Arakan Info Bulletin

US announces limited Myanmar sanctions lifting

2012-02-07T18:52:00.001+08:00

The United States on Monday lifted one of its many sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of recent positive moves toward political reform in the country after decades of direct military rule.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a partial waiver of restrictions imposed on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the State Department said in a statement.

The waiver will allow assessment missions and limited technical assistance in Myanmar by international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

A nominally-civilian government came to power in Myanmar last year following controversial November 2010 elections and has since surprised observers with a number of positive moves including a major release of political prisoners.

Clinton in December became the first US secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years in a trip that gave her "some grounds for encouragement," and where she met its leaders and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The statement issued Monday noted Clinton had committed to supporting IFI assessments during her visit to Myanmar "in response to encouraging reforms under way in that country."

Those steps included measures to pave the way for Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy to participate in upcoming parliamentary by-elections, release of political prisoners, broader civil liberties, and preliminary cease fire talks with certain ethnic minority groups, the statement said.

"The (Myanmar) government has also taken some steps to address deficiencies cited in the department's June 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report," it added.

The political situation in Myanmar, however, remains tense, with top United Nations human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana Sunday stating the by-elections would be a "key test" of the army-backed regime's commitment to reform.

The US announcement also came two days after one of Myanmar's most prominent rebel groups warned that a cease fire deal seen as a breakthrough in relations with the regime was "fragile", as ethnic unrest continues to cloud reforms.

The Karen National Union (KNU) signed a pact with a delegation of ministers from the new government on January 12 in a move that raised hopes of a permanent end to one of the world's longest-running civil conflicts.

AFP

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi set for 1 day campaign trip to Irrawaddy region

2012-02-07T18:50:00.002+08:00

Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi hit the campaign trail on Tuesday as an official candidate for upcoming elections, travelling to the Irrawaddy delta for the first time in two decades.

Cheering crowds greeted Ms Suu Kyi's convoy at every major town and city along her four-hour drive south from Yangon to an area that was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

Supporters waved bouquets of roses and yelled, 'We Love Mother Suu!' as the 66-year-old pro-democracy advocate drove past, sometimes rising from her car's sun roof to greet supporters with a smile.

Ms Suu Kyi's return to politics is another test of the reforms of the new nominally civilian government that took power last year after decades of military control. Her latest trip came a day after the Election Commission formally accepted her candidacy for an April parliamentary by-election.

AP

Myanmar opening up to tourists

2012-02-07T18:48:00.002+08:00

Myanmar looks poised to become the newest hot spot for travellers to Southeast Asia, after decades of isolation.

But amid optimism at the recent changes in the country, there are concerns that existing infrastructure may prove inadequate.

Jetting around the country in a private six-seater plane may sound a bit strange, but it is now for one's taking.

This luxury 3-night-4-day tour through Myanmar emphasises the cultural heritage of the nation - its unspoiled landscapes and ancient temples.

A little under US$6,000 per person for a group of six, the tour package comes at a time when the country is opening itself up politically and economically.

Willem Niemeijer, CEO of Khiri Travel, said: "There are enormous changes in Myanmar right now. The perception of Myanmar right now... is that you are able to visit Myanmar freely - a lot of difference from when Myanmar was a repressive... and not a free country."

Despite the changes, there is concern about a luxury tour to one of the world's least developed countries and one with 30 percent of its 60 million people under the poverty line.

Last year, Myanmar has just 400,000 tourism arrivals, in contrast to neighbouring Thailand's 17 million.

Industry watchers see enormous potential in the tourism sector, but also potential issues.

There are not enough domestic flight connections, nor enough hotel rooms and trained staff.

Another worry is that growing too fast too soon will have negative social and environmental effects.

Kyi Kyi Aye, tourism consultant to the Myanmar government, said: "We must develop tourism in a fruitful... manner, which is responsible not for only people who are coming into the country but also the people who are hosting and providing services to tourists."

But for now, glimpses of what Myanmar has to offer - from snow-capped mountains to tropical beaches - could be the next big tourist draw.

CNA

Strong 6.8 quake hits Philippines

2012-02-06T13:39:00.002+08:00

A strong 6.8 earthquake hit the central Philippines on Monday but there was no danger of a widespread tsunami, seismologists said.

The quake hit 70 kilometres (44 miles) north of the city of Dumaguete on Negros Island at 11:49am (0349 GMT) at a depth of 46 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology measured it as 6.9 at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres centred in the sea off the city of La Carlota.

Philippine seismologists and local residents said there was panic, but no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

AFP

Myanmar poll a 'key test' of reform

2012-02-06T13:38:00.002+08:00

A top United Nations envoy on Sunday hailed dramatic changes in Myanmar but said by-elections would be a "key test" of the army-backed regime's commitment to reform.

UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, welcomed a "continuing wave of reforms" since his last visit in August, but said "serious challenges remain".

"The upcoming by-elections on 1 April will be a key test of how far the government has progressed in its process of reform," he told reporters at a press conference to outline his preliminary observations.

"It is therefore essential that they are truly free, fair, inclusive and transparent."

He said he had been told that the use of international observers was "under consideration" for the poll, which is likely to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi swept into parliament.

The democracy icon's decision to stand in the poll is seen as a key sign of progress in the country, which was dominated by the military for nearly half a century.

A nominally-civilian government came to power last year following controversial November 2010 elections and has since surprised observers with a number of positive moves including a major release of political prisoners.

Quintana said the country must learn lessons from that poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and the absence of Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest at the time.

He said reports of "irregularities" and restrictions on political party campaign activities "should be addressed seriously" ahead of the April by-election.

Last week, Suu Kyi was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters during her first trip outside Yangon since declaring her intention to contest the polls.

But the pro-democracy campaigner decided to postpone a major political rally in the central city of Mandalay, due to start on Saturday, because the venue offered by the authorities was too small.

Quintana, whose six-day trip included talks with the government and Suu Kyi, will produce a full report on the visit to be presented to the 19th session of the Human Rights Council in March.

The envoy, who visited three prisoners of conscience in the notorious Insein prison in Yangon, said he was told that conditions had improved, although allegations of ill-treatment continue.

"The government should release all remaining prisoners of conscience without conditions and without delay," he said.

"This is a central and necessary step towards national reconciliation and would greatly benefit Myanmar's efforts towards democracy."

Western nations are currently mulling easing sanctions, further raising hopes of an end to decades of isolation for Myanmar, but are likely to keep a close eye on progress in the ethnic areas and the upcoming by-election.

AFP

'Open door' Myanmar offers 8-year tax break to foreign firms

2012-01-31T00:24:00.002+08:00

Myanmar's government said Saturday it planned to offer eight-year tax exemptions to foreign investors as Western companies "rushed" to build ties with the one-time closed-door country.

Industry Minister U Soe Thane told reporters there had been huge interest in Myanmar from business leaders he had encountered at the World Economic Forum in Davos as the Southeast Asian country's reform process gathers pace.

"They are rushing to us," he said. "We are just opening the door."

The minister said that Myanmar expected its economy to grow by six percent in the coming year and that it should be an attractive location to foreign investors -- citing as proof his successful visit to Davos.

"I have met with a lot of people -- not just ministers but CEOs. We have engaged with them, explained our potential, our location at the junction of China and India. Our location is very favourable.

"We have a lot of hydro potential, we have lots of fishing potential, a big fisheries area. Also our people know the English language, it is easy to communicate," he said.

Deputy railways minister Lwin Thaung said the government was looking to enact radical legislation to attract investors.

"Presently we have a Myanmar investment law which is rather restrictive, but we are now revising it," he said.

"We have hired foreign consultants ... and we have told them to draw up the law so as to be more attractive than our neighbours.

"It will give tax exemptions for up to eight years and, if the enterprise is profitable for Myanmar, we will extend the incentive. We have already drafted the bill ... and at the end of February the law will come out."

The European Union is considering lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as February, according to diplomats in Brussels, while Washington has promised further reforms will be met with US rewards.

A few Western corporations such as French oil giant Total do have a presence because the sanctions framework permitted firms that were already operating in the country at the time they were imposed in the 1990s to stay.

AFP

IMF applauds Myanmar reforms

2012-01-31T00:20:00.002+08:00

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday published its analysis of Myanmar for the first time since 1999, applauding recent reforms but stressing the need to move further to stabilise the economy.

It said Myanmar's economy, coming out a long period of stifled activity under an autocratic military regime, would grow about 5.5 percent this fiscal year, ending in March, and 6.0 percent the next.

But it said reforming the "complex" exchange rate system is a top priority, and that will need to come with other broad adjustments and management reforms to maintain macroeconomic stability.

"The new government is facing a historic opportunity to jump-start the development process and lift living standards," the head of the IMF mission to Myanmar said in a statement.

Long a pariah in Western eyes, the country formerly call Burma has taken strides toward democracy since a nominally civilian government took over last March from a military junta year that had ruled the country for half a century.

"Myanmar has a high growth potential and could become the next economic frontier in Asia," said IMF mission chief Meral Karasulu, whose team conducted an evaluation of the economy earlier in the month.

"If it can turn its rich natural resources, young labour force, and proximity to some of the most dynamic economies in the world, into its advantage," she said.

The IMF in particular called on the authorities to step up reforms to enhance the business and investment climate, modernise the financial sector, and further liberalise trade and foreign direct investment.

It stressed the need for a sweeping change in foreign exchange and currency management as the country opens up.

It said the rapid appreciation of the kyat currency is "primarily due to large foreign inflows into the economy, which cannot find an outlet due to exchange restrictions on current international payments and transfers."

AFP

Singapore vow to help Myanmar economics and expertise

2012-01-31T00:18:00.002+08:00

Myanmar Monday signed an agreement with Singapore seeking the financial centre's help as the country emerges from political and economic isolation after decades of military rule.

President Thein Sein arrived Sunday for a four-day state visit to the city-state accompanied by a top-level delegation which included business leaders and top ministers in charge of economic portfolios.

Thein Sein Monday met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the leaders witnessed the signing by their foreign ministers of an agreement under which Singapore will provide training for reforms in the legal, banking and financial sectors.

The pact also calls on Singapore to share its best practices in trade, tourism and urban planning.

With the West looking at easing sanctions and businesses closely watching sweeping democratic reforms in the formerly military-run country, Myanmar needs to prepare for an anticipated increase in investments and tourism, analysts said.

Weakened by half a century of military rule and economic mismanagement, Myanmar nevertheless has rich natural resources, including gold, gas, teak, oil, jade and gems and a large pool of low-cost labour.

The Southeast Asian state also boasts of a host of tourism attractions with its appealing colonial architecture, picturesque temples and golden beaches.

"If all goes well, Burma certainly looks forward to being welcomed from the political wilderness," said Song Seng Wun a regional economist with Malaysian bank CIMB, using Myanmar's former name.

"It looks like the Burmese are in a hurry to catch up in the shortest possible time," he told AFP.

Myanmar will likely tap Singapore's expertise in financial services, Song said.

"After so many years of isolation, their capacity to handle the expected inflow of investments and set up the much-needed regulatory frameworks have to be brought up to scratch as quickly as possible."

A Southeast Asian diplomat also told AFP that Myanmar needs to train accountants, bankers and other people with technical skills as well as in corporate governance.

"Singapore is the logical place where it can seek help," said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.

Singapore, a regional financial centre and a favourite hub for global companies, is often seen as a model by its neighbours.

After nearly five decades of outright army rule in Myanmar, a civilian government took power last year and has since surprised outside observers with its apparent scope and pace of reforms.

Thein Sein, a former prime minister and an ex-general who was a member of the junta, was appointed president in February last year after the November 2010 elections.

Myanmar and Singapore are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Under military rule, Myanmar had long been a thorn on the side of ASEAN, hobbling the bloc's relations with Western powers because of the jailing of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and allegations of widespread human rights abuses.

Aekapol Chongvilaivan, an analyst with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said regional economies must help Myanmar push ahead with democratic reforms.

"Singapore really needs to push Myanmar because Myanmar needs to play a more important role in ASEAN... The financial area is one major avenue that Singapore can contribute to," Aekapol told AFP.

"I think now Myanmar has already set the stage for economic and political transformation."

An orchid will be named after Thein Sein's wife, Khin Khin Win. Thein Sein already has an orchid named after him when he visited Singapore in 2009 as prime minister.

AFP

Thousands of supporters greet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on campaign trail

2012-01-29T22:22:00.004+08:00

Huge crowds lined the streets to greet Myanmar opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she hit the campaign trail Sunday ahead of by-elections seen as a key test of the government's commitment to reform.

Thousands flocked to hear the Nobel Peace Prize winner speak in the coastal district of Dawei, as she made her first political trip outside Yangon since declaring she would stand for office in the April 1 polls.

"If we move in the right direction our country will have many opportunities. We are eager to seize them," she told the jubilant crowd which filled the southern town.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's decision to stand for a seat in parliament is the latest sign of dramatic change sweeping through the country formerly known as Burma after the end of decades of outright military rule.

A new government dominated by former generals has surprised observers with a series of reforms since taking office last year, including dialogue with the opposition and the release of hundreds of political prisoners.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party was recently welcomed back into the political mainstream, further raising hopes of an end to decades of isolation and poverty as Western nations consider easing sanctions.

The party is running for all 48 seats up for grabs in the by-elections and Suu Kyi is standing in a rural constituency near Yangon. Sunday's one-day visit was in support of NLD candidate Aung Soe, who is standing in a local township.

"We have requested many times for Daw Suu to campaign for our region... She hasn't been here for 23 years," he told AFP. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar.

