The Philippines' top diplomat leads a humanitarian mission to Myanmar

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The Philippines' top diplomat leads a humanitarian mission to Myanmar

2026-10-28 21:25 Last Updated At：21:41

BANGKOK (AP) — The Philippines’ top diplomat arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid, as Myanmar’s military-backed government seeks to improve strained relations with its neighbors and other countries.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro is making the two-day visit in her capacity as Special Envoy on Myanmar for ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar is part of the regional bloc but has been rebuked by it since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, plunging the country into a civil war that has displaced millions.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lazaro will lead an ASEAN Monitoring Team mission to distribute humanitarian support in Myanmar’s Kayin State, Southern Shan State and Northern Shan State.

The aid operation is expected to distribute 50-kilogram (110-pound) bags of rice, personal hygiene kits and other essential items to more than 11,000 households through November, said the statement.

Lazaro’s visit comes as Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing seeks to improve the image of his military-backed government to gain political legitimacy abroad. China and Russia have been allies since he led the 2021 takeover, but Western nations treated Myanmar as a pariah state and enacted sanctions against its leaders.

Min Aung Hlaing faced years of isolation and was barred from ASEAN summit meetings for failing to comply with the bloc’s April 2021 peace plan, which called for an end to violence, dialogue among contending parties, mediation through a special envoy, humanitarian aid, and full access to stakeholders.

ASEAN will hold its annual summit in mid-November in the Philippines' capital, Manila.

Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president in April following an election in December and January. Critics dismissed the polls as a sham designed to consolidate the military's grip on power while ostensibly restoring civilian rule. His efforts to end diplomatic isolation have included visits to Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.

He has also tried to ease concerns about Suu Kyi, who has not been seen publicly since she was detained in 2021 when her government was ousted. She is serving an 18-year prison sentence on charges that her followers and right groups consider bogus.

The 81-year-old Suu Kyi on Thursday was allowed her first telephone call in more than five years with her son, Kim Aris. On Monday, the military-backed government said it delivered two books sent by Britain’s King Charles III to Suu Kyi, along with diplomatic correspondence.

She was moved from prison in the capital Naypyitaw to house arrest at an undisclosed location in April, and in August, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Suu Kyi, marking her first contact with an independent international humanitarian organization since her detention.

The bond market swings, but US stocks remain steady after the Fed says it won't raise interest rates

NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market is swinging Wednesday, while U.S. stocks hold relatively steady after the Federal Reserve decided not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation. The bond market's moves indicated traders see less of a chance of hikes to rates in the future, which would help with inflation but also hurt the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled within 1% of its all-time high, which was set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 84 points, or 0.2%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

The action was much stronger in the bond market, where the yield on the two-year Treasury initially climbed after the Fed announced its decision to hold rates steady. It got above 4.79% after the Fed said two officials had actually voted to raise the federal funds rate, though their peers outweighed them.

The central bank last month raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years in hopes of slowing the high inflation that's discouraging Americans broadly.

But the two-year yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, quickly dropped as low as 4.69% after Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the central bank wants to take time to see how conditions play out before making its next move on rates.

He pointed to how rates for loans going to businesses and others across the economy have already climbed recently and how lenders and investors have become “more discerning.” That “monetary medicine” is “starting to work some,” he said.

Along with signals that the U.S. economy continues to grow, Warsh said that “broadly, these developments go in the direction” of helping with the Fed's two goals of a healthy economy and relatively low inflation.

Traders on Wall Street still see further increases to rates as likely, but they pared back bets on how many may come by next summer, according to data from CME Group.

Higher rates also push downward on stock prices, which raises the pressure on companies to deliver big growth in profits to counteract that. Several companies rallied Wednesday after joining the list of those beating analysts’ expectations for the summer.

GE HealthCare Technologies jumped 6.7% after delivering both profit and revenue for the summer that surpassed analysts’ expectations. It also raised its forecasts for revenue growth and other financial measures for the full year.

Etsy climbed 5.9% after its profit for the latest quarter blew past analysts’ forecasts. CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the online marketplace saw growth in active buyers from prior-year levels for the first time in two years, while its active seller base grew at its fastest rate in two years.

Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also relatively solid. They’ve stabilized this week following big swings on worries that high borrowing costs will undercut the boom in AI data centers largely built with borrowed money.

AI stocks got an additional boost after a major player in the industry, South Korea’s SK Hynix, soared 10.9% in Seoul following its latest profit report. The seller of memory chips said it’s in the midst of a virtuous cycle of rising AI usage, and it expects demand to continue to outpace supply through 2030.

On Wall Street, Micron Technology rose 5.8% and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. It also sells memory for computers.

Outside of tech, Wendy's jumped 14.6% to $7.04 after Trian Fund Management, run by investor Nelson Peltz, offered to buy the chain for $7.35 per share in cash.

That helped offset a drop for Boston Scientific, which fell 4.2% even though the seller of medical devices reported a milder drop in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Robinhood Markets sank 3.6% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 6.6% following SK Hynix’s leap. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 edged down by less than 0.1%.

AP Writer Elaine Lai contributed to this report.