On January 13th the government signed a ceasefire agreement with the Karen National Union.

ECONOMIST: The government moves, and gets its rewards

Other clashes have also taken place along the eastern border with Thailand between government troops, ethnic Mon rebels and the Karen National Union.

BBC: Burma calls for peace talks with armed rebel groups

The Karen National Union took up arms after World War Two to fight for self-rule within an independent Myanmar (then called Burma).

FORBES: Myanmar Prisoner Releases, Peace Deal Could Unlock Western Aid

Since the early 1990s, the government has signed peace deals with all of the big rebel groups bar one: the Karen National Union (KNU).

ECONOMIST: An ugly regime becomes even uglier | The

Karen Jennings, national secretary of the health workers' union Unison, said the proposals would undermine the NHS as a public sector provider in the long term.

BBC: Foreign doctors to bolster NHS