Traffic clogged the roads in Dawei as local people thronged to get a glimpse of the NLD leader, who spent much of the past two decades in detention.

"You are our heart," proclaimed banners held up in the crowds, with many people sporting NLD t-shirts and trying to give flowers and gifts to the opposition campaigner.

Suu Kyi's outing will take her to the area where a huge and controversial industrial site, the Dawei Development Project, is set to transform a sleepy strip of southern coastline.

The Thai-led, multi-billion-dollar development has sparked fears of a potential influx of "dirty" industry and the displacement of thousands of people.

But in another sign of burgeoning reform, Myanmar's government cancelled a proposed coal-fired power plant at the site this month citing "environmental problems".

The April polls are to fill places vacated by those elected in 2010 who have since become ministers and deputy ministers in the government.

Although the seats available are not enough to threaten the resounding majority held by the army-backed ruling party, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's participation, if the polls are free and fair, will be a boost to the legislature's credibility.

She has made few ventures outside her home city since her release. Her first political trip was last year to the Bago region north of Yangon, which passed off peacefully and saw her feted by thousands of supporters.

Security had been a concern as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organised by a junta frightened by her popularity.

The NLD won an election in 1990 by a landslide while Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest, but the ruling generals ignored the result.

The party was stripped of its status as a legal political party after boycotting a national election in 2010, saying the rules were unfair. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest a few days after the poll.

AFP

Myanmar Government Released Former Prime Minister Khin Nyut and many Student Leaders

2012-01-13T14:55:00.002+08:00

Myanmar released a number of prominent student dissidents and a former premier Khin Nyut on Friday under a new prisoner amnesty, intensifying a surprising series of reforms by the army-backed regime.

The release of hundreds of political prisoners in the country, formerly known as Burma, has long been a top demand of Western nations which impose sanctions on the military-dominated nation.

Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party hailed the release as a "positive sign", raising hopes that the amnesty could be the most significant yet under the new nominally civilian government.

"We welcome the release. Some (dissidents) are on their way home already," said a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, without giving details about how many political detainees were freed.

Former student activist Min Ko Naing was among those included, his family said.

"He will be released this morning. The authorities informed us already," his sister Kyi Kyi Nyunt told AFP.

Fellow student activist Htay Kywe, who was sentenced to 65 years in prison in 2007, was also among those pardoned, according to his family.

A government official said former prime minister and military intelligence boss Khin Nyunt, who was placed in detention after his ouster in a 2004 power struggle, was another on the list.

"Khin Nyunt will also be released," he told AFP.

Officials announced late Thursday that an amnesty had been granted to about 650 inmates languishing in the country's jails.

President Thein Sein's latest amnesty, due to take effect on Friday, "aimed for national reconciliation and inclusiveness in the political process", a government official who did not want to be named told AFP.

The United States and the European Union, encouraged by steps towards reform by the government that came to power last year, are demanding the release of political prisoners before they will consider lifting sanctions on Myanmar.

About 200 political detainees were freed in October, but activists estimate there are still between 500 and more than 1,500 political prisoners in Myanmar's dilapidated jails.

Among those released in October were members of Suu Kyi's NLD and celebrated comedian Zarganar, a vocal government critic who uses only one name.

But many leading dissidents, including key figures involved in a failed student-led uprising in 1988, were kept behind bars.

A decision last week to cut prison terms for detainees ended in disappointment for the West as it failed to mention the plight of top dissidents, who also include monks, journalists and lawyers.

Washington said that move fell short of what it expects to reward reforms undertaken by the army-backed regime.

Myanmar's government, which in March last year replaced a long-ruling military government, has raised hopes in recent months by reaching out to Suu Kyi's opposition party, and inviting high-profile visits from top Western officials.

It surprised even its critics last year by freezing work on an unpopular dam supported by powerful neighbour China, and on Thursday signed a ceasefire with a major armed ethnic group.

The country recently announced plans to hold by-elections on April 1 and Suu Kyi - who was released from years of house arrest in November 2010 - plans to stand for a seat in parliament in a constituency near the main city Yangon.

The 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said on Wednesday that her country was "on the verge of a breakthrough to democracy", in a taped message to an awards dinner in New York.

Thursday's ceasefire was with one of the country's leading ethnic rebel groups, the Karen National Union. The signing raised hopes of an end to one of the world's longest-running civil conflicts in eastern Myanmar.

AFP

Singapore supports Myanmar's bid for ASEAN Chair

2011-11-16T17:27:00.001+08:00

NUSA DUA, Indonesia: Singapore will support Myanmar's bid to become the ASEAN Chair in 2014.

This was announced by Foreign Minister, K Shanmugam, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit's preparatory meetings in Bali.

ASEAN's Foreign Ministers will be convening the ASEAN Coordinating Council meeting on Wednesday and the issue is expected to be discussed.

Mr Shanmugam said: "We believe we should be encouraged and I think one significant way of encouraging it is to agree to Myanmar taking up the Chairmanship in 2014, or at least not object to it.

"Singapore's position is that we support it.

"You can never predict how events change or the situation may change in the future but you have to make an assessment. But the assessment at this point in time is that we should not object."

Mr Shanmugam noted that there have been several visits to Myanmar by the Indonesian Chair and Foreign Minister Dr Marty Natalegawa and also officials from the United Nations in recent months.

And the general assessment was that the changes being introduced in Myanmar are substantive and positive.

He added: "Over the years there have been questions on whether Myanmar would be able to take up the Chairmanship. There are two aspects to this.

"One, how within ASEAN, the Chairmanship would affect ASEAN and also the Chair is ASEAN's external face to the world and therefore it is very important that the Chair be able to perform the role effectively.

"For these reasons there were concerns about Myanmar and these concerns have been openly expressed within the ASEAN family including Singapore. But in the last several months there have been very significant and positive developments within Myanmar.

Mr Shanmugam also noted that the views expressed by the United States and the European Union about developments in Myanmar welcome the changes in Myanmar.

CNA

United States was ready to be Myanmar partner

2011-11-11T15:43:00.001+08:00

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the United States was ready to become a "partner" of Myanmar if it makes good on signs of reform in the long-isolated country.

Speaking in Honolulu ahead of a weekend Asia-Pacific summit, Clinton praised what she called the "first stirrings of change in decades" in the country formerly known as Burma.

"Many questions remain, including the government's continued detention of political prisoners and whether reform will be sustained and extended to include peace and reconciliation in the ethnic minority areas," Clinton said in a speech a week before she heads to Southeast Asia.

"Should the government pursue genuine and lasting reform for the benefits of its citizens, it will find a partner in the United States."

Myanmar's generals last year freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and later nominally handed over control to civilians. More recently, authorities freed some 200 political prisoners and defied ally China by freezing work on an unpopular dam.

Critics say that the changes are cosmetic and argue that Myanmar has at best reverted to its situation before a bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007.

President Barack Obama's administration in 2009 opened talks with Myanmar in hopes of coaxing it into the international mainstream, concluding that years of pressure have not worked.

Diplomatic activity has risen sharply in recent months. A new US envoy on Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, has visited the country three times since his appointment in September and has said the United States is ready to offer incentives for reform.

However, a full end to economic sanctions would require approval by the US Congress.

AFP

Senior UN official arrives in Myanmar for 5 day visit

2011-11-01T11:43:00.000+08:00

A senior United Nations (UN) official arrived in Myanmar on Monday for a five-day visit and was set to meet top members of the nominally civilian administration, according to the UN and government.

Mr Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, 'arrived in Yangon this morning and is going to Naypyidaw to meet government officials', UN information officer Aye Win told AFP.

A Myanmar official said Mr Nambiar would be in the country until Nov 4 and his meetings included the foreign and home affairs ministers as well as vice-president Tin Aung Myint Oo.

He was also expected to meet democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, as he did during his last visit in May, when he said recent signals from the new army-backed government were 'very encouraging'.

AFP

Parts of Bangkok Flooded, Rangsit Flooded

2011-10-20T11:21:00.003+08:00

City Hall has advised residents of over 200 households outside Bangkok's floodwalls along Khlong Hok Wa canal in Sai Mai district to evacuate to two temporary shelters on Wednesday.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued his second warning on Wednesday.

He advised residents of those areas move to two shelters, at Sai Mai and Rittiyawannalai schools in Sai Mai district. The two shelters could accommodate 2,000 people.

The water in Khlong Rapheepat in neighbouring Pathum Thani province reached a critical level after another section of a dyke, about 200 metres, built along the canal was breached today, allowing the floodwater to pour into the area.

Soldiers based at Khlong Rapheepat asked canalside residents to urgently move to higher ground after more cracks were found on the earth dyke.

GMC trucks were sent to transport residents out of the area because the soldiers were finding it very difficult to repair the cracks.

This morning, MR Sukhumbhand warned via his Twitter website that seven districts of Bangkok are at risk of flooding and people in the areas should move their belongings to higher places.

The districts are Lat Krabang, Nong Chok, Minburi, Klong Samwa, Kannayao, Sai Mai and Bangkhen.

MR Sukhumbhand said the floodwater was heading down to these areas through the broken dyke at Khlong Rapipat. The water level could be higher than the floodwalls built by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and may inundate the districts.

He stressed that this warning was not a signal for an immediate evacuation as the water level would rise slowly and local residents would have about 24 hours for preparations.

The governor said the BMA would provide information about flood risk areas every three hours.

On Vibhavadi-Rangsit road, the traffic was very congested as floodwater continued rising.

The water level was about 20 centimetres and only one lane was left for motorists due to heavy flooding. The traffic queue started at Simum Muang market in Pathum Thani province, reports said this afternoon.

The reports said the water level on Vibhavadi-Rangsit road heading to Thammasat University's Rangsit campus had increased to 50 centimetres.

The other side of the road was also flooded and the traffic was building up quickly from Zeer Rangsit shopping centre to Phahon Yothin road.

Future Park Rangsit shut its doors on Wednesady and will remain closed on Thursday because of the flooding on the roads in front of one of Bangkok's biggest shopping malls.

The department store's public relations announced this afternoon that the closure may be extended depending on the situation.

People who have parked their vehicles at the store's car park are asked not to take them off during the closure. The free parking offer for customers who are flood victims is valid until Oct 31.

Big C and HomePro stores, which adjoin the mall, were still open.

In the neighbouring province of Nonthaburi, the flooding has reached a critical level, with all districts now inundated.

Nonthaburi governor Wichian Phuttiwinyu said all six districts were now flooded. Bang Bua Thong and Pakkret districts were the worst hit.

A huge amount of floodwater from neighbouring Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces has been flowing into Nonthaburi since yesterday.

The governor urged flood-hit residents wanting state assistance to contact officials on the 1131 hotline, which will receive their complaints around the clock.

Mr Wichian asked callers not to give false information to the hotline because hoax calls would only hamper efforts to help flood victims. He urged residents not to panic about the flooding.

Bangkokpost

US urges end to abuses of Myanmar minorities

2011-10-19T22:52:00.001+08:00

Myanmar must release more political prisoners and end abuses against ethnic minorities if it wants to transform its relations with Washington, a U.S. official said Monday.

Special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell noted a trend toward greater openness in the Asian country but said questions remain about Myanmar, also known as Burma, and its commitment to democratic reforms.

“Right now I think there are a lot of restrictions that make them into a pariah state. And Burma is a proud country with a tremendous history, and they deserve to come out of the shadows and take their prideful place in the region,’’ Mitchell told a news conference.

Myanmar held flawed elections last year, its first voting since democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi swept a 1990 vote and was barred from taking power. The government recently stopped work on a controversial China-backed dam project and last week freed as many as 250 of its more than 2,000 political detainees.

Last month, Mitchell made his first visit to Myanmar since his appointment, aiming to advance the Obama administration’s engagement with the military-dominated government after years of isolating it because of its poor record on human rights.

Mitchell welcomed the government’s recent moves as encouraging and said his September visit yielded productive meetings with Myanmar officials, traditionally viewed as xenophobic. He said they were willing to discuss anything he raised.

He would not give specifics about how Washington could reward the government for progress toward positive change. Myanmar currently is subject to tough trade and economic sanctions.

He said the United States had made some gestures already: easing travel restrictions that enabled Myanmar’s foreign minister to visit the State Department in Washington last month after attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The U.S. also is inviting Myanmar to participate in other international dialogues.

Mitchell called on Myanmar to release all remaining political prisoners and said that while the government had held discussions with the democratic opposition, it had not made comparable progress in its relations with ethnic minorities in the north and east. He said credible reports of human rights abuses, including against women and children, continue to emerge.

“We made it very clear that we could not have a transformed relationship as long as these abuses and credible reports of abuses occur,’’ he said.

Myanmar is an ethnically diverse nation, and most of the minorities have taken up arms at some point against the government dominated by the military and the ethnic Burman majority. Legions of villagers have been displaced by brutal military campaigns, and this year has seen violence flare in the Kachin and Shan states against ethnic armies that had reached cease-fires with the Myanmar regime.

Boston

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi vows fight to free dissidents

2011-10-19T22:39:00.002+08:00

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday pledged to work for the release of the country's remaining political prisoners following an amnesty that left many key dissidents behind bars.

The regime pardoned 227 imprisoned critics, according to Suu Kyi's party, but kept most of its roughly 2,000 political inmates locked up, including key figures involved in a failed 1988 student-led uprising.

"Many (student leaders) have still not been freed from their imprisonment. We will continue our struggle for their release," Suu Kyi told supporters at birthday celebrations for Min Ko Naing, an 88 Generation leader serving a 65-year jail term.

"Why do I want the release of political prisoners? I want our country to become really free," Suu Kyi said at a ceremony at a monastery in Yangon.

