-old Nobel peace laureate is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges ranging from corruption to not respecting Covid pandemic restrictions.
Rights groups say her closed-door trial was a sham designed to remove her from the political scene.
L.Harper--AMWN