Iran War Escalates as US, Houthis Target Ships Near Key Oil Routes 
North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile as US-South Korea Drills Near 
Myanmar Rejects ASEAN Special Envoy, Challenges Regional Peace Plan 
South Korea, US Set Major Military Drills for August 
Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Sparks Fires in City Centre 
Zelenskiy Sends Peace Plan to U.S., Warns of New Russian Mobilisation 
Trump Weighs Capital Gains Tax Cuts Ahead of Midterms 
Peggy Flanagan Wins Minnesota Democratic Senate Nomination 
Trump Signs Order to Cut Routine Childhood Vaccines 
Trump Demands Iran Pay Compensation Over Deaths and Injuries 
Canada, US Hold Fresh Trade Talks as August 19 Tariff Deadline Nears 
Ukraine Accuses Russia of Systematic Torture of POWs and Civilian Detainees 
Rebecca Cooke to Challenge Derrick Van Orden in Key Wisconsin Race 
Darline Graham Advances to South Carolina Senate Runoff 
Wisconsin Democratic Primary Tests Progressive Appeal 
North Korea Slams Japan’s 2026 Defense White Paper 
Bashar al-Assad Sentenced to Death by Syrian Court 
Add as a preferred source on Google
The foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to ban Myanmar’s ruling generals from future meetings. The bloc agreed that the ban would be in place unless the junta makes progress with the agreed peace plan.
During the ASEAN summit last week, the foreign ministers of the member countries agreed to ban the ruling generals from future meetings until the junta has shown progress and compliance with the peace plan.
Speaking at a news conference at the end of the summit, Cambodian foreign minister Prak Sokhonn, who is also the special envoy to Myanmar, said the junta “must act in a way that shows progress is made, then we will be able to act on a decision to show progress.”
The ministers criticized the lack of progress the junta made on the peace plan agreed upon between the bloc and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing back in April 2021, not long after the generals seized power and ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February.
The ministers also demanded that the so-called State Administration Council take action to comply with the plan before the regional summit in November.
The ministers expressed their disappointment in the lack of progress and lack of commitment by the authorities in Myanmar to implement the five-point peace plan. The ministers also warned Myanmar in the joint statement, referencing Article 20 of the ASEAN charter, that the leaders of the bloc may also take action for non-compliance.
Myanmar’s state-owned news outlet, the Global New Light, reported that the junta rejected the statement by ASEAN, and said that it would continue to follow its own peace plan. Junta-appointed foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin was not allowed to attend the meeting and the foreign ministers’ retreat. Min Aung Hlaing was also not invited to the last summit.
During the meeting, the ministers also said they may reconsider the peace plan should the generals execute more political prisoners, following the execution by the junta of four activists linked to Myanmar’s resistance movement.
“If more prisoners are executed, we will be forced to rethink…our role vis a vis ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus,” said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the bloc’s current chair.