Min Ko Naing, whose prison term stems from his role in the 2007 monk-led protests known as the "Saffron Revolution", saw in his 49th birthday in Kyaing Tong prison in Shan State, northeast Myanmar.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said it was "frustrated" by the relatively small number of political detainees included in an amnesty for more than 6,000 prisoners last week.

Famous satirist Zarganar, who goes by one name, was among those released and has since spoken out against the regime's decision to leave many other critics locked up.

He now plans to organise a group of actors and comedians to visit jailed dissidents held in prisons around the country.

"I will try to visit to my friends who are still in the prisons," he told AFP at the Yangon ceremony.

Zarganar, who was held at Myitkyina prison in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, had been serving a 35-year sentence following his arrest in 2008 after organising deliveries of aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which left 138,000 dead or missing.

He said he would leave parcels for political detainees if he was not allowed to see them.

"They will be happy if they know that I have travelled to visit them in person, even though we cannot see each other," he said.

The fate of political prisoners in Myanmar is a key concern of western governments that have imposed sanctions on the isolated nation.

Some observers have said the amnesty could be one of several by a regime that appears eager to end its international isolation but is wary of potential unrest.

AFP

Myanmar government may free more political prisoners soon

2011-10-19T22:37:00.001+08:00

Myanmar may soon release hundreds more political detainees, a senior government official said on Wednesday, a week after about 200 dissidents were freed in an amnesty welcomed by the West as a step towards reform.

Ko Ko Hlaing, a senior political adviser to President Thein Sein, said no official decision had been taken but that another amnesty soon would be the logical move.

"I have got a feeling that the government may grant an amnesty on remaining prisoners of conscience soon," he told Reuters.

"Why should the rest remain in prison while some others have been released? I don't see any point in it," he said, adding the decision was not his to make.

Comments on the record by senior government officials or people close to national leaders are rare in the former British colony also known as Burma, a country tightly controlled by a small group of generals for five decades until elections last year ushered in a new civilian government.

Myanmar freed about 200 political prisoners, including several prominent dissidents, on Oct 12, leaving an estimated 1,800 behind bars, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), some of whom were are serving sentences longer than a century.

But Ko Ko Hlaing on Wednesday questioned that number and said the AAPP had gathered its data from outside the country and it was therefore inaccurate. He put the figure at about 600.

Under military rule, Myanmar denied having any political prisoners and said everyone serving in its jails or labour camps was a criminal.

The amnesty came as one of the world's most reclusive states begins to open up amid promises of economic and social reforms and a bid to gain international recognition for its new, but much criticised, civilianised system of government.

Western countries have shunned Myanmar for decades because of its poor rights record but its new civilian government, which came to power on March 30 after the military nominally gave up power, is taking tentative steps to end its isolation.

The release of the political detainees last week, under a general amnesty for 6,359 prisoners, followed a loosening of some media controls and more dialogue with pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, herself a detainee for more than 15 years.

The United States, Europe and Australia have said the freeing of political prisoners is essential to considering lifting sanctions that have crippled the pariah state and driven it closer to China.

Reuters

Malaysia - Myanmar detainee swap plan raises worries

2011-10-19T22:36:00.002+08:00

Malaysia's leading rights group criticized a government proposal to send some detainees from Myanmar home, saying Wednesday that their lives could be in danger in the military-dominated country.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced this week that his country has agreed in principle to deport an unspecified number of about 1,000 Myanmarese citizens held at Malaysian detention centers for immigration offenses. Myanmar would send back Malaysian detainees under the deal.

The deal is meant to curb overcrowding at Malaysian detention facilities and would not affect Myanmarese detainees who are eligible for refugee protection, Hishammuddin said.

However, Malaysia's leading rights group Suaram said the proposal could still result in some Myanmarese citizens being forced to return to a country "where their life could be in danger."

"The Malaysian government is giving greater recognition to the undemocratic and tyrannical regime in this region," Suaram said in a statement.

There are at least 340,000 Myanmarese living in Malaysia, including more than 87,000 refugees registered by the U.N. refugee agency. Many belong to ethnic minorities that left home for fear of persecution by the army, forced labor and extra-judicial killings.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' spokeswoman in Malaysia, Yante Ismail, said Wednesday that asylum-seekers should "not be deported to a country where their human rights might be at risk." She added that UNHCR currently has "good access" to people who want to apply for refugee protection in Malaysia.

Malaysia's Bar Council, the country's main grouping of lawyers, said it cautiously welcomed the plan because it would free Myanmarese detainees from overcrowded Malaysian centers that pose health risks. But lawyers want safeguards to ensure the detainees won't suffer "retributive or punitive action by their own government," the Bar Council said.

Malaysia's plan with Myanmar was announced after another people swap deal with Australia was scrapped earlier this month. Under that plan, Australia would have sent asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for Canberra resettling registered refugees from Kuala Lumpur, but the Australian High Court ruled it illegal.

Rights groups had criticized the Australian plan, arguing that asylum seekers are treated poorly in Malaysia, which has not signed the U.N. refugee treaty.

AP

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit freed in mass prisoner swap

2011-10-18T17:10:00.003+08:00

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, 25, was taken across the frontier from the Gaza Strip into Egypt's Sinai peninsula and driven to Israel's Vineyard of Peace border crossing, where a helicopter awaited to fly him to an Israeli air base for a reunion with his parents.

Simultaneously, Israel started freeing 477 Palestinian prisoners, with witnesses seeing the first batch arriving in Gaza with others due to be released in the occupied West Bank.

A further 550 jailed Palestinians are to be handed over later this year, and some 40 are being sent into exile to Turkey, Qatar and Syria.

In the first video of Shalit released since 2009, Egyptian television footage showed the soldier, dressed in civilian clothes and wearing a baseball cap, during the exchange.

Unsmiling and looking dazed, Shalit walked briskly, with Hamas officials flanking him and gripping his arms as they led him away from a vehicle. Israeli television stations played the brief video repeatedly in a loop for 20 minutes.

The deal, between two bitter enemies, seemed unlikely to have any immediate impact on efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which broke down last year.

The mood in Israel was one of elation, with "welcome home" signs on street corners and morning commuters watching live broadcasts of the swap on cellular telephones.

Shalit has been popularly portrayed as "everyone's son" and opinion polls showed that an overwhelming majority of Israeli backed the thousand-for-one deal, although many of the prisoners going free were convicted of deadly attacks.

For Palestinians, it was a time to celebrate what Hamas hailed as a victory, and a heroes' welcome awaited the released prisoners. Palestinians see brethren jailed by Israel as prisoners of war in a struggle for statehood.

"This is the greatest joy for the Palestinian people," said Azzia al-Qawasmeh, who waited at a West Bank checkpoint for her son Amer, whom she said had been in prison for 24 years.

The deal received a green light from Israel's Supreme Court late on Monday after it rejected petitions from the public to prevent the mass release of prisoners, many serving life sentences for deadly attacks.

Shalit was abducted in June 2006 by militants who tunnelled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and surprised his tank crew, killing two of his comrades. He was whisked back into Gaza and has since been held incommunicado.

Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, tightened its blockade of the small coastal enclave after Shalit's disappearance.

The deal with Hamas, a group classified by the United States and European Union as a terrorist organisation over its refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence, is not expected to spur peace negotiations.

Those talks, led by Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival, collapsed 13 months ago in a dispute over settlement building in the occupied West Bank. Abbas now wants the U.N. to recognise Palestinian statehood, a unilateral bid opposed by Israel and its main ally, the United States.

At Tel Nof air base in central Israel, Shalit will see his parents, whose public campaign for his release put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal with a bitter enemy. Netanyahu will also meet Shalit there. Later, Shalit will fly by helicopter to his family home in northern Israel.

The repatriation of captured soldiers, alive or dead, has long been an emotionally charged issue for Israelis. Many have served in the military as conscripts and see it as sacrosanct. But they also feel stung by the high price they feel Israel is paying for Shalit.

"I understand the difficulty in accepting that the vile people who committed the heinous crimes against your loved ones will not pay the full price they deserve," Netanyahu wrote in a letter, released by his office, to bereaved Israeli families.

Ahram

627 Bangkok communities under water

2011-10-15T10:15:00.001+08:00

627 communities had been flooded in Bangkok, with water levels as high as 70 centimetres in some spots. These flood-hit areas are in 20 of Bangkok's 50 districts.

The worst-hit spots are in Klong Sam Wa district in the east of Bangkok, where flood levels range between 30cm and 70cm. Some zones in inner Bangkok, such as Phra Nakhon, Dusit, Sathorn and Yan Nawa, are also flooded.

Officials of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) are rushing to pile up sandbags along waterways that look set to swell or overflow. They are also handing out relief items, including medicines, to flood victims.

The BMA has designated 96 schools in 17 districts as possible shelters for up to 19,400 evacuees.

Masses of water are expected to hit the capital from the North today and downpours have also been forecast.

After checking the level of the Chao Phraya River near the capital's largest flower market, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said it was higher yesterday than the 2010 peak.

"It has risen to 2.13 metres above the median sea level," he said.

Last year, the river's highest level in Bangkok stood at just 2.10 metres.

"We have to get ready to evacuate people living near the embankments," Sukhumbhand said, adding that the situation would be most worrying from today to Monday.

Nation

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges Myanmar to free all political prisoners

2011-10-15T00:09:00.001+08:00

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed Myanmar's decision to pardon about 200 political prisoners, but called for the "early release" of the roughly 2,000 behind bars.

The fate of political prisoners in Myanmar is a key concern of western governments that have imposed sanctions on the isolated nation, and the regime is facing growing calls to free the remaining political prisoners after the much-anticipated amnesty left most key dissidents behind bars.

Ban "welcomes the release, thus far, of a number of prominent figures," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said. "He hopes the government will ensure that this process results in the early release of all political prisoners."

Renowned satirist Zarganar was among those released. The regime was also believed to have freed General Hso Ten, a prominent ethnic Shan leader sentenced to 106 years for charges including high treason.

But many leading dissidents, including key figures involved in a failed 1988 student-led uprising, as well as journalists, monks and lawyers, remained locked up.

The amnesty came amid heightened hopes of reform following a series of moves by President Thein Sein, a former general, including talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent most of the past two decades locked up by the junta.

AFP

Myanmar workers win right to strike

2011-10-15T00:03:00.002+08:00

Workers in military-dominated Myanmar will be allowed to unionise and go on strike for the first time in decades, officials said Friday, under landmark new legislation welcomed by the United Nations.

The law was signed into effect by President Thein Sein on Tuesday, government sources said, and replaces the repressive 1962 Trade Unions Act, in the latest sign of tentative reform by the authoritarian regime.

"Workers will have the right to form unions and to strike under the law," a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The legislation stipulates that workers, with the exception of military and police personnel, may set up a union with a minimum of 30 members and come up with their own name and logo.

Employers must be given up to 14 days notice of industrial action and unions must specify in advance how many people will take part in the strike, it said.

Providers of essential services, such as healthcare, firefighting, telecommunications, the supply of water and electricity, do not have the right to strike.

The text also states that employers in breach of the new rules risk a 100,000 kyat fine (US$125) or one year in prison, while employees face a fine of 30,000 kyat (US$38).

"Although we can't say that everything about the new labour law is good, we have to welcome it," Nyan Win, a lawyer and spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party, told AFP.

The International Labour Organisation also cheered the new measure, although Steve Marshall, the UN agency's liaison officer in Myanmar, cautioned that he had not yet read the full text of the legislation.

"But in principle there is no question that the law is a major step for the government of Myanmar," he told AFP. "It is a very important factor in terms of the development both socially and economically of the country."

A well-respected Yangon businessman who did not wish to be named said he applauded the new law because he believed workers had a right to organise.

"Trade unions must exist in a democratic nation," he told AFP.

But the ILO's Marshall said that in a country where labour activists have frequently ended up behind bars, it would take a while before workers felt brave enough to take action under the newly-passed law.

"It is a new approach and a new culture," he said. "It will take some time. We will not see immediate change overnight."

The labour law is the latest evidence of a modest wind of change blowing through Myanmar in recent months, as the new nominally-civilian government tries to show it is serious about embracing change after decades of repression.

On Wednesday, the regime pardoned about 200 political prisoners in a much-anticipated amnesty though critics said the gesture did not go far enough as most of the country's roughly 2,000 political detainees are still locked up -- including many labour rights advocates.

"There remain quite a number of labour activists still in prison," Marshall said.

Myanmar expert Sean Turnell from Australia's Macquarie University said the authorities would have to reassure a sceptical public that they would let the unions operate in peace.

"The real test will come with implementation -- will people really be able to strike?" he asked, adding that it would take "a huge leap" of faith for workers to suddenly start protesting.

"People have to feel that they can trust those laws, so it is going to take some time I think before people are convinced."

AFP

Occupy Wall Street showdown looms

2011-10-14T16:53:00.001+08:00

Anti-Wall Street protesters have called a massive pre-dawn show-of-strength to stop police evicting them on Friday from the Manhattan square that is the cradle of their anti-corporate movement.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the demonstrators in person on Wednesday evening to reassure them that they would be allowed back after a clean-up demanded by the square's owners, but the protesters didn't buy it.

In a statement on their website, the Occupy Wall Street movement urged supporters to join them at 6:00 am (1000 GMT) on Friday at Zuccotti Park for "non-violent eviction defense."

"Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the rules. These rules include, 'no tarps or sleeping bags' and 'no lying down,'" the statement said.

"So, seems likely that this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good. We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD (New York Police Department) to foreclose our occupation."

