Myanmar's Science Festival hit day three with some wild mix of activities going down at two spots in Yangon. Deputy Minister Dr Aung Zeya showed up alongside Russian nuclear experts from ROSATOM and MEPhI to check out what students were cooking up. Around 100 kids stacked towers out of paper and tape while a Myanmar woman who actually sailed to the North Pole on a nuclear-powered icebreaker dropped stories about the trip.
Russian university students dialed in online to spill about their academic experiences abroad, and the event wrapped with documentary screenings about turning rice husks into green-energy battery materials, Egypt building a nuclear plant in their fishing zones, and Russian hydrogen production from methane. Meanwhile...
Myanmar troops just took back border areas where massive online scam operations were running wild under armed group protection. The government dismantled over 250 buildings at KK Park alone and shipped out nearly 70,000 foreign workers from 52 countries back home. Armed militias like the KNU apparently made bank off these fraud centers by charging protection fees and leasing land to sketchy casino developers from Cambodia.
Turns out these scam compounds mushroomed after armed groups seized key highway sections and kicked government forces out of the region. The whole setup mirrored what happened in Sihanoukville when casinos turned that Cambodian city into a criminal playground. Authorities are now flattening buildings, clearing mines...
Myanmar authorities busted a massive telecom-fraud and online-gambling operation near Mongnawng in Kehsi Township, grabbing 26 Chinese citizens and eight locals. Security forces stumbled onto the whole thing while doing routine patrols and found a bunch of sketchy buildings set up for scamming people. They torched temporary shelters, seized a ton of equipment like generators and computers, and confiscated weapons that the suspects had stashed nearby.
The government's been working with neighboring countries to crack down on this stuff, and they pulled off raids over a few days that uncovered multiple sites. Investigators recovered assault rifles, pistols, ammo, and other gear the criminals were using. The arrested foreigners are getting...
Myanmar's junta released 185 political prisoners from Mandalay Central Prison as part of their ongoing voter-registration stunt before the upcoming election. The prison system dumped another 80 inmates from four other lockups across the region, bringing the total to 265 freed detainees. Officials handed out some cash for food and transport, then shipped everyone out after health checks.
Prison Director U Cho Win Tun gave some speech about how they treated inmates like family members, and he claimed the whole amnesty thing was about making sure eligible voters could participate in the election. One former inmate said his family got blindsided by the release but showed up anyway to take him home. The amnesty targets people who got locked...
Myanmar's military government just cut loose over 8,000 prisoners who were locked up for political speech crimes and protesting. The National Defence and Security Council pardoned everyone doing time under specific penal code sections, and the junta claims it's all about making sure people can vote in the upcoming sham election they're trying to run.
Insein Central Prison in Yangon released 192 inmates after some security officials showed up to lecture them first. The freed prisoners got bused back to their home districts, where family members were waiting outside the gates. The amnesty comes with strings attached, though, because anyone who gets arrested again has to finish their original sentence on top of whatever new penalty they...
Zimbabwe just slapped a new tax on pretty much everything digital you pay for online. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced the Digital Services Withholding Tax, which hits payments going to foreign platforms like Netflix, Spotify, Starlink, and ride-hailing apps such as Uber and inDrive. Your bank or mobile money provider will automatically yank the tax out before sending money overseas, so expect those subscription prices to basically go up.
The tax rate wasn't even mentioned in the budget docs, which is a classic government move. This comes after the revenue authority warned back in September that nobody was getting a pass on registration. Ncube also tweaked the controversial 2% mobile money tax down to 1.5% for local currency...
Zimbabwe just dropped its budget for next year, and Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube put the most cash toward schools, military stuff, and hospitals. The whole spending package sits at Z$290 billion, with classrooms and teacher pay getting Z$47.4 billion at the top. Security forces scored Z$46.8 billion for recruitment and gear, while healthcare pulled Z$30.4 billion for rural clinics and medical supplies.
Ncube also threw money at farming projects after the drought wrecked crops, giving agriculture Z$26.8 billion for irrigation and livestock programs. Road upgrades between major cities got Z$4.6 billion, and water projects like the Kunzvi Dam received Z$1.1 billion for drilling and construction. The government expects the economy to grow...
Norman Mapeza is taking over at Scottland after the club dropped Tonderai Ndiraya, who just won them their first-ever league championship. The coaching switch happened super fast, with Mapeza getting announced literally one day after Ndiraya got the boot. Benefactor Wicknell Chivayo made the whole thing happen, and he showed up with club president Pedzai Sakupwanya to make it official.
Ndiraya had guided the team to a title in their rookie top-flight season, which got them into the CAF Champions League competition. The club said they mutually decided not to extend his deal past this season, but everyone knows that's just corporate speak. Mapeza brings a ton of experience from his FC Platinum days, and the front office clearly thinks he...
Scottland Football Club and head coach Tonderai Ndiraya have split after his contract ran out. The breakup comes right after he guided the team to a league championship in their first-ever top-flight campaign, which earned them a spot in CAF Champions League action. Ndiraya had previously taken Simba Bhora to their maiden title before joining Scottland.
Fans are already calling Norman Mapeza the next guy up for the job. The speculation kicked off hard on social media, with supporters pointing to his track record and success at FC Platinum. Some users think Mapeza's recent departure from Platinum was actually planned for this exact move. The club hasn't said anything about replacements yet, but the online buzz keeps growing around...
