Turkish reporters and their helpers will be held until 10 November amid tensions with Ankara over the Rohingya crisisMyanmar police have charged two foreign journalists and two Burmese locals after they flew a drone over the country’s parliament. The men – two of whom work for Turkish state media – will be held in custody until their first court hearing over allegations they breached import laws. The incident comes as tensions surge between Myanmar and Turkey, which has led criticism of the south-east Asian nation for its treatment of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state since late August, running from burning villages they say were set alight by soldiers and Buddhist mobs. Several journalists have been arrested in Myanmar this year, fuelling fears of an erosion of the press freedoms that blossomed after the end of junta rule in 2011.

Source: The Guardian October 29, 2017 05:48 UTC