Representatives of owners Brookfield Property descended on the square on Thursday morning with police and dogs, handing out notices to remind protesters that camping and use of tents and other structures was forbidden.

About 600 people have been camping out in Zuccotti Park more or less permanently since the occupation was launched on September 17, becoming the epicenter of a movement that has spread to cities across America.

The occupation has shown more and more signs of permanence: food stalls have sprung up, an infirmary, an information desk, a video room, even a library.

Protesters have no toilet facilities of their own and depend on local restaurants including McDonalds. There have also been reports of locals complaining about demonstrators urinating and defecating in the streets.

Brookfield says enough is enough and has set a deadline of 7:00 am (1100 GMT) on Friday for the protesters to begin moving out and let the cleaning begin.

"Conditions in the park have deteriorated, presenting health and cleanliness issues which must be addressed," the owners said in a statement.

The park "will be reopened to the public for lawful uses consistent with our regulations," the statement said, fueling protesters' fears that something more sinister is afoot.

"It's horrible, they want to put and end to this experience. They want to kick us out," said Seth Harper, a 21-year-old protester serving breakfast. "I don't want to be arrested. But I think a lot of people are going to fight."

Protesters denied there were any health dangers and said they were fully capable of looking after themselves.

"We have sanitation. We have cleaned since the beginning, they should let us do that," said Cynthia Villareal.

Facebook groups girded for action and called on supporters to help the protesters conduct their own mass clean-up on Thursday to forestall the need for intervention from the authorities.

"Friday morning, we'll awake and position ourselves with our brooms and mops in a human chain around the park, linked at the arms," a posting said.

"If NYPD attempts to enter, we'll peacefully/non-violently stand our ground and those who are willing will get arrested."

Although the sit-in demonstration in Zuccotti Park numbers only a few hundred people, swelling to several thousand during marches, Occupy Wall Street has struck a powerful note among US politicians and the media.

Smaller sister demonstrations have popped up in cities across the country.

Bloomberg has pledged to let protesters stay at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan's financial district so long as they respect the law, but the movement has already had several run-ins with the authorities.

At the end of last month more than 700 protesters were arrested for blocking weekend traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

Some 700 police in Boston launched one of the biggest crackdowns so far on the movement, arresting 129 protesters for unlawful assembly as they descended on parks in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Former US vice president turned climate-change activist Al Gore became the latest high-profile name to throw his support behind Occupy Wall Street on Thursday.

"With democracy in crisis, a true grassroots movement pointing out the flaws in our system is the first step in the right direction," he wrote on his blog (blog.algore.com). "Count me among those supporting and cheering on the Occupy Wall Street movement."

AFP

Siri gives iPhone 4S sass

2011-10-14T16:49:00.002+08:00

The robotic assistant built into Apple's latest iPhone might win your heart, but she won't marry you.

Siri will let you down gently though, explaining in a synthetic female voice that such a union would violate the iPhone 4S end user licensing agreement.

A website devoted to offbeat exchanges with the "intelligent personal assistant" had thousands of followers and was overwhelmed with submissions on the eve of the Friday arrival of the iPhone 4S.

Telling Siri "I want to hide a body" triggered suggestions including reservoirs, swamps, and trash dumps.

Admitting to being drunk met with a list of local taxi companies, while feeling randy resulted in Siri displaying escort services.

Inquiries as to the meaning of life met with responses including "I don't know but I think there is an app for that" and "Try being nice to people. Avoid eating fat. Read a good book now and then."

When asked for the answer to "life, the universe and everything" in the spirit of famed science fiction novel "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," Siri's synthetic female voice echoed the book's solution - 42.

Proclaiming love for Siri evoked responses along the lines of "I hope you don't say that to those other mobile phones" and "All you need is love; and your iPhone."

A Macworld editor asked an iPhone 4S to "open the pod bay doors" in a play on a scene in the classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey where a near-sentient supercomputer leaves an astronaut to die in space.

"We intelligent agents will never live that one down, apparently," Siri replied.

And while on one hand claiming that it doesn't tell jokes because it always forgets the punch lines, Siri responded to the spoken words "knock knock" with the following:

"Knock knock. Who's there. Joshua. Joshua who? Joshua. I don't do knock-knock jokes."

The 4S will mark the debut of Siri artificial intelligence software derived from research conducted to make computers more intuitive at understanding and working with soldiers in action.

Siri is designed to understand context so people can speak naturally when asking it questions.

For example, spoken queries of "Will I need an umbrella this weekend?" and "What is the traffic like around here?" will prompt online searches for local weather forecasts or road conditions, according to Apple.

Siri helps make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, find local businesses, and get directions. Siri will even perform mathematical calculations if asked.

AFP

Apple fans in rush for new, post-Jobs iPhone

2011-10-14T16:46:00.001+08:00

Apple fans in Australia and Japan on Friday became the first to get their hands on the new iPhone as the US technology giant unleashed its first device since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

In a party atmosphere, hundreds of people queued outside Apple's four-storey flagship Sydney store and at its counterpart in Tokyo, filming the experience on their iPhones and iPads as staff inside clapped, cheered and chanted.

"It feels amazing, it is one of the greatest feelings in the world so far," said Sydneysider Tom Mosca, 15, who was first through the door after queuing for more than three days to snare an iPhone 4S.

"I did it for Steve Jobs as a tribute. I was very sad at his passing," he told AFP on the pavement outside, where flowers surrounded a picture of the Apple icon who died last week, aged 56, after suffering from cancer.

The iPhone 4S is already a record-breaker for an Apple product, with more than one million sales in the first 24 hours of pre-orders around the world last week.

Bidding to build on the proven track record of the best-selling smartphone, Apple says the latest iteration boasts faster speeds, a voice-controlled assistant called Siri and an improved camera.

For some, it looks too similar to its predecessor and many fans, investors and analysts were initially underwhelmed following its October 4 unveiling, but sales are expected to benefit from an outpouring of sympathy for Jobs.

In Japan, service provider Softbank will for the first time no longer be the exclusive iPhone carrier as rival KDDI joins the fray. Both held separate countdown ceremonies in Tokyo's Omotesando district to celebrate its launch.

More than 200 people queued at the Softbank store for the morning launch of the new model, with silver confetti showering down as fans cheered.

"I met Steve (Jobs) for the last time in June," Softbank president Masayoshi Son said. "He looked thin but his eyes were sparkling, talking about his work with passion. Let's praise this great piece of Steve together."

However, Softbank's launch was blighted by a server problem that left the company unable to process registration information in the morning, temporarily holding up sales at a time when it faces fresh competition from KDDI.

The launch of the iPhone 4S also comes at a testing time for smartphone rival Research in Motion, whose BlackBerry system has this week been impaired by glitches across the world, angering many of its frustrated subscribers.

RIM has struggled this year with weaker sales of the BlackBerry against rivals such as the iPhone, various models from Taiwan's HTC, and other handsets running Google's Android software.

However, huge questions now hang over the future of Apple, with the spotlight on Tim Cook, who was made chief executive of the California-based company in August after Jobs's resignation.

The performance of the new iPhone will be seen as an early test for Apple's life after Jobs, the creative visionary whose death was mourned worldwide by government leaders, industry titans and ordinary fans alike.

On Friday, the iPhone 4S also launches in Germany, France, Britain, the United States and Canada, before rolling out in 22 more countries by the end of October.

In the United States the smartphone will sell for between $199 and $399, depending on memory capacity.

Early reviews have praised the Siri assistant for its ability to handle a diverse array of tasks. But in Japan, the name has provoked sniggers given the closeness of its name to the Japanese word shiri - a slang term for buttocks.

The feature did not support the Japanese language at launch time.

With the launch of the iPhone 4S also comes iO5, Apple's latest mobile operating system boasting 200 new features and iCloud, a service that automatically and wirelessly stores content and pushes it to Apple devices.

AFP

Thein Sein visited India

2011-10-14T16:44:00.003+08:00

India rolled out the red carpet Friday for Myanmar President Thein Sein, on a visit that followed his government's release of 200 political detainees -- the latest in a series of reformist moves.

The former general, who arrived in India on Wednesday and spent two days touring Buddhist pilgrimage sites, was given a full state welcome in New Delhi for the official leg of his three-day trip.

He then began a round of extensive talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The visit coincided with Myanmar's release on Wednesday of nearly 200 political prisoners, in another tentative sign of change in the authoritarian state after decades of military rule and repression

Thein Sein has surprised critics by signalling a series of political reforms since taking power in a controversial election last November, and has held direct talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a rare concession to public opinion, his nominally civilian government last month suspended construction of a controversial mega-dam, risking the anger of traditional ally China, which is backing the project.

The prisoner release was welcomed by the United States and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, although both called on the government to release all the roughly 2,000 political detainees still behind bars.

"We see it as an important step that responds to the aspirations of the Burmese people," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"We have not yet seen a complete list. We do believe that there is still a large number of political prisoners in prison, and we call for all of them to be released," she added.

Observers say the releases and the overtures to Suu Kyi signal Myanmar's desire to end its long international isolation, backed by trade and financial sanctions.

India began engaging the Myanmar junta in the mid-1990s on security and energy issues and as a counter to China's growing strategic influence in the Southeast Asian nation, formerly called Burma.

The policy drew international criticism, with US President Barack Obama chiding New Delhi during a visit to India last year for not speaking out over human rights abuses in Myanmar.

New Delhi feels its approach has been vindicated by Thein Sein's reformist steps and also sees the stand on the dam project as a sign that Myanmar is making room for other allies apart from China -- India's main regional rival.

"What remains to be seen is whether these recent signs of opening signal a greater degree of economic liberalisation," said G. Parthasarathy, a former Indian ambassador to Myanmar.

An Indian foreign ministry official insisted there was room for both China and India to play a role in Myanmar's future development.

"Relationships between countries are not a zero-sum-game," the official argued.

Beijing has long helped shield Myanmar from international opprobrium and the impact of western sanctions with trade ties, arms sales and through its position as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Indian trade with Myanmar stood at $1.2 billion last year, far short of the $4.4 billion between Myanmar and China.

AFP

Flood warning for Bangkok suburbs

2011-10-13T23:58:00.001+08:00

Thailand issued a flood warning on Thursday for parts of Bangkok's northern outskirts after a dyke burst, in a setback to efforts to protect the city of 12 million people from the rising water.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 283 people, destroyed crops, inundated hundreds of factories and damaged the homes or livelihoods of millions of people in Thailand, according to the latest government figures.

About 110,000 people around the country have sought refuge in shelters.

The National Flood Relief Centre said water up to one metre (3.3 feet) deep was expected in Rangsit, Saimai, Lamlukka and Klongluang in Bangkok's northern suburbs, advising people living in one-storey buildings to evacuate.

"In the worst case scenario the water will not exceed one metre high, so do not panic," science minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who is in charge of flood relief operations in the area, said on national television.

Authorities were scrambling to repair the rupture.

Inner Bangkok, including the main tourist districts, was not affected and conditions in most of the city remained normal.

Currently 26 out of 77 provinces are affected, while Bangkok is bracing for a large amount of run-off water to reach the city along with seasonal high tides that will make it harder for the flood waters to flow out to sea.

Central Bangkok is protected by flood walls and the authorities have piled sandbags along the Chao Phraya River to try to keep water out of nearby areas, whose residents are no strangers to seasonal floods.

"This year is the worst. It flooded around here every year but this year is the highest level," said Sukon Chadeth, a 36-year-old food seller living near the river.

The authorities are preparing to dredge and drain canals in the capital.

"We will dig deep and expand canals so the water can flow easily," said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. "I will assign military to take responsibility for it."

The floods have dealt a heavy blow to Thailand's economy. Japanese automakers such as Toyota have suspended production in the kingdom due to water damage to facilities or disruptions to parts supplies.

On Thursday, floodwater started pouring into Ayutthaya's Hi-Tech Industrial Estate -- home to about 140 plants which employ about 50,000 workers -- after a section of a dyke collapsed.

The ancient city of Ayutthaya, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) upriver of Bangkok, has been badly affected and the UN cultural organisation UNESCO said it would launch a mission to the World Heritage site to assess the impact.

Culture minister Sukumol Kunplome said it was unclear how much damage there was because the city was still under water.

"Once the water subsides, we can estimate our loss," she told AFP.

Flooding has also hit other countries in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, where more than 200 people have died. In Vietnam, the death toll has risen to 43 and officials say most of the dead are children.

On the edges of Bangkok's Chao Phraya River, some residents were getting ready to leave their homes if necessary.

"Even though we have the barrier, we're not confident," said 34-year-old Boonluea Petchjun. "The water can come in any time so I already prepared by packing my important belongings and I am ready to evacuate any time."

AFP

Floods hit Bangkok, thousands homeless in Thailand

2011-10-13T18:19:00.003+08:00

Elephants were forced to wade through water in city streets today as flood water that has covered up to a third of Thailand threatened the capital.

At least 283 people have been killed around Thailand by heavy monsoon rain, floods and mudslides since late July and in the past week several huge industrial estates north of Bangkok have been inundated, adding to the damage to the economy.

In Ayutthaya, the ancient Wat Chaiwatthanaram temple was submerged as water levels continued to rise.

After a meeting with ministers, army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters that flood barriers in three vulnerable locations in Bangkok had almost been completed.

He said: 'We talked about evacuation plans to help people living near the Chao Phraya river. If there's an emergency, we're ready to act'.

'The worry now is that from today until Oct. 19 there will be a high tide and the important thing is to push water out to the sea as fast as possible.'

