Myanmar

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Clinton to Make Historic Visit to Burma

In other big news, Aung San Suu Kyi to rejoin politics

(Newser) - Next month, Hillary Clinton will become the first American secretary of state to visit Burma in more than 50 years. President Obama, who is on a diplomatic mission to southeast Asia, announced the historic visit today, citing "flickers of progress in these last several weeks" in the long-shunned nation,...

Burma's Thaw Now Extends to Media

Journalists can criticize gov't, but still many limits

(Newser) - The political thawing of tropical Burma seems to be continuing, as the second-least-free country in the world for journalism (after North Korea) has begun to relax its tight controls over the media. As the Wall Street Journal reports, pictures of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have appeared in newspapers...

Burma Releases 155 Political Prisoners

Prominent activist Zarganar among them

(Newser) - Burma today began releasing the 6,300 prisoners who will be granted amnesty, but so far the number of political detainees released does not come close to the estimated 2,000 who are in jail. The Telegraph puts the number of political prisoners released at 120, while the AP reports...

Burma Grants Amnesty to 6,300
 Burma Grants Amnesty to 6,300 
Oct 11, 2011 9:57 AM CDT

Burma Grants Amnesty to 6,300

Democracy advocates hope the group includes political prisoners

(Newser) - The ice might be breaking in Burma: The nation's rulers today announced that they will grant amnesty to 6,359 prisoners beginning tomorrow, sparking hopes among democracy advocates that the 2,000-some political prisoners being held will be among them. The government didn't explicitly say political prisoners would...

Elephant Wounded by Land Mine

Pa Hae Po is being treated in Thailand

(Newser) - Bad: A 22-year-old male elephant stepped on a land mine in Myanmar and mangled its left foot, reports AP . Worse: He joins three other elephants being treated for the same thing at a facility in Thailand. The Friends of the Asian Elephant group has named the new patient Pa Hae...

Burma's Suu Kyi Makes First Trip Outside Capital

Security tight as she calls for unity, thousands turn out

(Newser) - Testing the limits of her newfound freedom and perhaps the patience of Burma's military junta, Aung San Suu Kyi ventured today outside Rangoon in her first political trip since being released from house arrest last November. Thousands gathered to see the Nobel laureate, who used the trip to Bago,...

UN: Burma Uses Convicts as Shields, Slaves

Human Rights Watch demands war crimes investigation

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch is out with harrowing accusations about Burma's army and potential war crimes abuses, reports Reuters . The UN group accuses the military of forcing inmates from the nation's jails to act as human "pack mules" for the army on long marches, without adequate food or...

Michelle Yeoh Blacklisted, Deported From Burma
 Burma Bans 
 Suu Kyi Actress 
Jun 29, 2011 1:03 AM CDT

Burma Bans Suu Kyi Actress

Starring role in The Lady earns Yeoh place on blacklist

(Newser) - Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, who plays pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming movie, has been booted out of Burma and told not to come back. The Malaysian-born actress, who met the activist after her release from house arrest late last year, was deported on the next...

Suu Kyi: In Arab Spring, Burma's Revolution

Previous BBC lecturers; Bertrand Russel, J. Robert Oppenheimer

(Newser) - Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has delivered a prestigious annual BBC radio lecture, telling an international audience that her compatriots are envious of people in Tunisia and Egypt, where long-serving dictators have been toppled. On recordings smuggled out of Myanmar, also known as Burma, and broadcast today,...

At 66, Suu Kyi Celebrates 'Triumph of Spirit'

Aung San Suu Kyi celebrates birthday a semi-free woman, gives interview

(Newser) - Aung San Suu Kyi celebrated her 66th birthday as a relatively free woman today, reports the AP, the first time in nine years the Burma opposition leader hasn't been under house arrest. There was cake at her party's headquarters and a visit from her youngest son, but more...

