Myanmar

(Reuters) --- Court proceedings in the first criminal cases involving deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi are set to finish late next month, her lawyer said on Monday, citing a decision by the presiding judge.

The prosecution has until June 28 to conclude its case while the defence has until July 26, and hearings would take place every Monday and Tuesday, Suu Kyi's chief lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters.

(Reuters) --- Thailand is concerned at the violence in many parts of Myanmar and wants to see the implementation of steps agreed by Southeast Asian leaders with the military junta to help end the turmoil since the Feb. 1 coup, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Myanmar's junta has shown little sign of heeding the five point 'consensus' agreed among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April - which calls for an end to violence, political talks and the naming of a regional special envoy.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar's security forces clashed with villagers armed with catapults and crossbows during a search for weapons in the Ayeyarwady river delta region on Saturday and local media reported as many as 20 people had been killed.

State television news said three "terrorists" had been killed and two arrested at the village of Hlayswe as security forces went to apprehend a man accused of plotting against the state.

(Reuters) --- Two envoys from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held talks in Myanmar with military ruler Min Aung Hlaing, army-run TV reported, as part of a visit aimed at ending a bloody crisis in the country.

The junta leader met ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Erywan Yusof, the second minister for foreign affairs for Brunei, ASEAN's chair, Myawaddy TV reported. State-run MRTV said the envoys also met two military-appointed ministers.

(Reuters) --- Around 400 pro-democracy supporters took to the streets of downtown Yangon on Thursday to stage one of the biggest recent demonstrations against military rule in Myanmar's commercial hub and largest city.

Despite a crackdown by security forces, the military is still struggling to impose order more than four months after overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in a coup and arresting her and senior members of her party.

(Reuters) --- Breathless, fevered and without the extra oxygen that could help keep them alive, the new coronavirus patients at a hospital near Myanmar's border with India highlight the threat to a health system near collapse since February's coup.

To help her tend the seven COVID-19 patients at Cikha hospital, day and night, chief nurse Lun Za En has a lab technician and a pharmacist's assistant.

Mostly, they offer kind words and paracetamol.

(Reuters) --- The underground government set up by opponents of Myanmar's military junta said its first batch of recruits have finished training for a new defence force, releasing video of them parading in uniform.

The National Unity Government had announced it would form a People's Defence Force to challenge the army, which seized power on Feb. 1, ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and plunging the Southeast Asian country into chaos.

(Reuters) --- Fighters opposed to Myanmar's military junta seized a police station in the eastern town of Mobye on Sunday and claimed to have killed at least 13 members of the security forces and captured four, local media said.

Videos shared on social media showed what appeared to be the dead bodies of security forces in the latest attack of a general upsurge of conflict in parts of Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

(Reuters) --- The European Union on Sunday denounced a proposal by Myanmar's junta-appointed election commission to dissolve deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which overwhelmingly won the general election in November.

"If the Commission were to proceed with this proposal, it would show yet again the junta's blatant disregard for the will of Myanmar's people and for due legal process," a spokeswoman of the EU's executive Commission said in a statement.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi was healthy at home and would appear in court in a few days, in his first interview since overthrowing her in a Feb. 1 coup.

The coup has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos and one of several ethnic armed groups opposed to the ruling junta advanced to attack a military post in a northwestern jade mining town on Saturday, local media said.