Myanmar's military stages controversial election

Global News Podcast

BBC

Daily News, News

4.2 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Voting has begun in the opening phase of Myanmar's heavily restricted general election, the first since the military seized power nearly five years ago in a coup, an act that sparked civil war. The first round of voting takes place in around a quarter of the country; two more rounds are due to take place next month. Also: we look at how deportation fears in the US are driving money transfers to Honduras. A Siberian tiger gives birth to a record five cubs, it's China's first documented case of a tiger having quintuplets in the wild. Research suggests that a mysterious force called Dark Energy - which drives the expansion of the Universe - might be changing, in a way that challenges our current understanding of time and space. And Aryna Sabalenka takes on Nick Kyrgios in what's been dubbed the 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match. We look at why it's polarising opinion.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.6	This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:11.6	I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 28th of December, these are our main stories.
0:18.6	Voting is underway in the elections staged by Myanmar's military
0:22.0	leaders amid a civil war and humanitarian crisis. The poll has been labeled a sham. President
0:28.9	Zelensky is going to Florida for a crucial meeting with Donald Trump about the Russia-Ukraine
0:34.1	peace plan, and China proposes stricter rules for human-like AI systems.
0:42.2	Also in this podcast, Hondurans in the US are sending home more money in remittances than ever
0:48.2	before. We hear from people in both countries. And tennis is set for another battle of the sexes.
0:54.8	A lot of people think it's just going to sort of cause division and mirth.
0:59.3	It's kind of lose-lose for Sabalenko and therefore the kind of women's tennis movement.
1:04.1	Is this the sequel no one asked for?
1:09.8	The polls have opened for a general election in Myanmar, the first held in the country since the military seized power in a coup nearly five years ago.
1:18.5	It's taking place despite the fact that the country is in the grip of a civil war and humanitarian crisis.
1:24.9	The military government has been trying to inspire voters, but the elections
1:28.5	have been widely slated as a charade intended to rebrand the army's rule. There are 57 parties on
1:35.5	the ballot, but most have links to the military that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi,
1:41.1	who's currently in jail. Our correspondent Jonathan Head Head, spoke to me from a polling station.
1:47.0	People are voting here. This is quite close to central Mandalay. In fact, it's a very big military base
1:52.2	near here. There may be some connection to that as possible there are military families, but actually
1:56.4	the crowd's pretty diverse, and this is a very diverse city. The numbers aren't huge there. I mean,
2:01.1	I wouldn't, compared to previous elections here, the atmosphere is very, very different. It's
	...

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