MYANMAR’S military-backed party has completed a sweeping victory in the country’s three-phase general election, state media said, cementing an outcome long expected after a tightly controlled political process held during civil war and widespread repression.

The Union and Solidarity Party (USDP) dominated all phases of the vote, winning an overwhelming majority in Myanmar’s two legislative chambers. It secured 232 of the 263 seats up for grabs in the lower Pyithu Hluttaw house and 109 of the 157 seats announced so far in the Amyotha Hluttaw upper chamber, according to results released on Thursday and Friday.

Myanmar’s parliament is expected to convene in March to elect a president, with a new government set to take over in April, pro-military Eleven Media Group reported earlier this month, citing junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun.

The final round of voting in late January brought an end to an election that began on December 28, more than four years after the military seized power in a coup that overturned the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the coup, with the crushing of pro-democracy protests sparking a nationwide rebellion. Around 3.6 million people have been displaced, according to United Nations.

CRITICS SAY MILITARY STILL IN CHARGE
The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has said it would not endorse the process, and human rights groups and some western countries have also denounced the election as a sham.

Myanmar’s military government insists the polls were free and fair, and supported by the public.

Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was dissolved along with dozens of other parties, and some others declined to take part, drawing condemnation from critics who say the process was designed to entrench military rule.

Under Myanmar’s political system, the military is also guaranteed 25% of parliamentary seats, ensuring continued control even after power is formally transferred to a civilian-led administration.

PROXY FOR THE ARMED FORCES
The USDP was founded in 2010 after decades of military-led rule in the southeast Asian country, with the aim of serving as a proxy for the armed forces, also known as the Tatmadaw.

The party is chaired by a retired brigadier general and packed with other former high-ranking officers. It contested the poll with 1,018 candidates, a fifth of the total registered.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is also expected to play a central role in the next administration.

He has defended the polls as a step toward stability, rejecting criticism from opponents and foreign governments and affirming that state responsibilities will be transferred to the elected government.

“Regardless of any changes among political parties or organizations in the country, Tatmadaw continues to carry out its responsibilities for national defense and security faithfully and without neglect up to the present day,” he was quoted by state media as saying on Monday.

TURNOUT DOWN AS FIGHTING HALTS VOTES
Turnout reached around 55% over all three phases, lower than the figure of around 70% in previous elections, including a 2015 vote that brought Ms. Suu Kyi to power, as well as the ill-fated 2020 poll, the results of which were cancelled by the junta before staging the coup.

Voting took place in 263 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, some of which are not under the complete control of the junta.

It was cancelled in many areas due to ongoing fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups, as well as local resistance forces that emerged after the 2021 coup.— Reuters

JAKARTA/SINGAPORE — Indonesia’s chief economic minister promised increased financial market transparency and improved corporate governance on Friday, after the stock exchange chief resigned to take responsibility for a $80 billion share rout.

Airlangga Hartarto, at a news conference, said authorities were committed to stock market reform and that the country’s economic fundamentals remained sound.

Proposed improvement measures include doubling the free float requirement of shares to 15%, allowing pension and insurance funds to increase capital market investment to 20% of their portfolio from 8%, and checking the affiliation of shareholders with ownership of less than 5%.

“The government guarantees protection for all investors by maintaining good governance and transparency,” Mr. Airlangga said.

Index provider MSCI flagged a possible downgrade of Indonesian stocks to “frontier” status on Wednesday due to concern about share ownership and trading transparency, triggering the steepest two-day share price fall since April.

Indonesia Stock Exchange CEO Iman Rachman resigned on Friday.

“I hope this is the best decision for the capital market. May my resignation lead to improvement in our capital market,” Iman told a press conference. “Hopefully, the index, which opened positively this morning, will continue to improve in the coming days.”

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) will ensure Iman’s resignation does not affect operations, an OJK official told reporters. It will take the lead in implementing reforms and aims to resolve the MSCI’s concerns by May, the official said.

“We remind all investors to remain calm and rational when making investment decisions,” said Inarno Djajadi, who overseas capital markets at the regulator.

The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index dropped more than 8% on Wednesday and Thursday but was last up 1.18%, a day after authorities announced the proposed measures to address MSCI’s concern and ease investor worry.

The rupiah was last at 16,790 to the US dollar, hovering near its weakest-ever rate of 16,985 set last week.

Someone had to take responsibility for the loss of confidence, said Mohit Mirpuri, portfolio manager at SGMC Capital in Singapore, referring to Iman.

“The bigger picture is a reset and an opportunity for the exchange to emerge stronger with clearer standards and governance,” Mr. Mirpuri said.

Foreign capital outflows have increased due to concern about how President Prabowo Subianto is widening the fiscal deficit and expanding state involvement in financial markets.

This month’s appointment of his nephew Thomas Djiwandono to the central bank and last year’s firing of respected finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati have shaken confidence in Mr. Prabowo’s stewardship.

Regulators said communication with MSCI has been positive and that they were awaiting a response to their proposed measures which they hoped to implement soon.

Their swift action appears to have allayed investor concern but sentiment remains fragile.

“Policymakers want to fix this,” said Paul Dmitriev, senior analyst and co-portfolio manager at Global X ETFs. “The government has every incentive to fix these issues as systemic outflows would be substantial and could materially impact the market.”