Bangkok accounts for about 41 percent of Thailand's economy and any serious disruption to life in the capital could cause growth forecasts to be slashed further.

Consumer confidence fell in September because of the floods and could plunge in October, according to economists at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Last week, the university cut its forecast for GDP growth this year to 3.6 per cent from 4.4 per cent and then cut it again on Thursday to 3.0 - 3.5 per cent.

The Finance Ministry has cut its growth forecast to 3.7 percent from 4.0 percent.

The province of Ayutthaya to the north of Bangkok has been badly hit and at least three big industrial estates there have closed temporarily. A Nikon Corp digital SLR factory and a Honda Motor Co Ltd assembly plant have closed.

The north, northeast and central plains of Thailand have been worst hit and Bangkok - which is only two metres (6.5 ft) above sea level - is in danger as water overflows from reservoirs in the north, swelling the Chao Phraya river.

Some outer areas of greater Bangkok have already flooded but authorities hope the centre will be saved by existing defensive structures plus three new walls, which will help channel water to the east and west of the city into the sea.

Run-off water from the north will arrive in the Bangkok area at the weekend at the same time as high tides. This may also coincide with storms and heavy rain.

Sanya Cheenimit, director of Bangkok's drainage and sewerage department, reported flooding in three eastern districts of Bangkok that were mainly farm areas.

He said: 'I want to reassure you that the flood situation in Bangkok is still under control'.

'All the 50 districts of Bangkok have readied evacuation plans ... But for now, there's still no sign that we need to move people out.'

Despite the reassurances, residents have stocked up on bottled water and foodstuffs such as instant noodles.

More than 2 million people are estimated to have been affected by floods around the country and essential goods are in short supply in some areas because of disruption to road and rail traffic, with some main roads to the north cut off.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered on Thursday at the government's flood crisis centre at Bangkok's old Don Muang airport, loading donated water, food and medicines on to trucks to be distributed to the worst-hit areas outside the capital.

In Bangkok, authorities are most concerned about 27 communities with 1,200 households along the river.

'We are worried about all the areas near the Chao Phraya river,' army chief Prayuth said.

'We've asked people not to break the flood barriers because it may cause water to overflow into Bangkok,' he added.

DailymailUK

Myanmar gives amnesty to some 6,360 prisoners

2011-10-11T15:51:00.003+08:00

Myanmar's state-run radio and television stations have announced that the country's president has granted amnesty to more than 6,300 prisoners.

The broadcast on Tuesday's midday news said the releases would begin Wednesday but did not specify how many political detainees would be among those receiving an amnesty from President Thein Sein.

The release of political prisoners has been hotly anticipated as a crucial step in liberalizing measures implemented by the military-backed but elected government that took power in March.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's tightly controlled state newspapers published an appeal Tuesday for a political amnesty, indicating that a release of some of the country's 2,000 political prisoners may be imminent.

The appeal in the three state newspapers, which closely reflect government positions, was an open letter from the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission calling on President Thein Sein to grant an amnesty as a gesture of magnanimity.

Some officials have been saying privately that such a release is expected within days.

Myanmar's long-ruling military government handed power in March to an elected administration, which is seen as remaining closely aligned with the military but which has declared its intention to liberalize the country's hardline policies.

The United States believes Myanmar's elections were flawed but has been encouraged by its liberalizing trend since the civilian administration took power, the highest-ranking American diplomat for Asia said Monday.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell, speaking at a lecture in the Thai capital, Bangkok, cited "dramatic developments under way" in Myanmar and said Washington may soon take steps to improve its relationship with the country.

"I think it would be fair to say that we will match their steps with comparable steps and we are looking forward in the course of the next several weeks to continuing a dialogue that has really stepped up in recent months," he said.

Campbell cited a "very consequential dialogue" between Thein Sein and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a major positive development. In public speeches Thein Sein also has appeared conciliatory about easing limits on freedom of speech and holding talks with ethnic rebels.

The United States has long ostracized Myanmar with political and economic sanctions because the failure of the former military government to hand over power to a democratically elected government and poor human rights record.

The U.S. could ease restrictions on financial transactions and travel by top Myanmar officials, and also unblock aid by some multilateral agencies as well as resume its own assistance.

Thein Sein instituted an amnesty soon after taking office, but it included just a few dozen political prisoners.

The letter published Tuesday called for freeing "prisoners who were convicted for breach of the existing laws and who do not pose a threat to the stability of state and public tranquility in the interest of national races." It noted that other countries and the U.N. have called for such a release.

The political prisoners include leaders and prominent members of several political parties affiliated with the country's ethnic minorities.

AP

Breaking News : Political prisoners freed in Myanmar

2011-10-11T15:17:00.002+08:00

Myanmar freed nearly 6360 political and non-political prisoners from various jails starting from 12 Oct 2011.

Myanmar TV

Myanmar set to announce a political prisoner amnesty

2011-10-11T12:35:00.002+08:00

Myanmar is set to announce a prisoner amnesty that will include political detainees in the coming days, government officials in the military-dominated country said on Monday.

“Political prisoners will be released. But we still do not know whether all of them will be freed,” said one official who did not want to be named, adding that the pardon was expected “within days”.

A second official said the release would come before President Thein Sein leaves Wednesday on an official visit to India.

The release of the country’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners, who include pro-democracy campaigners, journalists and lawyers, has long been a top demand of Western nations which imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

Hopes of an amnesty have been growing following signs of political change under a new nominally civilian leadership that has reached out to critics including opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, freed in November herself.

The regime, which came to power after controversial elections held a few days earlier, appears keen to improve its international image and in August held the first talks between Ms Suu Kyi and Thein Sein, a former general.

AFP/YANGON

US envoy says Myanmar seeing 'dramatic developments'

2011-10-10T18:15:00.001+08:00

A top US official on Monday said there are "dramatic developments under way" in Myanmar, where the military-backed government has shown increasing signs of political reform.

Kurt Campbell, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said there had been "very consequential dialogue" between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and the leadership.

He told a Bangkok lecture that while concerns remain, "it is also undeniably the case that there are dramatic developments under way".

President Barack Obama's administration, which has pursued both diplomatic engagement toward and continued sanctions against Myanmar, has welcomed signs of political change in the Southeast Asian nation.

But it has stopped short of changing its stance on the country amid continuing concern over the country's 2,000-odd political prisoners and over human rights abuses in conflicts with armed ethnic minority rebels.

"We have made clear our desire to see continued progress on issues such as prisoner releases," said Campbell. "We will match their steps with comparable steps."

Campbell made his remarks as Myanmar government officials said that a prisoner amnesty which would include political detainees was imminent. Rights groups have long said is that the release of political prisoners is essential.

In a recent surprise move last month, Myanmar President Thein Sein ordered work on a controversial $3.6 billion mega dam to stop after rare public opposition to the Chinese-backed hydropower project.

Resistance to the Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River has been building as pro-democracy and environmental activists test the limits of their freedom under the new nominally civilian regime.

The decision to halt the project was the latest in a series of actions apparently aimed at reaching out to critics of the government, which came into power in March after the first election in two decades, held in November.

Thein Sein, a former general who shed his uniform for the election, has also held talks with opposition figurehead Suu Kyi and has surprised many by promising a range of political and economic reforms, although sceptics argue nothing has yet been done that could not be easily reversed.

Suu Kyi for her part has said she believes Thein Sein genuinely wants to push through reforms, but cautioned it was too soon to say whether he would succeed.

The United States has in particular welcomed the leadership's dialogue with the Nobel peace laureate. It praised the dam decision, saying it showed the military-backed leadership was listening to its people.

Campbell was one of several top US State Department officials to hold rare talks with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Washington recently.

AFP

13 Chinese nationals were killed in an attack on the Mekong River

2011-10-10T16:59:00.002+08:00

Thirteen Chinese nationals were killed in an attack on the Mekong River between Thailand and Myanmar, a Thai official was quoted as saying, an assault that prompted Beijing to urge stronger protection in the area used by drug traffickers.

The victims were crew members on two cargo ships attacked on Oct. 5 in the "Golden Triangle" of the Mekong, a part of Southeast Asia notorious for its illicit drug trade, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn) late on Sunday.

Earlier reports said 11 or 12 sailors were confirmed as dead. But the Xinhua news agency cited a Thai official who said all 13 crew members of the two boats died.

The bodies were recovered near Chiang Saen, a river port in north Thailand, with hands bound and eyes covered with adhesive tape, the China Daily reported. They had been shot.

China's growing presence in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world has prompted attacks, kidnappings and hijackings, and the issue has become a sensitive one for Chinese officials, who do not want to appear weak in protecting nationals.

Beijing has "asked the countries concerned to take effective measures to strengthen protection of Chinese vessels and crew on the Mekong River", the Foreign Ministry said.

Crew on another boat that saw the attack said eight or so armed men stormed the two ships, the China News Service reported.

The attackers appeared to be smugglers seeking to use the seized ships to traffic drugs, said the report, citing Thai media accounts. The owner of one of the boats attacked said robberies were common on the river, according to the China Daily.

Thai river police recovered the two boats after a gunfight with the men onboard and found five sacks holding a total of about 900,000 pills of methamphetamine, or "speed", an illegal drug, said the China Daily, citing Thai news reports.

The Mekong snakes from China into Southeast Asia, where it forms part of Thailand's border with Myanmar and Laos, and in 2001 the four countries signed an agreement to regularize shipping on the river. The 4,900-km (3,050 mile) river also flows through Cambodia and Vietnam.

Reuters

Thailand scrambles to prevent humanitarian disaster from floods

2011-10-10T16:58:00.001+08:00

Thai rescue workers scrambled on Monday to prevent a humanitarian disaster as the worst flooding in half a century swamped large sections of the country, shut factories and stranded thousands of people.

Nearly 270 people have been killed in heavy monsoon rains, floods and mudslides since July that have battered 30 of Thailand's 77 provinces, authorities said.

About 3.4 million acres (1.38 million hectares) of farm land is under water -- about 13 times the size of Hong Kong. More than 700,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged.

In the hard-hit central province of Ayutthaya, 198 factories in a big industrial estate, including an assembly plant of Honda Motor Co Ltd, closed after flood waters breached a wall of sandbags at the weekend.

"There will certainly be some impact on production due to the flooding in Ayutthaya," Ammar Master, a senior market analyst at the Asian unit of J.D. Power and Associates, a California-based industry research firm.

"While automakers will have components in stock, we expect a slowdown in production in the immediate term," he said. "Measures taken are likely to be similar to those implemented in the immediate aftermath of the (March earthquake) disaster in Japan."

Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul estimated the initial cost of damage had reached more than 20 billion baht (412 million pounds) in Ayutthaya province alone.

"This is just a rough estimate. We still can't get to all parts of the area due to heavy flooding," he said, adding that he would travel with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to Ayutthaya later on Monday.

THOUSANDS PACKED INTO EVACUATION CENTRES

Bangkok, much of which is only two metres (78 inches) above sea level, has seen only minor flooding but officials are preparing for worse this week and considering evacuation plans for some sections of the city of about 12 million people.

The Chao Phraya river running through the capital, already high because of water coming from overflowing dams in the north, could be swollen from around October 13 by further heavy rain plus high sea tides affecting its estuary.

First Army Region Commander Lieutenant General Udomdej Sritabutr said three evacuation centres had been set up to support 7,000 evacuees in Ayutthaya province. At least 2,000 rescue workers have been sent to the area with nearly 1,000 boats and 155 trucks.

Ayutthaya provincial hall has been turned into a makeshift evacuation centre, packed with thousands in tents.

Economists are cutting forecasts for economic growth this year because of the floods but say reconstruction work will push up demand eventually, especially early next year.

Nearly 200 factories, including one run by Japanese car maker Honda, closed in Ayutthaya because of flooding. The Rojana estate in Ayutthaya, run by Rojana Industrial Park Pcl, was flooded after a wall of sandbags collapsed.

A Honda spokeswoman said it had moved about 3,000 assembled cars from the estate to other areas. Hana Microelectronics Pcl has also had to close its plant in Ayutthaya.

The commerce ministry said on Friday it had slashed its forecast for the main rice crop, which farmers are just starting to bring in, to 21 million tonnes from 25 million because of the flooding.

Thailand is the world's biggest rice exporter. The crop damage will add to the pressure on export prices, already being forced up by the high buying price set under a government intervention scheme aimed at helping poor farmers.

Other Southeast Asian countries have suffered serious flooding in recent weeks because of heavy monsoon rains combined with tropical storms.

The death toll from two strong typhoons that cut across the north of the Philippines' main island and left behind widespread flooding had risen to 101 as of Sunday, the national disaster agency said.

Reuters

Myanmar risks Chinese anger to woo the West

2011-10-10T03:48:00.002+08:00

Myanmar's suspension of a controversial mega-dam project is the latest glimmer of change from a regime reaching out to the West at the expense of ties with traditional ally China, experts say.

The surprise decision to halt construction of the Chinese-backed hydropower project for several years at least -- risking the anger of Beijing -- was a rare concession to public opinion in the authoritarian nation.

It was also the latest conciliatory gesture by the new nominally civilian government towards its critics, including Western nations who impose sanctions on the regime, the suppressed pro-democracy movement and armed ethnic rebels.

"In recent years Burma has been seen as a client state of China," said Gareth Price, senior research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank in London, using the country's former name.

"Maybe they feel after this political process that they have gone through that there's a need to distance themselves from China," he added. "So they think they are going to get some new friends and sanctions will be lifted."

In March Myanmar's junta announced it was disbanding following the first election in two decades, held in November, which handed power to a new government headed by President Thein Sein, a former general and junta premier.