US Halts Suspected Missiles En Route From North Korea to Burma
US Forces
North Korean Ship Home
Jun 13, 2011 9:10 AM CDT

US Forces North Korean Ship Home

It was believed to be carrying missile parts to Burma

(Newser) - After a standoff and slow-speed chase at sea, a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile components to Burma turned around and went home. The US Navy intercepted the ship, which has been suspected of previous illegal shipments, on May 26 somewhere south of Shanghai. In an apparent attempt to...

Two 7.0-Magnitude Quakes Strike Burma

Caused buildings to sway in Bangkok

(Newser) - Two 7.0-magnitude earthquakes hit northeastern Burma less than a minute apart today, shaking the ground as far away as Bangkok, where buildings swayed. The quakes struck near the country's borders with Thailand and Laos, about 70 miles from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai. The US Geological Survey...

Burma Opens First Parliament in 20 Years

Heavy security in the capital reported, with police manning roadblocks

(Newser) - Burma's first parliament in more than 20 years opened under tight security today, with armed police manning roadblocks on all routes leading to parliament and checking all buses carrying representatives for bombs. Delegates wore traditional attire, but were banned from carrying mobile phones, cameras, computers, and other electronic devices into...

Burma Working on Nuclear Weapon in Secret Jungle Site
Burma Working on Nuclear Weapon in Secret Jungle Site
wikileaks reveal
Dec 10, 2010 7:45 AM CST

Burma Working on Nuclear Weapon in Secret Jungle Site

Witnesses say they've seen secret facility, missiles: WikiLeaks reveal

(Newser) - Burma may be building nuclear weapons, according to some of WikiLeaks’ State Department cables. A Burmese officer told US diplomats that he’d seen North Korean technicians helping to build “a concrete-reinforced underground facility,” where surface-to-air missiles were being assembled, the Guardian reports. Another witness said he’d...

Suu Kyi, Son Reunited After 10 Years

Kim Aris allowed to visit Burma to visit freed mom

(Newser) - Finally-free political activist Aung San Suu Kyi has been reunited with her younger son for the first time in a decade. Kim Aris, 33, greeted well-wishers after clearing immigration at Yangon's airport and removed his jacket to display tattoos of a fighting peacock, the emblem of his mother's...

Burma, Inc: Tycoons Rule as Junta's Puppets

Generals use elections, privatization to formalize oligarchs' power

(Newser) - Myanmar's ruling junta allowed the country's first elections in 20 years last week—so it could install a bunch of friendly oligarchs in the newly formed parliament, then give them first dibs in the government's firesale of state-owned entities. Unlike in China, privatization has not established an environment of open...

Suu Kyi: 'I Have So Much to Tell You'

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader picks right up where she left off

(Newser) - “We haven’t seen each other for so long, I have so much to tell you,” Aung San Suu Kyi told a jubilant crowd of thousands celebrating her release last night. The Nobel laureate emerged from seven years of house arrest with such a rapport with her supporters...

Junta Frees Suu Kyi
 Junta Frees Suu Kyi 
Nov 13, 2010 5:17 AM CST

Junta Frees Suu Kyi

Release order read to democracy leader as house arrest expires

(Newser) - Myanmar's military government today freed its archrival, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to her residence. A smiling Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang...

Suu Kyi Told She 'Could Go This Day'

Pro-democracy leader set for freedom in coming days

(Newser) - Rumors are swirling that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released today, according to the AP , but the Guardian reports that she will spend another night under house arrest. She was told she "could go this day," says the co-founder of her National League for Democracy party, but...

Detention Expiring, but Suu Kyi May Reject Freedom

Lawyer: 'The Lady' won't accept freedom with strings attached

(Newser) - Aung Suu Kyi's latest term of detention expires on Saturday, but the Burmese pro-democracy leader's lawyer says she won't accept freedom if it is as much of a sham as the country's recent election. Authorities have always tried to attach conditions to her freedom in the past, the Independent reports....

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