04/04/2026

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Myanmar junta chief elected president by Parliament

name, vowing to “clean this out”. Authorities have pledged to close all online scam centres by the end of this month, but analysts have said the government’s crackdown on the industry is unlikely to stamp it out. The US State Department last year said “official complicity, including at senior levels, inhibited effective law enforcement action against trafficking crimes”. Cambodia has denied suggestions that its government is complicit. – AFP tomorrow, with options such as adjusting timetables and shifting to online classes being considered. Authorities will also allow duty-free imports of electric buses for schools, with incentives for those that participate. Bangladesh has rationed fuel to mitigate shortages, besides limiting vehicle sales and shortening fuel station hours amid panic buying, hoarding and long queues. Authorities have warned that supplies remain tight, despite some easing during major holidays. Bangladesh’s state-run agencies are scrambling to secure energy supplies for a population of about 175 million, while exploring alternative sources in the face of volatile global markets. The government is also seeking external financing of more than US$2.5 billion (RM10 billion) to help pay for imports of fuel and liquefied natural gas as rising energy costs further squeeze foreign exchange reserves. – Reuters Human remains found on Thai ship after attack BANGKOK: Thailand’s Precious Shipping said yesterday human remains were found within the affected area of the vessel M.V. Mayuree Naree in the Strait of Hormuz, which was attacked last month during the Middle East conflict. Thailand said 20 crew members were rescued by the Omani navy while three were missing after an explosion in the stern of the ship caused a fire in the engine room. Precious Shipping said the identity and number of individuals to whom the remains belong has not yet been confirmed. In other news, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday said Thai authorities will investigate instances of oil smuggling and hoarding. Legal action will be taken to the fullest against wrongdoers, he told a press conference. He said the government is accelerating a crackdown on stockpiling, price gouging and fuel smuggling.

the military. “Our

fiercely loyal to the general, as his successor to lead the military. The military handover and Min Aung Hlaing’s rise to the presidency are seen by analysts as a strategic pivot to consolidate his power as head of a nominally civilian government and earn international legitimacy, while protecting the interests of an armed forces that has run the country directly for five of the past six decades. “He has long harboured the ambition to trade his title of commander-in-chief for president and it appears his dreams are now becoming a reality,” said independent Myanmar analyst Aung Kyaw Soe. Still, the civil war that has wrecked Myanmar for much of the last five years is raging, with some anti-junta groups, including those comprising remnants of Suu Kyi’s party and long-standing ethnic minority armies, forming a new combined front this week to take on

o Military handover seen as strategic pivot to consolidate power, earn international legitimacy

vision strategic objectives are to completely dismantle all forms of dictatorship, including the military dictatorship, and to collectively initiate a new political landscape,” said the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union in a statement on Monday. Analysts have said resistance groups could face intensified military pressure as well as increased scrutiny from neighbouring countries that may seek to bolster their relationship with Min Aung Hlaing’s new administration. and

NAYPYITAW: junta chief Min Aung Hlaing won a parliamentary vote yesterday to become the country’s president, formalising his grip on political power in the war-torn nation five years after he ousted an elected government. The 69-year-old general orchestrated a 2021 coup against the administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and placed her under arrest, sparking widespread protests that morphed into nationwide armed resistance against the junta. The transition from top general to civilian president follows a lopsided election in December and January that was won by an army-backed party and derided by critics and Western governments as Myanmar

a sham to perpetuate military rule behind a veneer of democracy. In a live broadcast of the vote count in a Parliament dominated by the election-winning Union Solidarity and Development Party and the military’s quota of appointed armed forces legislators, former commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing easily passed the threshold required to win the presidential vote. His ascent to the presidency, a position that analysts say he has long sought, follows a major reshuffle in the leadership of Myanmar’s armed forces, which he had led since 2011. On Monday, as he was nominated in Parliament as a presidential candidate, Min Aung Hlaing anointed Ye Win Oo, a former intelligence chief seen as

Investigations have found fuel stations hoarding and smuggling along the border with Myanmar, police said at the press conference. – Reuters Bangladesh strives to save energy amid Middle East conflict “Amid global oil and fuel shortages and economic crises, maintaining organisational stability could become difficult,” said analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe of the opposition. “As these hardships grow, it may become even harder to build mutual understanding and trust between groups, reach firmer agreements and sustain cooperation.” – Reuters

May said: “Hundreds of thousands of people of various nationalities are forced to carry out online fraud.” Several countries have enacted anti-cyberscam laws to address the rise of online fraud, romance and cryptocurrency scams, with con artistes in Singapore facing 24 strokes of caning for serious cases. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in February scam centres are destroying his country’s economy and giving the nation a bad DHAKA: Bangladesh has launched fresh measures to curb energy consumption, cutting office hours and trimming public spending as conflict in the Middle East disrupts global fuel markets and strains power supply in the South Asian nation. Officials said the steps approved by Cabinet on Thursday aim to stabilise the energy situation in Bangladesh, heavily dependent on fuel imports and battered by price volatility and supply uncertainty from the US-Israeli war with Iran. Under the new rules, government offices will run from 9am to 4pm while markets and shopping centres must shut by 6pm to reduce electricity use. The government has also ordered cuts in non-essential public expenditure and urged lower power consumption in the industries sector, with curbs also implemented on excessive lighting. The Education Ministry will issue guidelines for schools from

GRAND GREETING ... Members of the South Korean Presidential Guard of Honour participating in the official welcoming ceremony for French President Emmanuel Macron at the Blue House in Seoul yesterday. – AFPPIC

Anti-cybercrime law approved in Cambodia PHNOM PENH: Fraudsters running cyberscam operations in Cambodia could now face life in prison after the Senate approved a new law yesterday targeting criminals involved in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry. around the world. Operated out of fortified compounds across the region, the global cyberscam industry has reached “industrial proportions”, with estimates of its annual revenues as high as US$64 billion (RM262 billion), according to the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime. and a maximum fine of US$500,000. If their operations lead to the death of one or more people, scam centre bosses could face life in prison. “Our goal is to eliminate scams,“ said Cambodian Justice Minister Koeut Rith during a press conference. A draft of the law, the first of its kind that aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations in Cambodia, was initially approved by the government in March. A joint statement by UN experts in The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running fake romantic relationship and cryptocurrency investment schemes in which scammers, some willing, others trafficked, defraud internet users Under the law, ringleaders of cyberscam centres that engage in human trafficking, detention and torture will face up to 20 years’ prison