Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

WASHINGTON - Reports of Chinese citizens trafficked into scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border are prompting renewed questions about Beijings

Thai police said Wang was trafficked across the Thai-Myanmar border and held captive at KK Park in Myawaddy, which is notorious for its illegal scam operations

Thai media have reported on some promising developments for migrants, such as cabinet approval in October of a plan to grant citizenship to nearly half a million people, including long-term migrants and children born in Thailand, and new visas for digital, medical and cultural pursuits.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 22 emphasised that Vietnam is always closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar and hopes for a prompt return to stability there, for the benefit of the local people as well as for regional and global peace and stability.

The peace deal comes into effect on the weekend but experts aren't convinced it will lead to hostilities easing across the war-torn country.

After three years of failed diplomacy, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has upped the ante and warned the military junta in Myanmar to end the civil war and allow the free flow of much-needed humanitarian aid.

Authorities from the region agreed to arrest the leaders of criminal syndicates. Read more at straitstimes.com.

ASEAN's fifth envoy to Myanmar, Tan Sri Othman Hashim, appointed during the bloc's meeting of foreign ministers.

Officials from China, Myanmar and Thailand have reportedly reached a consensus on eradicating telecommunication fraud centres in Myanmar, a country with a long-standing fraud problem, exacerbated by the ongoing war in that country.

Officials from China, Myanmar, Thailand reached consensus on eradicating telecommunication fraud centres in Myanmar on Tuesday during a meeting in the Chinese city of Kunming, said China's national broadcaster.