Myanmar junta leader vows to crush opposition and seeks foreign support for return to democracy.

Myanmar's military ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, has urged foreign powers to support his junta's planned return to democracy instead of siding with a resistance movement he called "terrorists" bent on destroying the country. The junta will hold an election in August that has already been widely dismissed as a sham. Many political parties have been decimated or refuse to take part in the election, with some siding with the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), which is seeking international support and backs militias behind guerrilla attacks on security forces.