18th March 2021 Malaysia issued a formal statement today which, by ASEAN standards is as hard-hitting as it gets. Western governments chipped in with their condemnation of the coup. The Military are losing support amongst the monks. This is unusual in that the monks are joining other groups to
The BFD is seeking citizen journalists to write news articles for us in a voluntary capacity. Regular contributor Lionred reported on a disaster in Lostwithiel, Cornwall at the end of last year, providing both commentary and photos of what was happening. This year he has been reporting on the coup
18th March 2021 The 18th ASEAN Military Intelligence Meeting AMIM-18 took place online yesterday morning. The meeting was attended by Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo, Colonel Haji Mohammad Muluddin Bin Awang Haji Latif of Brunei, Lt-Gen Hun Manith of Cambodia, Maj-Gen Andjar Airatma of Indonesia, Maj-Gen
Housing 1News: Kiwis think Govt not doing enough to address housing crisis as politicians quizzed on how many homes they own Dan Satherley and Emma Turton (Newshub): Housing crisis: Share of homes being sold to people who already own property at record high Julie Anne Genter (Business Desk): Time for
17th March 2021 The fall out from Hlaing Thar Yar continues as refugees pour out of the township. They are migrant workers from the countryside who work in the factories in the Industrial zone. The brutality of the military has demoralised the population. Unfortunately, it has resulted in the factories
Housing Jenee Tibshraeny (Interest): Next week’s housing policy package to include ‘incentives’ to invest beyond property Jason Walls (Herald): The Green Party urges ‘bold action’ on housing ahead of Government’s first housing package RNZ: Greens urge capital gains tax in plan to address housing crisis Zane Small (Newshub)
16th March 2021 As I said yesterday, most communications from Myanmar are closing down. There are no mobile networks operational and the internet is down. The obvious question is why? Linking this to the convoy of troops crossing the bridge into Hlaing Thar Yar and the increased number of troops
Housing Keith Lynch (Stuff): What happened after Jacinda Ardern said house prices can’t keep skyrocketing Henry Cooke (Stuff): Housing crisis: Greens push to end equity-only mortgage deposits in bid to lower prices Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Megan Woods reminds foreign investors their money is still welcome in parts of
15th March 2021 Army vehicles are crossing the bridge from Insei to Yangon Industrial zone at Hlaing Thar Yar. Fires are raging from factory blazes. There is debate about whether they were started by protesters or agents provocateur/military. The other side of the bridge from Hlaing Thar Yar is
14th March 2021 This is the British reaction to the actions of the authorities today. (Nothing heard from New Zealand). The Embassy is on Strand Road in downtown Yangon and the Residence is near the main railway station, so they are well placed to observe what is going on in
1News-Colmar Brunton Poll 1News: Labour keeps strong lead as Collins plunges further in first 1 News-Colmar Brunton poll of 2021 Claire Trevett (Herald): PM’s drop in popularity will not worry her as National stays off its foils (paywalled) Jessica Mutch Mckay (TVNZ): Opinion: Saying goodbye to landlines
Economy, wage subsidy, inequality Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): When the US Government becomes more economically progressive than NZ Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Where did the wage subsidy money really go? Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Why we should reframe the discussion on government spending Kate MacNamara (Herald): Treasury shows New Zealand’s 1
13th March 2021 We have just completed 50 days from the start of the coup and what have we learned? The resistance has been more widespread and stronger than the Military, especially Min Aung Hlaing ever considered possible. They were expecting it to peter out after a couple of weeks.
