Myanmar’s most heavily-armed and powerful rebel group has said it is looking to carve out a legitimate state, as experts say it is flexing its muscles amid tense relations with the government.

The United Wa State Army, which commands an estimated 30,000 troops, holds sway over a remote mountainous area on the northeast border with China that is believed to be awash with drugs and has long been aloof from central Myanmar control.

Shielded from the reach of the previous junta by its close links to Beijing and formidable military might, observers say the group is using political openings under a new government to push for greater official acknowledgement.

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The Horn of Africa has been ravaged by war and famine for decades, and now one of Somalia’s regions, hopes to become an independent state.

Somaliland sits on the Gulf of Aden and is officially regarded as an autonomous region of Somalia. The two were, however, separate until 1960. During the civil war in the 1980s, 40,000 people from Somaliland were killed, and nearly half a million fled.

The region then declared independence in 1991. Since then, it has held four peaceful elections.

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Falkland Islanders have overwhelmingly voted in favor of remaining part of Britain.

Of the 1,517 people who polled in a two-day voting in referendum on whether they want to be part of Britain or Argentina, all but three acknowledged British sovereignty, reports said.

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Falkland Islanders will go to the polls on Sunday to vote on whether they want to remain British amid increasing tensions with Argentina over the sovereignty of the territory.

The tiny community is expected to overwhelmingly back retaining its status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.

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The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a “non-member state” at the United Nations, implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state.

There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.

Addressing the assembly in New York ahead of the vote, President Mahmoud Abbas said the UN bid was the last chance to save the two-state solution.

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The two rebel groups that seized control of the northern half of Mali announced Saturday that they have agreed to fuse their movements and work together to create an independent Islamic state on the territory they occupy, a signatory to the agreement said.

Alghabass Ag Intalla, one of the leaders of Ansar Dine, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, confirmed that his movement was joining with the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, a secular rebel group led by Tuareg separatists. They signed the agreement in the northern town of Gao on Saturday evening, and celebratory gunfire rang out in both Gao and Timbuktu, another town under their control, as fighters heard the news.

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National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (Mnla), fondamental component of tuareg rebellion in Mali, today has proclaimed the independence of Azawad.

Spokesman Mossa Ag Attaher ha indicated to want to respect “borders with neighboring states”.

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