Tag: Myanmar

Bomb blasts rattled three Myanmar cities including the capital on Friday, an official said, the latest in a series of explosions that authorities have...

YANGON - Myanmar's military made way for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in power Wednesday, as the junta was disbanded and a new president talked of a "changing era."
But the army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich Southeast Asian country, and many analysts believe strongman Senior General Than Shwe will attempt to retain some sort of control behind the scenes.
The handover came after widely-panned elections last November

TARLAY - Rescue teams struggled Sunday to reach those affected by a powerful earthquake that struck Myanmar's east three days ago, as aid workers feared the death toll would increase. Officials say 75 people were killed by the 6.8 magnitude quake that hit near the borders with Thailand and Laos late on Thursday, reducing homes and government buildings to rubble and affecting thousands of people.
"As we learn more it appears that the casualty figures will continue to increase," an

TACHILEIK - Rescuers battled Saturday to reach thousands of survivors in remote areas of Myanmar after an earthquake tore up roads and reduced hundreds of homes to rubble, leaving 75 people dead. The powerful 6.8 magnitude quake struck in the east of the country near the borders with Thailand and Laos late on Thursday and was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. The towns of Tarlay, Mong Lin and Tachileik in Myanmar's Shan state appeared to have been most severely

NEW DELHI - India "stands ready" to give assistance to earthquake-hit neighbouring Myanmar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday. The Indian leader said he was "deeply saddened" at the news of the powerful 6.8-magnitude quake on Thursday that left 75 dead and reduced homes to rubble. "India stands ready to render any assistance that your government may require of us," Singh said in his message to Myanmar's military regime.
The quake struck in the east of the country

BEIJING - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter Scale hit Myanmar at 1:57 p.m. Beijing Time Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The epicenter was monitored at 20.8 degrees north latitude and 100.2 degrees east longitude with a depth of 10 kilometers, the center said.

YANGON - At least 75 people were killed and hundreds left homeless on Friday after a strong earthquake hit Myanmar, with fears that the death toll could rise significantly.
Buildings were flattened close to the epicentre while terrified residents fled their homes as tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, Hanoi and parts of China when the magnitude 6.8 quake hit late on Thursday. Myanmar state television confirmed a toll of 74 dead and 111 injured.
Nearly 400 homes

YANGON - At least 75 people were killed when a strong earthquake struck Myanmar, officials said Friday, with fears that the toll would rise as news filtered through from remote areas still cut off.
Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China when the earthquake hit late on Thursday, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8.
A Myanmar official said 74 people were killed and 110

YANGON - Myanmar's junta-backed party swept a vote for presidential nominations on Thursday, officials said, as part of a secretive process apparently designed to reserve the top job for a key regime insider. Prime Minister Thein Sein, a general who retired from the army in April last year, was one of three candidates selected by soldiers and lawmakers, Myanmar officials said, with the president set to be announced on Friday.
A key ally of junta strongman Than Shwe, Thein Sein

NAYPYIDAW - Myanmar's new junta-dominated parliament opened on Monday as lawmakers assembled in secrecy following a widely panned election for the country's first legislative session since the late 1980s. No foreign media representatives were allowed to witness the event or even take photographs of the new parliament building where elected and designated lawmakers convened in the military regime's purpose-built capital, Naypyidaw.
Police manned checkpoints and barricades leading

BANGKOK - About half a million people are internally displaced by conflict in eastern Myanmar, where both the state army and rebels continue to recruit child soldiers, a top rights group said on Monday.
Human Rights Watch, in its annual report, said the state army was responsible for direct attacks and abuses against civilians in conflict areas, some of which have been wracked by civil war since independence in 1948. Among the abuses listed were widespread forced labour,

YANGON - Two prominent Myanmar opposition parties on Thursday added their voices to calls for Western powers to lift sanctions, as the country prepares for a new parliament after controversial elections.
The National Democratic Force (NDF) and the Democratic Party (Myanmar) said the punitive measures were "not beneficial", echoing calls made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other, major ethnic parties. Khin Maung Swe, a leader of the NDF, said his party

YANGON: A United States official arrived in army-ruled Myanmar on Tuesday for talks with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently freed from house arrest, plus a minister and newly elected lawmakers, a government official said.
The visit by Joseph Yun, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, is seen as a move by Washington to test the political waters in Myanmar, a month after a controversial general election and Suu Kyi's release from

YANGON: Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi met a senior UN official in Yangon on Saturday but said further talks were needed to help the organisation in its Myanmar operations.
After speaking with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, at her home Suu Kyi told reporters that the discussions had been enlightening.
"It was a pleasure to meet Mr Nambiar but I don't think one meeting is enough," she said. "I hope this is the first of many meetings because

VIENNA: A former senior UN nuclear official has voiced doubt about allegations that Myanmar was trying to develop atom bombs, saying available evidence did not support the claim.
"It doesn't look like ... this is a kind of nuclear weapons programme which is steaming ahead," said Olli Heinonen, who stepped down in August as head of the UN nuclear watchdog's inspections worldwide.
"There is no evidence but it would be good to clarify whatever is taking place," Heinonen, now a

YANGON: Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar on Sunday and urged thousands of supporters to stand up for their rights and not lose heart, indicating she might pursue a political role.
"Democracy is when the people keep a government in check. I will accept the people keeping me in check," she said in her first major address since being freed from seven years of house arrest a day earlier.
Suu Kyi could give Myanmar a strong

GENEVA: The UN refugee agency said on Friday that most of the 15,000 people who fled from Myanmar earlier this week have returned from Thailand despite renewed post-election fighting near the border.
A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Adrian Edwards said fighting reportedly erupted again overnight after the Thai army cleared their return, with the potential for more clashes around the Myanmar villages of Maekata and Halokani.
"As of today most of the