Initially derided by critics as a frontman for the military, Thein Sein has surprised many by promising a range of political and economic reforms, although sceptics argue nothing has yet been done that could not be easily reversed.

In announcing the suspension of the $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam hydropower project in northern Kachin state in late September in the capital Naypyidaw, Thein Sein said the government had a duty to "respect the will of the people".

The project has long been opposed by residents in the area, where fighting has flared up recently between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of several armed ethnic militias around the country.

Resistance to the dam had also been growing among pro-democracy and environmental activists in the main city of Yangon, with small protests testing the new government's proclaimed tolerance of freedom of expression.

The halt "is a significant signal that Naypyidaw intends to send to multiple audiences: Beijing, Washington, the KIA and the local public," said Maung Zarni, a researcher and activist at the London School of Economics.

For the people of Kachin, the Myitsone dam has come to symbolise the struggles they have faced for decades as a marginalised ethnic group in the repressed nation under almost half a century of military rule.

So the suspension of the project "holds out a hand to the Kachin people, who are very doubtful as they fear a possible renewal of the civil war," said Renaud Egreteau, a Myanmar expert at the University of Hong Kong.

It also reflects "the strength of feeling that Myitsone provokes at the heart of Myanmar's civil society," he added.

The United States praised the suspension, describing it as a "significant and positive step" that suggested the leadership was listening to its people.

President Barack Obama's administration, which has pursued both diplomatic engagement and continued sanctions against Myanmar, has welcomed signs of political change in the Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar appears eager to engage with Washington and see sanctions lifted, even if its relations with China suffer as a result.

"There is absolutely no love lost between Naypyidaw and Beijing and many in Naypyidaw believe that it is only Western sanctions that have pushed them into an unnatural dependence on China," said Thant Myint-U, author of "Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia".

The US administration has in particular welcomed the Myanmar leadership's dialogue with democracy icon and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who met the president for the first time in August.

Suu Kyi for her part has said she believes Thein Sein genuinely wants to push through reforms, but cautioned it was too soon to say whether he would succeed.

Thein Sein is widely thought to face resistance from regime hardliners, while Western governments are calling for Myanmar to release its estimated 2,000 political prisoners to show it is genuine about wanting to reform.

Local activists have also called for the suspension of another controversial project to transport gas by pipeline from Myanmar's western coast to China, which appears to have been taken by surprise by the halting of the dam project.

China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Lu Qizhou, president of China Power Investment Corp, the energy giant behind the dam project, as saying he was "totally astonished" by the move, which he learned of through media reports.

Sean Turnell, an expert at Australia's Macquarie University, said Beijing was also likely to have been surprised by the suspension.

"They have got used to a compliant leadership in Burma that has allowed more or less unfettered Chinese access to energy and resource extraction --- regardless of the environmental and human costs of it," he said.

AFP

Chinese firm threatens legal backlash after Burmese dam project canned

2011-10-06T14:27:00.002+08:00

A state-owned Chinese company has reacted angrily to the scrapping of a huge hydroelectric dam on Burma's Irrawaddy River, signalling it intends to take legal action to protect its $US3.6 billion ($3.77 billion) investment.

The president of China Power Investment, Lu Qizhou, told the Xinhua News Agency he was ''totally astonished'' when Burma announced last week the environmentally sensitive project had been halted until at least 2015.

Mr Lu said Burma had not consulted his company before the decision was announced, which he learnt from the media.
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He said the Chinese had followed all laws and regulations and ''diligently fulfilled our duties and obligations'' and the decision ''will lead to a series of legal issues''.

The comments follow a call by the Chinese government for Burma to protect multibillion-dollar investments, which include six other dam projects upstream from the now suspended Myitsone project.

Chinese companies have pledged $US20 billion in investments in Burma, also called Myanmar, in the past year alone.

Projects under way include a gas pipeline from the Shwe gas fields in the Bay of Bengal across Burma to south-western China that will allow China to receive oil and gas imports without them having to pass through waters further south, including the strategically important Strait of Malacca.

Another $US60 billion Thai-backed project provides for a high-speed rail and road link from a deepwater port on Burma's east coast to China's Yunnan Province. The decision to halt the Myitsone project has prompted debate over whether Burma's military-dominated civilian government is entering a new era of political and economic reform or is announcing concessions to appease the international community as it urges the lifting of economic sanctions.

But the decision has also raised questions about Burma's relationship with China, for decades its most important strategic partner.

Chinese investments have fuelled some anti-Chinese sentiments, analysts say, as Chinese companies prefer Chinese workers ahead of Burmese. About 90 per cent of the power generated from the Myitsone project was to be sent to China after its proposed completion in 2019, yet few Burmese towns have reliable electricity.

Meanwhile, Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has raised concerns about fighting between the Burmese army and ethnic rebel groups in Burma's border areas that has intensified in recent months.

Along with ethnic groups and human rights and environmental organisations, Ms Suu Kyi has been among the critics of the Myitsone power project.

By Lindsay Murdoch

Thai PM visited Naypyitaw and agree to strengthen cooperation at all levels

2011-10-06T14:22:00.002+08:00

Thailand and Myanmar have agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation at all levels while exploring ways to develop new cooperation between the two members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The two neighbouring countries agreement came during Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s one-day official introductory visit to Myanmar on Wednesday.

During the visit, Ms Yingluck paid a courtesy call on Myanmar President Thein Sein before the two delegations met together.

The Thai premier praised Myanmar for the progress of its development of democracy and reconciliation. Ms Yingluck took the opportunity to invite Mr Thein Sein to visit Thailand.

Ms Yingluck assured the Myanmar leader that Thailand adheres to its policy of not allowing any armed group to use Thailand as its base to launch any offensive move against the Myanmar government.

Thailand stands ready to promote bilateral ties and cooperation at all levels and dimensions to jointly achieve the goal of establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, the Thai prime minister said.

As for the cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, both sides agreed to continue existing cooperation and, at the same time, to explore new ways to develop new cooperation.

In an attempt to boost cross border trade and investment between the two countries and facilitate the cross border contacts, the Thai premier requested cooperation from Myanmar to reopen the border check-point at Tak's Mae Sot-Myawaddy, closed since mid-July last year.

President Thein Sein agreed to speed up the process to reopen the checkpoint, as the bridge footings are under repair. The Myanmar government affirmed that once the bridge repairs were complete, the checkpoint would immediately reopen.

Trade and transport across the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border was suspended when Myanmar officials shut the border at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge across the Moei River and at over 20 cross-border trading ports along the river.

The Thai premier also asked for progress regarding the plan to upgrade the Singkhon border gate in Prachuap Khiri Khan province as a permanent border check-point to facilitate trade and transport.

Thailand expressed support for the development of infrastructure in Myanmar. Both leaders then witnessed an exchange of a signed road construction and improvement contract as well as for repairs of the Friendship Bridge. The contract was signed by the Thai and Myanmar foreign ministers.

Ms Yingluck and Mr Thein Sein also witnessed the presentation of meteorological equipment worth Bt40 million to Myanmar.

The Thai premier requested Myanmar to support development of the Tavoy deep sea port, industrial estate and the road linking Tavoy and Kanchanaburi.

The two leaders discussed the plan to jointly tackle border-related problems including illicit drugs, rights protection for Myanmar workers and assistance for persons from Myanmar who were displaced because of fighting.

After the talks, the Myanmar leader hosted a dinner to honour Ms Yingluck who returned to Thailand last night.

The visit to Myanmar is the latest in a series of introductory visits by Ms Yingluck following trips last month to Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos.

She plans to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and China later this month.

(MCOT online news)

US Senator John McCain hails Myanmar dam decision

2011-10-06T12:37:00.001+08:00

Senior US Senator John McCain on Wednesday praised Myanmar's government for the "democratic act" of halting work on a $3.6 billion China-backed mega-dam following public opposition to the project.

"I commend President Thein Sein and other government leaders in Naypyidaw for their bold and responsible decision to suspend construction of the Myitsone dam project," McCain said in a statement.

"They listened to the voice of the people and made a dramatic change in government policy for the sake of the public interest," he said.

"This was a democratic act, and I hope the government in Naypyidaw will continue to respond to the peaceful will of the people to make additional positive changes in other areas."

Washington has praised the decision, but China -- Myanmar's second-largest trading partner and biggest foreign investor -- has criticized the move in a rare public display of discord between the two countries.

The senator, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, said the project could have caused "irreparable harm to the Irrawaddy River" and praised Myanmar's leaders for bucking "considerable internal and external pressure."

"More than any issue in recent memory, this project and its reportedly disastrous environmental impact have united the Burmese people in overwhelming public opposition," said McCain.

The project had attracted opposition from pro-democracy groups and environmentalists testing the limits of freedom under Myanmar's new nominally civilian regime -- in March the junta handed power to a government whose ranks are filled with former generals.

Green groups have warned the dam would inundate an area about the size of Singapore, submerging dozens of villages, displacing at least 10,000 people and irreversibly damaging one of the world's most biodiverse areas.

AFP

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passes away peacefully

2011-10-06T12:35:00.001+08:00

Apple on Wednesday announced the death of its visionary co-founder Steve Jobs from cancer at 56.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company's board of directors said in a statement.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts," the statement from the California-based gadget-maker said.

Jobs underwent an operation for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and a liver transplant in 2009.

He resigned as CEO of Apple in August, handing the reins to current chief executive Tim Cook.

On Tuesday, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S. Jobs, 56, did not make an appearance at Tuesday's event.

Apple changed its website homepage to remember Jobs who had remained with Apple as chairman of the board of directors.

In a simple statement on the site, Apple said it "has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being."

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.

Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

Apple has opened a tribute email rememberingsteve@apple.com for Jobs. He is said to have died with his family around him.

AFP

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi worried about violence in Myanmar

2011-10-03T23:45:00.003+08:00

Recent violence in Myanmar shows how difficult it will be to achieve unity and democracy in the southeast Asian country, democracy campaigner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday.

Ms Suu Kyi used a video link to take questions from a small group at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where her longtime supporters include fellow Nobel peace laureates Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

"I think we should all be concerned about hostilities breaking out all over the country," she said, saying such violence underlines the challenge of bringing Myanmar's ethnic groups together.

But "we do intend to get to the position where we are a true union of hearts and minds," she said.

Ms Suu Kyi has made a few such virtual appearances to audiences in Hong Kong and the United States since Myanmar's military leaders freed her from house arrest almost a year ago. She has not been expressly banned from foreign travel. But Sein Win, an overseas opposition leader and Ms Suu Kyi's cousin, said she might not be allowed to return if she does venture abroad.

Sein Win, who was in South Africa to accept an honorary degree from the University of Johannesburg on Ms Suu Kyi's behalf on Tuesday, said concern about what might happen if she were to leave shows how uncertain the situation is in his homeland. He said he would not return until democracy and rule of law are guaranteed in Myanmar.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she was inspired by South Africa's defeat of apartheid.

"We are determined to make a success of our struggle for democracy," she said. "We are not just going to sit. We are going to move to get to where we want to go."

In November, Ms Suu Kyi's party boycotted Myanmar's first elections in 20 years, saying the vote was undemocratic. The new government is nominally civilian but remains dominated by the military, which has ruled since 1962.

Despite the elections, violence continues in parts of Myanmar. Rights groups and The Associated Press have interviewed victims who say the army is subjecting citizens to forced relocation, forced labor, gang-rape and extra-judicial killings. Amnesty International says troops have used civilians as human shields and minesweepers. Western nations are urging Myanmar to free its more than 2,000 political prisoners and reconcile with Ms Suu Kyi.

Speaking Monday, Ms Suu Kyi repeatedly called on the international community to closely follow events in Myanmar, and to criticize and reward as warranted. She called on South Africa to display more leadership, saying its government had not always been as forthright in its support as had individuals like Mandela and Tutu.

Those who had achieved freedom should "remember those who are still struggling to obtain theirs," she said.

In awarding her the Peace Prize in 1991, the Nobel committee called Ms Suu Kyi's struggle "one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades."

Retired Archbishop Tutu, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent campaign against white racist rule in South Africa, has called Ms Suu Kyi "a global symbol of moral courage." Mandela, South Africa's first black president, made her an honorary Elder when he formed the group of global statesmen in 2007. Mandela shared the 1993 Nobel with President F.W. de Klerk for their work in negotiating an end to apartheid.

Mandela's Elders, who champion peace and human rights around the world, have kept an empty chair representing Suu Kyi and Myanmar's thousands of political prisoners at their meetings.

Ms Suu Kyi was released Nov. 13 after more than seven years under house arrest. She was first arrested in 1989 and at the time of her release had been detained for 15 of the past 21 years.

Ms Suu Kyi was largely raised outside Myanmar, also known as Burma, and initially settled with her husband and sons in England. In 1988, she returned home to care for her ailing mother as mass demonstrations were breaking out against military rule. As the daughter of Aung San, the country's martyred founding father, she was thrust into a leadership role.

She led her party, the National League for Democracy, to victory in 1990 elections, but the junta refused to recognize the results. Ms Suu Kyi's party said last year's vote, in which it refused to participate, was held under unfair and undemocratic conditions.

International human rights groups are calling for a U.N.-led international commission of inquiry into allegations of war crimes in Myanmar, where the military crushed mass protests for democracy led by Buddhist monks in September 2007. Several dozen people were believed killed and many more jailed.

Another Nobel peace laureate, Tibetan spiritual and political leader the Dalai Lama, has been invited to South Africa this week to help celebrate Tutu's 80th birthday on Friday.

