Refined, but Not Destroyed, in the Fire (Isiah 48:10)

(AI post from the GOOGLE SEARCH on 23 July 2026.)

Isaiah 48:10 states: "See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

It means God uses times of intense hardship, pain, and trials as a purposeful tool. Rather than destroying His people, He uses these "furnaces" to burn away character flaws, purify faith, and draw them into deeper dependence on Him.

"Not As Silver": In ancient metallurgy, silver ore was heated over a fire until the dross (impurities) floated to the top, and the silversmith skimmed it off. This process was continued until the metal was pure enough to reflect the smith's face.

By saying "not as silver," God means two things:  The intensity: Literal silver requires a very specific, controllable heat. The "furnace of affliction" He uses represents intense, overwhelming trials rather than a mild test.

The outcome: A human silversmith refines to produce a valuable commodity. God refines you for something much greater: to draw out all spiritual impurities and conform you to His likeness.

2021-Coup Turned Myanmar Into A Failed State!

(Joshua Kurlantzick’s post from COUNCIL on FOREIGN RELATIONS on 10 July 2026.)

How the Coup Turned Myanmar Into Asia’s Deadliest Conflict—and Why the World Is Looking Away: Five years after its generals seized power, Myanmar has collapsed into Asia’s deadliest war and a nearly unequalled humanitarian catastrophe. And yet, the rest of the world has decided to ignore the conflict amid other major geopolitical developments.

The war in Myanmar, driven by a 2021 coup, is now Asia’s deadliest conflict. ACLED, a conflict-monitoring group, counts more than 100,000 people killed since the military overthrew the democratically elected government in February 2021. The group calls it the most fragmented conflict anywhere—with over 1,200 armed factions—and considers Myanmar one of the most war-torn countries on earth.

It was not always this way. While Myanmar often seemed to be in a time warp through decades of autocratic military rule, it began to change. In the decade since the country began opening up its political system in 2011, the economy grew by an average of about 6 percent a year, and poverty fell steeply—from 48.2 percent in 2005 to 24.8 percent by 2017, according to the World Bank.

China, Russia and India make inroads in Myanmar

(Staff post from the BENGAL BAY POST on 06 July 2026.)

China, Russia and India make inroads in Myanmar with transit corridors: Competing regional powers accelerate massive transport and energy projects in Myanmar to secure vital Indian Ocean routes despite ongoing civil conflict.

Myanmar is emerging as a focal point in Asia's strategic connectivity race, with China, Russia and India simultaneously advancing major transport and energy projects that could reshape regional trade despite the country's ongoing civil conflict.

Myanmar government has intensified efforts to revive long-delayed infrastructure initiatives, viewing the projects as critical to transforming Myanmar into a regional logistics hub linking East Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Typhoon Maysak Bursting The Nanning Dam.

(AFP News Post  from the STRATS TIME on 06 July 2026.)

BEIJING - Typhoon Maysak brought heavy rain and severe flooding to China’s southern Guangxi region, with the authorities on July 6 raising flood alert levels as the system weakened into a tropical storm.

Officials in Nanning, Guangxi’s capital, raised the city’s flood control emergency response to the highest level after torrential rain breached dams. Videos shared by state broadcaster CCTV on July 6 showed ferocious torrents of muddy water gushing through a breach in a dam on the Liulan reservoir – described by state media as a “medium-sized” reservoir – heading for buildings in the distance.

A dam on the Yunbiao reservoir also burst, while the Liuwang reservoir overflowed, the Nanning authorities said in a statement on their official WeChat account. More than 800 residents were evacuated due to severe flooding in Fangchenggang, also in Guangxi, according to state media.

The heavy rainfall caused waters to rise above warning levels in 66 hydrological monitoring stations on 55 rivers in Guangxi on July 6, CCTV reported. Luwei Town, also in Nanning, recorded 637mm of rain in 24 hours between July 5 and 6 morning, according to CCTV.

Trump Screwed by Supreme Court: Anchor-Babies Won?

      (Staff post from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 01 July 2026.)

US Supreme Court rejects Donald Trump's bid to restrict birthright citizenship: The US Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump's bid to overturn birthright citizenship.

