Restrictions on telephone and internet services and increased surveillance are leaving large parts of Myanmar cut off from outside information, reports the non-profit organisation Athan Myanmar

The junta is urging citizens abroad to return for mandatory military service; the move follows intensified recruitment efforts amid escalating conflicts with ethnic minorities within the country displacement and humanitarian crises

During the Thadingyut Festival, thousands gathered at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon to pray for an end to the civil war and recurrent floods in Myanmar; many came from crisis-hit areas, seeking solace amidst the worsening conflict and natural disasters

Dr Zaw Myint Maung, leader of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement and close ally of imprisoned leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, died of leukaemia; he was in the junta's custody

The Myanmar embassy in Bangkok announced that Myanmar citizens in Thailand can now obtain new passports on the same day without an appointment, urging people to go directly to the embassy to avoid the high fees charged by agents