In Amharic, Karen and Spanish, worship is like home for migrants in heartland town
Read full article: In Amharic, Karen and Spanish, worship is like home for migrants in heartland townAt noon on Sundays in Worthington, Minnesota, an overflow crowd is still swaying to the Guatemalan band at Spanish-language Catholic Mass, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are wrapping up their six-hour-long service, and at townโs edge among the cornfields, refugees from Southeast Asia gather to pray and sing in Karen at the Baptist church founded by Swedish farmers.
Myanmar's opposition rejects a military appeal for talks on a political solution to armed conflict
Read full article: Myanmar's opposition rejects a military appeal for talks on a political solution to armed conflictThe main group coordinating opposition to military rule in Myanmar has rejected a surprise offer from the ruling generals to hold talks on a political solution to the countryโs nationwide armed conflict.
Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds sway
Read full article: Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds swayGuerrilla fighters from the main ethnic Karen fighting force battling Myanmarโs military government have withdrawn from the eastern border town of Myawaddy two weeks after forcing the army to give up its defense.
About 1,300 people from Myanmar flee into Thailand after clashes broke out in a key border town
Read full article: About 1,300 people from Myanmar flee into Thailand after clashes broke out in a key border townOfficials in Thailand say about 1,300 people have fled from eastern Myanmar into Thailand as fresh fighting erupted at a border town that has recently been captured by ethnic guerillas.
The Blue Ridge Marathon set to draw thousands of runners from across the country and beyond
Read full article: The Blue Ridge Marathon set to draw thousands of runners from across the country and beyondRunners are getting ready for the Blue Ridge Marathon this Saturday which is expected to bring as many as about 3,000 runners.
Thai foreign minister urges Myanmar's military to avoid violent attack on border town its army lost
Read full article: Thai foreign minister urges Myanmar's military to avoid violent attack on border town its army lostThailandโs foreign minister says he has urged Myanmarโs military authorities not to violently respond to its armyโs loss of an important border trading town to its opponents.
Ethnic guerrillas in Myanmar look set to seize an important town on the Thai border from military
Read full article: Ethnic guerrillas in Myanmar look set to seize an important town on the Thai border from militaryGuerrilla fighters from Myanmarโs Karen ethnic minority are claiming to be close to seizing control of a major trading town bordering Thailand.
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This Liberty grad is looking to make her mark on AGT
Read full article: This Liberty grad is looking to make her mark on AGTJoin Megan and Lindsey as they chat about a Liberty grad auditioning for Americaโs Got Talent, how a Brazilian artist makes art using plastic, and how the name โKarenโ isnโt a popular baby name.
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Myanmar still mired in violence 2 months after military coup
Read full article: Myanmar still mired in violence 2 months after military coupProtesters in Myanmar are marking two months since the military seized power by again defying the threat of lethal violence and demonstrating against its toppling of the country's democratically elected government.
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Junta's foes woo ethnic allies with new Myanmar constitution
Read full article: Junta's foes woo ethnic allies with new Myanmar constitutionAnti-coup protesters run to avoid military forces during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar on Wednesday March 31, 2021. (AP Photo)YANGON โ Opponents of Myanmarโs military government declared the countryโs 2008 constitution void and put forward an interim replacement charter late Wednesday in a major political challenge to the ruling junta. The moves, while more symbolic than practical, could help woo the country's armed ethnic militias to ally themselves with the mass protest movement against the military's seizure of power in February. The ceasefire announcement came after a flurry of combat with at least two armed ethnic minority organizations that operate on the country's borders. Ceasefires between the ethnic militias and central government forces have always been fragile, and the ethnic minority forces had no immediate reaction to the announcement.
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Myanmar junta deepens violence with new air attacks in east
Read full article: Myanmar junta deepens violence with new air attacks in east(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)MAE SAM LAEP โ The military launched more airstrikes Tuesday in eastern Myanmar after earlier attacks forced thousands of ethnic Karen to flee into Thailand and further escalating violence two months after the junta seized power. The U.S. earlier suspended a trade deal and imposed sanctions on junta leaders as well as restricted business with military holding companies. Tuesday's air raids in eastern Myanmar killed six civilians and wounded 11, said Saw Taw Nee, head of the KNU's foreign affairs department. AdProtests against the junta continued in several Myanmar cities Tuesday despite its lethal crackdown that killed more than 100 people on Saturday alone. They said on Monday, however, that Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to Myanmar.
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Thousands flee Myanmar airstrikes, complicating crisis
Read full article: Thousands flee Myanmar airstrikes, complicating crisis(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)YANGON โ Thai soldiers began sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of airstrikes by the military in neighboring Myanmar, people familiar with the matter said Monday. But Thai officials denied that as the insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a coup in Myanmar. But later, three people with knowledge of the matter said Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to Myanmar. In one border area, Thai soldiers refused to let journalists or curious locals approach or speak to those who had fled. Video shot Sunday showed a group of villagers, including many young children, resting in a forest clearing inside Myanmar after fleeing their homes.
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In Myanmar's hinterland, army uproots ethnic Karen villagers
Read full article: In Myanmar's hinterland, army uproots ethnic Karen villagersIn this photo released by the Free Burma Rangers, members of the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers carry out medical checkups on villagers in the northern Karen State, Myanmar Feb. 25, 2021. (Free Burma Rangers via AP)BANGKOK โ In the jungles of southeast Myanmar, the army was shooting and otherwise oppressing civilians long before last monthโs military coup. In the countryโs remote southeast, an army offensive has driven as many as 8,000 ethnic Karen people to flee their homes in what aid groups say is the worst upheaval there for nearly 10 years. But it also is a reminder of the brutal force Myanmar's army has long used against civilians, and in particular the country's ethnic minorities. The Karen long ago learned the brutal nature of the military, independent analyst David Mathieson told The Associated Press.

3 tropical systems spinning in Atlantic
Read full article: 3 tropical systems spinning in AtlanticTropical storms Jerry, Karen and Lorenzo were spinning in the Atlantic on Sept. 24, 2019. (CNN) - Tropical Storms Jerry, Karen and Lorenzo are spinning across the Atlantic Basin and two of them are impacting land Tuesday. Jerry to turn towards BermudaTropical Storm Jerry is a strong tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 mph. Karen strengthens back to tropical storm statusKaren, lost strength Monday afternoon and dropped to a tropical depression. It will take a more northerly direction and tropical storm force winds could arrive in Puerto Rico by Tuesday afternoon.

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