It is a major blow to the US president's hardline agenda on immigration and comes after the same court earlier this year limited his ability to impose sweeping tariffs. What's next? Mr Trump has urged Congress to implement legislation to end birthright citizenship, despite the court finding it was a constitutional right.

Donald Trump's controversial attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the US has been rejected by the Supreme Court, up-ending the president's hardline agenda on immigration. The 6-3 ruling marked the second time this year that the court has invalidated one of Mr Trump's major initiatives, following its February decision to strike down his sweeping global tariffs.

The Arakan Army's Ascent From State to Nation

           (Suu Mon’s article from the ACLED on 31 October 2025.)

From state to nation: The Arakan Army's ascent in post-coup Myanmar. The Arakan Army’s successes in Rakhine state advance its regional goals and provide it with strategic leverage against the military and its backers in India and China.

Since the 2021 military coup, the Arakan Army (AA) has rapidly become the most powerful armed actor in western Myanmar, where it controls the most territory, has built administrative structures, and asserts authority over the wider region.

The AA is now a significant national-level actor that conducts multi-regional operations with old and new allies and has influence far beyond Rakhine state. The AA controls part or all of major foreign investment projects in Rakhine state, which gives it strategic leverage with China and India, countries that desire project continuity and currently support the military regime.

Rare Earth Extraction by China in Kachin State

(Based on AI Overview of GOOGLE Search on 28 June 2026.)

Chinese Rare earth extractions in Myanmar's Kachin State relies on in-situ leaching, an industrial process that pumps chemical solutions directly into mountainsides to dissolve and collect valuable heavy metals like dysprosium and terbium.

The operations are highly destructive, supply chains are entangled with armed conflict, and the output feeds heavily into China. The Extraction Process In-Situ Leaching is often described as an "IV drip" for the mountains. Workers drill holes into hillsides, lay a network of pipes, and inject leaching agents (such as Ammonium Nitrate or Ammonium Sulfate) into the soil.

The chemical solution seeps through the earth, dissolving the naturally occurring rare earth elements bound to the ionic clay. The metal-rich liquid flows downslope and is captured in large, tarpaulin-lined leaching pools for collection.

Myanmar Rebels on Back Foot As Conscripts Fill Army

(Quentin Sommerville’s post from the BBC NEWS on 10 June 2026.)

Inside Myanmar, rebels are losing ground as military forces men into army: The four young men in the rebel camp hidden deep in jungle-covered mountains never wanted a part in Myanmar's civil war. They didn't choose to be soldiers for the military either.

One had been a chef on his way home from work when he was grabbed off the street. His lack of ID was enough for the military to detain him and force him to sign up. Another was taken on his way back from a late-night karaoke session; a third had been working for the forestry department when he was arrested. The fourth man says on being arrested, drugs were slipped into his shoe, and he was framed and made to enlist.

"Before we even understood what was happening, we were sent straight to the front lines," one of the men – all between the ages of 19 and 25 – tells the BBC. They made us do all kinds of things we didn't want to do," another adds. "We never got any real rest, not in the morning, not during the day, and not even at night. The conscripts had to do everything. While the regular soldiers hardly had to work."

Burmese-American Scholar Min Zin Arrested in China

(Staff post from IRRAWADDY NEWS JOURNAL on 19 June 2026.)

China Arrests Myanmar-Born US Scholar on Suspicion of Spying: China arrested a Myanmar-born scholar on its southwestern border in Yunnan Province early this month, accusing the US citizen of spying ⁠and endangering Chinese national security, China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday. 

China has notified the US Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou of the arrest, Lin ‌Jian, ⁠a ministry spokesperson, told a regular news conference when asked about U Min Zin’s disappearance ⁠in Kunming last ⁠week, Reuters said. U Min Zin, a US citizen originally from Myanmar, was arrested by security forces on June 3 upon his arrival at the airport in the provincial capital Kunming.

The Irrawaddy has learned that he was invited to attend an event hosted by a Chinese university there. He studies Myanmar politics and is a founding member and executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar), a nongovernmental policy think tank whose research focuses on China-Myanmar relations, among other issues. ISP-Myanmar was not available for comment on Friday.