Foreign investors sold around a net $645 million worth of shares in the two-day selloff, exchange data showed. They sold $1 billion worth of shares in 2025. ($1 = 16,780 rupiah) — Reuters

SEOUL — The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan agreed on Friday to upgrade defense cooperation and plan to work together in incorporating artificial intelligence and unmanned weapon systems, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu-back held talks in Yokosuka, Japan, and agreed to conduct joint naval search-and-rescue drills, it said in a statement.

The two Asian allies of the United States have in recent months drawn closer in political ties under new leaders, as they looked to put behind years of frosty relations rooted in Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula in the early 20th century.

Mr. Ahn and Mr. Koizumi discussed working together to ensure peace and stability in the region amid the challenges of the global security environment and continuing defense cooperation with the United States, the ministry said.

The meeting follows talks they held in September in South Korea.

Earlier, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Mr. Koizumi told Mr. Ahn defense cooperation between the two countries, and with the United States, was more important than ever. — Reuters

HYDERABAD — There is a low risk of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India, the World Health Organization said on Friday, adding that it did not recommend travel or trade curbs after two infections reported by the South Asian nation.

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are among the Asian locations that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against such a spread after India confirmed infections.

“The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases is low,” the agency told Reuters in an email on Friday, adding that India had the capacity to contain such outbreaks.

“There is no evidence yet of increased human to human transmission,” it said, adding that it has coordinated with Indian health authorities.

But it did not rule out further exposure to the virus, which circulates in the bat population in parts of India and neighboring Bangladesh.

Carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, the virus can cause fever and brain inflammation. It has a fatality rate ranging from 40% to 75%, with no cure, though vaccines in development are still being tested.

It spreads to humans from infected bats, or fruit they contaminate, but person-to-person transmission is not easy as it typically requires prolonged contact with those infected.

Small outbreaks are not unusual and virologists say the risk to the general population remains low.

The source of infection was not yet fully understood, said the WHO. It classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because of a lack of licensed vaccines or treatments, a high fatality rate, and a fear it could mutate into a more transmissible variant.

NIPAH NOT NEW TO INDIA
The two health workers infected in India’s eastern state of West Bengal late in December are being treated in hospital, local authorities have said.

India regularly reports sporadic Nipah infections, particularly in its southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world’s highest-risk regions for the virus, linked to dozens of deaths since it first emerged there in 2018.

The outbreak is the seventh documented in India and the third in West Bengal, where outbreaks in 2001 and 2007 were in districts bordering Bangladesh, which reports outbreaks almost annually, the WHO said. — Reuters

TAIPEI — Taiwan completed the maiden underwater sea trial for its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday, a big milestone in a project aimed at strengthening deterrence against the Chinese navy and protecting vital sea lanes in the event of war.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims.

The submarine program has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries, including the United States and Britain, a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims.

Taiwan’s CSBC Corp which is leading construction of what is eventually planned to be eight submarines, said in a statement late on Thursday that the first ship, named the Narwhal, had completed its first underwater test at sea.

It said the submarine had carried out a “shallow-water submerged navigation test”.

“Submarines are a key strategic capability with deterrent power,” it said, after the test off the southern Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung.

The Narwhal had been due to be delivered to the navy in 2024, joining two existing submarines purchased from the Netherlands in the 1980s, but the program has been hit with delays.

“Due to constraints in the international environment and pressure from the Chinese communists, Taiwan’s indigenous submarine program has faced various difficulties and challenges from the beginning to the present,” CSBC said.

Taiwan has said it hopes to deploy at least two such domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles.

The first submarine, with a price tag of T$49.36 billion ($1.58 billion), will use a combat system by Lockheed Martin Corp and carry U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes.

Taiwan’s armed forces are dwarfed by those of China, which has three operational aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines and is developing stealth fighter jets.

Taiwan is modernizing its military to be able to fight “asymmetric warfare,” using mobile and agile systems like submarines, drones and truck-mounted missiles to fend off its much larger adversary China.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te announced in November 2025 that his government would spend an additional $40 billion on defense. — Reuters

OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, asked about reports that US officials had met separatists seeking independence for the province of Alberta, on Thursday said he expected the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty.

The Financial Times said State Department officials had held three meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that is pushing for a referendum on whether the energy-producing Western province should break away from Canada.

“We expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’m always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect,” Mr. Carney told a press conference.

Mr. Trump, he added, had never raised the question of Alberta separatism with him.

The APP, which says Ottawa’s policies are stifling the province, wants another meeting next month with State and Treasury officials to ask for a $500 billion credit facility, the Financial Times reported.

Alberta premier Danielle Smith said she wanted to stay part of Canada but noted that polls show 30% of the population was fed up with what it saw as Ottawa’s excessive interference.

Alberta is landlocked and Ms. Smith is pressing for another oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast. That would have to cross the neighboring province of British Columbia, whose premier David Eby has ruled out the idea.

Mr. Eby, whose relations with Ms. Smith are usually chilly, told reporters earlier that “to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada … is treason”.

Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a radio station: “I think we should let them come down into the US.”

Asked about a possible Alberta referendum, he replied: “People want sovereignty. They want what the US has got.”

Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump have repeatedly traded barbs in recent weeks. Mr. Carney, who calls the US president a skilled negotiator, suggests some of Mr. Trump’s recent comments could be tied to a review of the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact that is due to start later this year. — Reuters