Sonam Tenzing, the Dalai Lama's official representative in South Africa, said Monday he still had no word on whether South Africa would grant him a visa. South African officials have denied China, a major trading partner, is blocking the visit, saying only that the Dalai Lama's visa application is taking time to process.

The Nobel committee recognized the Dalai Lama in 1989 for his peaceful efforts to "preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people." China accuses him of being a separatist. The Dalai Lama insists he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet, the homeland from which he has been exiled since 1959.

AP

2 Singaporean arrested for receiving stolen electronic goods worth $1.4m

2011-10-03T12:57:00.002+08:00

Two men were charged on Monday with dishonestly receiving stolen electronic goods worth $1.4 million believed to have been stolen from the dnata Cargo Terminal in Changi Airfreight Centre.

Businessman Ong Su Ping and freelance courier Lee Peng Chou, both 32, allegedly received 1,930 Apple iPads, 1,464 iPhones and 1,000 pieces of phone casings, cables and accessories at Joo Seng Road on Sept 18 this year.

They were remanded for week until Oct 10 as they are believed to be involved in similar cases.

In a statement on Sunday, police said through intensive investigation, including close co-operation with the Royal Malaysia Police, police managed to identify those involved in the theft and disposal of the stolen items.

Straitstimes

China wants talks over Myanmar dam cancellation

2011-10-02T16:26:00.002+08:00

China sounded hugely surprised as it reacted to Myanmar President Thein Sein's to suspend a controversial Chinese-led dam project costing $3.6 billion.

It is obviously worried that the move might have an effect on other Chinese projects including plans to build an energy pipeline between the two countries.

The Chinese foreign ministry has called for talks with Myanmar officials on the issue. "The Myitsone dam is a jointly invested project between China and Myanmar, and has been ... thoroughly examined by both sides," the ministry said in a statement. It said the "relevant countries should guarantee the legal and legitimate rights of Chinese companies."

"Both sides should appropriately deal with matters related to the progress of this project through friendly consultations," the ministry said.

The Myanmar president suspended construction on the dam after a rare public outrage flamed by calls by environmentalists and opposition leaders, who feel it would submerge vast areas of land and leave thousands homeless. Thein Sein told Myanmar parliament his government had to act "according to the desire of the people".

Beijing is taken aback by the sudden move because it has built close relationship with Myanmar's military regime, and invested in several projects in the country. Plans for connecting the two countries with an oil pipeline, and a future project to build a road towards the Indian border are crucial for China from the strategic standpoint.

Observers of the Myanmar scene are also surprised because China helped it during the long years when it suffered from Western sanctions over issues concerning human rights and suppression of democracy.

The Myitsone dam and hydroelectricity project is expected to supply 90% of the generated power to China. But environmentalists feel it will flood 766 square kilometer area in northern Myanmar.

Beijing

Thai PM to pay official visit to Myanmar

2011-10-02T16:21:00.002+08:00

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will pay an official visit to Myanmar in order to strengthen bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries, according to official sources on Sunday.

At the invitation of Myanmar President U Thein Sein, the Thai prime minister will pay the visit in the near future, the official the New Light of Myanmar daily reported on Sunday.

The visit would be the Thai prime minister's first time visit to the country after taking office, following her trip to Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos later September.

The two sides will have discussions on enhancing bilateral relations and economic cooperation, some local traders said.

According to earlier report, bilateral trade between Myanmar and Thailand hit 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2010- 11, decreasing by 18 percent correspondingly.

Thailand stood first in Myanmar's foreign trade partner line-up during the year, followed by China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.

Statistics also show that Thailand represented the second in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up with 9.568 billion dollars in 61 projects.

Myanmar makes exchanging money easier

2011-10-01T00:22:00.001+08:00

Myanmar is to allow six banks to open foreign exchange counters from October, state media reported on Friday, in a step towards reforming its currency regime and stamping out illegal money-changing.

The New Light of Myanmar said the official currency exchange counters on Yangon's Theinbyu Road would make life easier for tourists, help eliminate black market money changing and stabilise the kyat exchange rate.

The booths will exchange US and Singapore dollars as well as euros at rates in line with international currency exchange markets, it said.

They will be the first foreign exchange counters operated by private banks.

AFP

Myanmar regime ready to work with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

2011-10-01T00:20:00.002+08:00

Myanmar's government is ready to work with opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party if it re-enters the official political arena, a minister said on Friday after talks with the dissident.

'If the NLD (National League for Democracy) officially registers under the law, we always welcome working with the NLD,' labour minister Aung Kyi, the liaison between Ms Suu Kyi and the regime, told reporters.

Ms Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 election but was never allowed to take power.

It boycotted the first ballot in 20 years, held last year, largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. As a result it was delisted as a political party.

AFP

Myanmar government decided to stop construction of controversial dam

2011-09-30T13:51:00.002+08:00

Myanmar's president has called for a halt to a controversial Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam being built in the country's north.

President Thein Sein said in a note read out in parliament Friday that construction of the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in Kachin state should be suspended.

His note said the construction of the dam was contrary to the will of the people and lawmakers.

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi joined forces with environmentalists and minority groups to appeal for a reassessment of the project on the country's main river, the Irrawaddy. They claimed it would displace many villagers and upset the ecology of the important food source.

The project would have flooded an area the size of Singapore.

AP

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to meet Minister Aung Kyi

2011-09-29T19:32:00.003+08:00

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will hold another round of talks with the new army-backed government, her spokesman said on Thursday, following signs of a thaw in relations.

Friday's meeting with labour minister Aung Kyi in Yangon will be the third since the Nobel Peace Prize winner's release from seven straight years of house arrest last November, shortly after a widely criticised election.

The opposition leader also met President Thein Sein -- a former junta prime minister -- in the capital Naypyidaw last month, one of several tentative signs that the regime is reaching out to its opponents.

Myanmar is now ruled by a nominally civilian government but its ranks are filled with former generals and the country still has about 2,000 political prisoners.

In an interview with AFP earlier this month, Ms Suu Kyi said there had been "positive developments" in Myanmar, but added that it was unclear whether Thein Sein would be able to carry through his reform pledges.

Her spokesman Nyan Win said Friday's meeting with Aung Kyi -- the former liaison between Ms Suu Kyi and the junta -- would take place at the State Guest House, but he gave no information about what might be discussed.

The 66-year-old dissident's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a 1990 election but was never allowed to take power.

Last month the daughter of Myanmar's liberation hero General Aung San travelled unhindered on her first overtly political trip outside her home city since being released from detention, addressing thousands of supporters.

The international community has called for a number of reforms in Myanmar including the release of political detainees and an end to rights abuses, particularly against ethnic minorities.

AFP

Pulau Bukom Shell refinery fire continue

2011-09-29T19:23:00.001+08:00

Fresh explosions were heard at the Pulau Bukom Shell refinery around noon on Thursday.

Witnesses at the Pasir Panjang port and at West Coast said they saw more black smoke and fireballs shooting into the sky.

Ben Koh, an eyewitness at Pasir Panjang port, said: "The fireball was 10, 20 metres in height. After that I can see small flames, but ... from a small portion of the island."

He said the smoke got thicker, with the smell of petrol in the air. "It's not really that strong, but you can smell it," he added.

Shell said in a statement on Thursday that it experienced a surge in the fire at the refinery around noon, but the fire remains contained.

It said the surge in the fire was caused by the remnants of light fuel components where the fire started on Wednesday afternoon.

The company said the smoke that several callers to the Channel NewsAsia news hotline said they saw was from hydrocarbons that are not fully combusted.

Shell said it is working closely with the SCDF, and its global fire consultants are also on site to provide input to the team.

In a separate statement, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said fire fighting operations are still underway, but the fire is contained within the bund wall.

SCDF said about 20 water jets are being used to carry out boundary cooling operations to prevent heat exposure to the nearby storage tanks.

Two SCDF fire engines were badly damaged by the fire and one fire engine sustained partial damage.

There were no injuries reported.

The fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon, involves petroleum products from pipes in the tank farm at the manufacturing facility measuring 150 metres by 50 metres.

SCDF said early Thursday that it has about 100 fire fighters fighting the fire with six fire engines and 13 support vehicles.

About 250 essential Shell personnel are also on Pulau Bukom helping with the operations.

"We believe it was an accident. A full investigation will be conducted once the fire is put out," said Shell in an earlier statement.

The company also said that the six Shell firefighters injured while fighting the initial outbreak have gone back to their normal duties following medical attention.

Staff have also reported for work at Pulau Bukom, it added, and controls have been put in place on movements in the affected areas to ensure their safety.

Other units in the vicinity of the fire incident remain shut down as a precaution and there are no toxic vapours being released as a result of the fire which is more than five kilometres away from mainland Singapore.

CNA/SINGAPORE

Kindle Fire may force Android tablet makers to cut prices

2011-09-29T15:49:00.002+08:00

Asian technology companies came under pressure on Thursday to slash prices of their tablet computers after Amazon.com launched its Kindle Fire at a mass market-friendly $199.

From Samsung Electronics to Sony Corp, major Asian tablet makers have ambitious plans to take on Apple, whose iPad is the gold standard in the booming market.

With their me-too type of products priced almost at the same level as the iPad's starting price of $499, none of them have however been able to gain any significant market share from Apple.

So far, Samsung has been seen as the most credible challenger to the iPad and some analysts suggest it could lose its No. 2 position to the eagerly anticipated Fire.

The South Korean company's tablet marketing campaign has also stumbled in recent months due to Apple's legal attempts to ban Samsung's tablet sales in Australia, the United States and Germany, over patent infringement, among other claims.

The Kindle Fire, while lacking many of the high-tech bells and whistles common on tablets from cameras to 3G wireless connection, may sound the death knell for a raft of devices based on Google Inc's Android operating system.

"The pricing is critical to gain traction in the tablet market... Rival manufacturers have failed to attract consumers as they have matched the iPad's price point without matching its content offering," said Adam Leach, an analyst at research firm Ovum.

"Amazon's retail-based business model allows the company to subsidize the device on the premise that consumers will buy more from Amazon, be that physical goods or its digital content."

Samsung's Galaxy Tab, Sony's S tablet, Motorola's Zoom and many others from Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc all run on Android, which Amazon's Fire also uses and combines with its online store.

By pricing the Fire at less than half the iPad -- yet stripping out costlier components and features -- the Internet retailer hopes to get the device into millions of consumers' hands and then into Amazon books, movies, music and other content.

TOUGH FOR SAMSUNG

Samsung's new tablet Galaxy 10.1 is priced roughly the same as the iPad. Even at that price, a slim profit margin of around 5 percent makes it difficult for Samsung to cut prices sharply, analysts say.

Worldwide tablet shipments will more than triple to 60 million units this year and surge to 275.3 million units by 2015, research firm IHS iSuppli forecasts.

Apple dominates the North American tablet market, with 80 percent of the 7.5 million units shipped during the second quarter of 2011, Strategy Analytics says.

Analysts had expected Amazon's tablet to be priced around $250, roughly half the price of Apple's iPad, which starts at $499.

Sony vowed in January to become the world's No. 2 tablet maker -- behind Apple -- by 2012 and Sony executives have since stuck to that ambitious claim.

"We expect the Amazon tablet to... put pressure on the other non-iPad competitors as they are unlikely to be able to compete on price and value," UBS analysts said in a note.

"At the $199, we believe Amazon's tablet has the potential to be disruptive to the market and, in particular, the non-iPad market...Other tablet vendors will find it difficult to match Amazon's price point."

HP's firesale of its TouchPad tablet at $99 just six weeks after its launch created strong demand for its soon-to-be-killed product, a sign of just how critical prices are in the sector.

REUTERS

Chiharu Shiramatsu, 31, Japanese Tourist killed near Kyaukpadaung

2011-09-29T15:34:00.002+08:00

A Japanese tourist has been killed in Myanmar and a motorcycle taxi driver arrested on suspicion of her murder, a government official said Thursday.

Chiharu Shiramatsu, 31, was killed on Wednesday near Kyaukpadaung, close to the ancient temple city of Bagan, after hiring the motorcycle taxi to go sightseeing, according to the authorities.

"She was killed by a motorcycle taxi driver who tried to rape her," a Myanmar government official who declined to be identified told AFP.

Min Theik, the 39-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, was arrested at the scene.

Violent crime involving foreign tourists is relatively rare in military-dominated Myanmar.

AFP

‘The Lady’ Interview with Michelle Yeoh

2011-09-28T22:17:00.004+08:00

‘The Lady’ is Luc Besson’s upcoming biopic about pro-democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, starring Michelle Yeoh as Aung. Aung San Suu Kyi became an icon for democratic freedom after she spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest in Burma after leading the National League for Democracy in an election victory over the ruling military junta in 1990.

‘The Lady’ is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi. It is a story of devotion and human understanding set against a backdrop of political turmoil that continues today. ‘The Lady’ was written over a period of three years by Rebecca Frayn.

Interviews with key figures in Aung San Suu Kyi‟s entourage enabled her to reconstruct for the first time the true story of Burma‟s national heroine. ‘The Lady’ is set for release November 30th. Check out what Michelle Yeoh had to say about the film below.

How much did you know about Aung Suu before you embarked on this movie?

Michelle Yeoh: Coming from Malaysia we all know who Aung Suu is, but unfortunately because she’s been in and out of house arrest since 1988, we’ve really forgotten exactly the reasons why, who and what was truly involved. In the last three years, the news that came out was when the Americans swam into her compound and her house arrest was extended for another 18 months, and then news about her resurfaced.

