For the past six months, there have been intermittent reports in the news media and on specialist websites stating that Burma (Myanmar) is developing a submarine capability. If this is true, it has important implications not only for Burma and the region, but also for the wider international community.  However, equally dramatic stories about Burma have emerged in the past, only to prove misleading or false.  This is not the first time Burma has been linked to a submarine sale.

The pandemic threatens to break the already frayed fabric of communities that had not yet recovered from the drug war.