Myanmar election enters final stage amid airstrikes and exclusions

Third and final phase of voting taking place on Sunday in village just days after military airstrike killed 21 people

Polling stations open on Sunday for the final stage of Myanmar's three-phase election, a one-sided vote that has been widely derided as a sham, with politicians jailed, the main opposition party banned and conflict raging across parts of the country.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has defended the vote as free and fair", presenting it as a return to democracy and stability. The election is happening almost five years after the military seized power in a coup, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a fierce conflict. The 80-year-old has been detained since she was ousted, and her party has been banned.