麻豆社

Aung San Suu Kyi once seemed set to put Myanmar on a new path after years of military dictatorship. But her refusal to acknowledge the army鈥檚 persecution of Rohingya Muslims damaged her standing abroad. And although her party, the NLD, won a landslide victory in elections last year, it may prove to have been a pyrrhic one, says Jonathan Head, after this week鈥檚 military coup.

Pascale Harter introduces this and other dispatches from 麻豆社 correspondents and writers around the world.

In recent weeks, Lebanese cities have seen a new wave of public protest - but this time it wasn't about politics, but the harsh facts of survival. Six months after the huge blast in its capital city, Lebanon is still struggling to rebuild. Its people are finding whichever means they can to survive a devastating economic crisis, and meanwhile, authorities imposed one of the world's most stringent lockdowns to try and limit the spread of Covid-19. Leila Molana-Allen reports from Tripoli and Beirut.

In September 2017, a ferocious Category 5 hurricane swept through the eastern Caribbean. The islands of Dominica, St Croix and Puerto Rico were battered by winds of up to 280 kph - ripping the roofs from buildings, stripping every leaf from plants, and leaving many families homeless. On Dominica, Hurricane Maria left a trail of devastation and death; but this island and its people have shown both ingenuity and resilience in building back better. Mark Stratton recently visited, and found a place determined to stare down a new, global storm front: coronavirus.

South Africa has been battling to control a new variant of Covid, detected in the country last year. More than 45,000 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic. For those who are grieving, the usual customs surrounding mourning and funerals have been abruptly curtailed. Many people are now restricted to watching live-streamed funerals online, while closest family grieve alone, says Pumza Fihlani.

"No coup.鈥� Credit: EPA/Narong Sangnak)