Senior UN officials have warned about the prospect of a flood of babies being born in the coming weeks and months in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps that could be the result of rape.

A man who launched a hot-air balloon to celebrate the 39th birthday of Brigadier-General Tun Myat Naing, leader of the Arakan Army, was arrested over the weekend and charged with “unlawful association” in the latest case involving the controversial colonial-era law.

Cer Lui had to make a split decision — to drive herself to the hospital by motorbike, or stay in her home with her seven children — and deliver her baby.

Burma is training up hundreds of midwives in an effort to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth, one of many social policy reforms launched by the country as it emerges from decades of military rule.

A small, dusty town in central Burma became the focus of the country on Friday, as thousands descended on the Magwe town of Nat Mauk, the birthplace of Aung San.

Birthday celebrations were held on Sunday at Rangoon zoo, for one of the city's best loved characters.