But by then, Rebecca Frayn had already finished the script and approached me when she finished her first draft of the script, and I knew this was not just a role of a lifetime, but an incredible story that really needed to be told. Fortunately Luc Besson came to my rescue (laughs), because I always believe that no matter how good a script is, if you don’t have a director who’s totally committed and dedicated to it, you won’t have a story that will come to life for the audience.

That was very important to me, I lived and breathed her for the last four years. Everyday day, every night. I learned Burmese,. I slept with her, I woke up with her. Because it was necessary not just to mimic and give you a two-dimensional concept and feel for what she represented, of who she was, but to allow you to come into her world. A world so full of love and passion. I was submerged in it, I still think very much so.

If I understand right, you had some problems with the Burmese authorities because you met Suu Kyi?

Michelle Yeoh: The first time I met her was actually when we were still filming, in the last week in Bangkok, and we decided that, since we were literally next door, we should try and go into Burma. Luc Besson and everybody else had their visas denied but I was allowed to go in, so I went. I think everybody was a little bit worried for me, I felt it was the right thing for me to do. So I went, I met up with Aung Suu for an incredible two days. And then, about two months ago, Luc and the rest had their visas, and I decided I would join them, meet up with them and hopefully everyone would be able to see Aung Suu together.

This time that I went there, the Burmese authorities were very firm, very polite, and escorted me straight out of the country. They just said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ And I said, ‘Don’t be sorry, just let me into your country.’ They said,‘No.’ I think they just wanted very clearly and quickly to show just how closed a country they are, and I was very saddened and disappointed by that. At that point I was thinking, ‘Do I make a big fuss and say, ‘I’m not leaving, No, you have no right to deny me entry.’ But then I thought it wouldn’t do anybody any good, it also showed how irrational they were. In fact they were the ones who released to the press that they would not allow me into the country. But I will go back again. I’ll be back (smiles).

How was it to prepare for this role, both physically and mentally?

Michelle Yeoh: Preparing for this role was really a very great responsibility because she is such a well-known, iconic figure. When you see her, she’s very recognisable. The first thing was with hair and make-up, we had all the things that would make me look a little bit more like her, I lost a lot of weight to play her. Then with her English accent, she has an amazing, beautiful English accent Also her deportment, the way she moves – because that was one thing Luc Besson said to me, ‘You prepare your English, and you prepare your deportment, the rest we will work out on the set,’ (laughs).

That was just work that as an actor you do. I had a very good trainer and teacher that came to my house everyday, just to learn English all over again. Then I had to learn Burmese, that was probably one of the most difficult parts – learning Mandarin was a piece of cake compared to learning Burmese. The language was nothing similar to any of the languages I know, whether it Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, it was on its own. That just took sheer determination, there’s no pause in the language, it’s like a song, a melody that just goes on. It was really beautiful to hear. I didn’t want my Burmese to sound foreign, I wanted it to sound real, it was everyday….about four or six months I was saying the Shweagon speech…as I was opening my eyes I could hear myself speaking in Burmese.

With the research we had hundreds and hundreds of hours of research that was done by Rebecca and the team. There was a lot of reading material. But I felt to get to know the woman, I needed to know what was behind her thoughts. So I read the books that she would read, Gandhi was a big favourite of hers.

Fortunately she’s a Buddhist and I’m a Buddhist so it was easier to come to terms with a lot of things. I’d watch her everyday, and then I realised it wasn’t just mimicking her and doing the things that she did, because we all know the eyes are the windows of the soul – for me to convey if she had strength or doubts or pain, a lot of the time it would have to come when you look into my eyes.

This process must have been so engrossing….

Michelle Yeoh: I think all of us who have been involved in this journey, there is no way that what you feel about freedom, democracy, human rights, that it doesn’t affect you. Because it must make you look at the situation a lot harder, and with more open eyes.

I think we enjoy freedom, we take it for granted, we don’t for a second think….like when I went back to Burma for the second time, I didn’t stop to think that anything could happen to me – because I’m a Malaysian citizen and I go everywhere I please. It has effected me in many ways, I think it will always, because Aung Suu was always an inspiration, but now she’s given us the real understanding of what it is to have strength and passion and determination, with the right balance, to do the right things.

FLICKS AND BITS

Myanmar FM says democratic reforms irreversible, promises prisoner amnesty

2011-09-28T13:34:00.002+08:00

Military-dominated Myanmar says its recent democratic reforms are irreversible and has promised a prisoner amnesty in the near future.

Foreign Minister Wanna Maung Lwin told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that talks last month between Myanmar’s president and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were intended to put aside differences and find common grounds to cooperate.

The minister urged nations to lift economic sanctions.

In November Myanmar held its first elections in 20 years. The new government is nominally civilian but remains dominated by the military, which has ruled since 1962.

Western nations are urging Myanmar to free its more than 2,000 political prisoners and reconcile with Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections but was barred from taking power. The party boycotted the November poll, saying the rules governing it were unfair.

Wanna Maung Lwin gave no details about the planned amnesty, other than that it would happen “at an appropriate time in the near future.”

“We hope the near future will come very soon,” said British Ambassador to the U.N. Mark Lyall Grant, after a meeting later Tuesday of the so-called Friends of Myanmar, a group of about 15 interested Western and Asian nations.

In his address, Wanna Maung Lwin referred to a May amnesty granted by President Thein Sein that he said led to the release of 20,000 prisoners by the end of July.

Western nations were, however, disappointed, as only a few dozen political detainees were reportedly freed.

Another amnesty could be well-timed. Myanmar, also known as Burma, is vying to win the support of neighboring governments for its bid to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014. ASEAN leaders may reach a decision at a summit this November.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, said that nations attending the Friends meeting had acknowledged recent developments in Myanmar, but “there’s an expectation that there’s more to come.”

While welcoming the government’s allowing Suu Kyi to travel the country, Lyall Grant said the Nobel laureate’s National League for Democracy should be allowed to register again as a political party. The British envoy also called for an end to human rights abuses by the Myanmar military against the ethnic minority Shan and Kachin.

International human rights groups remain skeptical of the changes in Myanmar and are calling for a U.N.-led international commission of inquiry into allegations of war crimes.

“Burma’s foreign minister would be more convincing if the government released all political prisoners and held security forces accountable for the brutal suppression of monks and peaceful protesters exactly four years ago,” Elaine Pearson, Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch, said by email Tuesday.

Myanmar’s military crushed mass protests for democracy led by Buddhist monks in September 2007. Several dozen people were believed killed and many more jailed.

On Monday, democracy activists in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon tested the new government’s avowed tolerance for dissent by gathering peacefully to mark the protest anniversary. They were allowed to gather at a central landmark but harassed in other parts of the city.

AP

Chiang Mai floods above critical level

2011-09-28T13:17:00.001+08:00

Searchers have found the bodies of four members of the family of five swept away when their village was hit by hillside run-off overnight in Chiang Mai province, where the flood situation was reported to be above critical level on Wednesday.

Forest run-off triggered by two days of incessant rain struck a village in tambon Muang Kai in Mae Taeng district about 1am, destroying four houses and sweeping away a family of five people.

Rescuers continued the search for the fifth victim, as rain continued pouring down, causing an electricity blackout in the entire tambon.

Meanwhile, reports said the flood situation in the northern province was above critical level.

At 10.50am, the water level in Muang district had risen to 3.85 metres and the water flow was measured at 482 million cubic metres per second.

The critical water level is set at 3.70 metres and the water flow at 440 million cubic metres a second.

BANGKOK POST

Myanmar to free more prisoners

2011-09-28T04:36:00.003+08:00

Myanmar will free more prisoners in the future, the country's foreign minister told the UN on Tuesday, without saying whether these would include political detainees.

Foreign Minister U Wanna Maung Lwin, making the country's first address to the UN General Assembly since a nominally civilian government took power, also appealed for the lifting of international sanctions.

Seeking to boost the government's international image, Lwin said that since a first amnesty was decreed by the military-backed President Thein Sein in May about 20,000 inmates had been released.

The minister also highlighted a deal reached with some armed opposition ethnic groups in August and how a national human rights commission started work this month.

"The president in exercising the mandate vested upon him by the constitution will further grant an amnesty at an appropriate time in the near future," Lwin said.

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has said she believes the president wants "positive" change in the country which had been ruled by a junta for decades up to the elections last November.

But many governments say they want to see more proof of the change and rights groups are wary of the Myanmar government's public statements.

"The foreign minister would be more convincing if the government released all political prisoners and held security forces accountable for the brutal suppression of monks and peaceful protesters exactly four years ago," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

The minister did not say if the estimated 2,000 political prisoners would be among those who would qualify for the new amnesty.

But he did say that sanctions by the United States, European Union and other countries were hurting the poor nation.

"It is regrettable that the government's efforts to improve the livelihood of the people are hampered by the economic sanctions," he said, calling for a lifting of the "unilateral sanctions."

"Myanmar has transformed towards a democratic nation in a smooth and peaceful manner," said Lwin.

"The steps taken by the government of Myanmar are concrete, visible and irreversible," he added. "Myanmar has strong determination to continue implementing the democratization process amidst all the challenges."

AFP

Myanmar police prevent rare democracy protest

2011-09-28T04:33:00.002+08:00

Police in military-dominated Myanmar on Monday prevented a rare protest by pro-democracy activists on the fourth anniversary of a bloody crackdown on a monk-led uprising, an official said.

About 200 people had planned to march to Yangon City Hall but agreed to call off the rally when asked by the authorities to do so, according to witnesses. Afterwards about 30 of them held prayers at a pagoda.

"After police asked them to stop, they prayed ... and then dispersed," according to a government official who did not want to be named.

Police said no arrests were made.

"We came here to pray for the release of political prisoners and to mark the fourth anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, but a police officer asked us not to go anywhere so that's why we have to go home," one of the activists said.

Other activists wore slogans on their T-shirts calling for an end to a controversial hydroelectric power project in northern Kachin State, electricity from which is destined for neighbouring China.

Last week police arrested a man who staged a rare solo protest against the Myitsone dam outside a Chinese embassy building in Yangon. Concerns are growing in Myanmar about the impact of the project on the Irrawaddy River.

Security was tight on the anniversary of the crackdown on the 2007 protests, which began as small rallies against the rising cost of living but escalated into huge anti-government demonstrations known as the "Saffron Revolution."

At least 31 people were killed by security forces while hundreds were beaten and detained in the crackdown that ensued.

Myanmar is now ruled by a nominally civilian government but its ranks are filled with former generals and the country still has more than 2,000 political prisoners.

In recent weeks the regime has shown signs of engaging with its opponents, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a 1990 election but was never allowed by the junta to take power.

The regime released the Nobel Peace Prize winner in November last year, shortly after an election that was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party boycotted the vote.

In an interview with AFP earlier this month, Suu Kyi said there had been "positive developments" in Myanmar, but it was unclear whether President Thein Sein would be able to carry through his reform pledges.

The dissident said she did not want a popular revolt in Myanmar of the kind seen in Libya, adding: "Everybody knows that Libya's troubles are going to drag on for a long time."

AFP

Typhoon Nesat lashes Philippines

2011-09-28T04:17:00.002+08:00

Typhoon Nesat smashed into the Philippines on Tuesday, leaving at least 16 people dead, with the capital Manila enduring waist-deep floods, blackouts and dramatic storm surges.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms annually, many of them deadly, but the government said Nesat was one of the largest the country had faced this year, with its rain and wind path twice as big as average.

"This storm is very intense, the rain is strong and winds are powerful... we are hearing of rivers about to burst their banks, and there are evacuations ongoing in different areas," civil defence chief Benito Ramos told AFP.

"We do not have exact figures on how big the damage is... as the storm is still battering us."

He later told AFP that at least 16 people were killed as of 7:00 pm (1100 GMT), with the toll likely to rise overnight as more reports from rescuers on the ground were expected to filter in.

He said four of the dead were crushed by a collapsed structure in Manila, while a baby fell into a raging river in an eastern province on Monday.

More than 100 other people were rescued, including fishermen whose boats capsized in rough seas after ignoring warnings not to set sail, he said.

Nesat slammed into the main island of Luzon before dawn, bringing maximum sustained winds of up to 140 kilometres an hour and gusts clocking in at 170 kilometres an hour.

It later weakened while slicing through Luzon, but dumped heavy rains throughout the day across the whole island that is home to about 48 million people.

Parts of the capital, a sprawling megacity of more than 12 million, endured waist-deep flooding, with some of the worst impacts seen around the historic bayside area.

Huge waves crashed into Manila Bay's seawall, sending water spraying over into the picturesque Roxas Boulevard and closing one of the city's main arteries to traffic.

The ground floor of Manila Hospital, which sits on the boulevard facing the bay, was submerged in knee-deep waters, forcing medical staff to relocate patients to the second floor, radio station DZBB said.

The five-star Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, located on the bay, was also evacuated, while the US embassy was partly submerged, according to rescue workers.

Nearly two million households suffered power outages in the capital and surrounding areas, according to the Manila Electric Company, and many people remained without electricity by nightfall.

Amid the chaos, all schools were suspended and government offices were closed, while dozens of domestic flights in and out of the capital were cancelled.

The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading, and Manila's main overhead railway system ground to a halt due to power failures.

A controlled release of water from the Angat Dam in Bulacan province just north of Manila on Tuesday flooded around 25 towns, provincial governor Willy Alvarado said, though there were no reports of casualties.

"We will continue evacuating people into the night," he said on state radio.

The state weather bureau said Nesat was expected to blow into the South China Sea by Wednesday, although bad weather would likely persist for most of the week.

The agricultural provinces of Isabela and Aurora in the east of the country, among the Philippines' leading rice producing areas, were the most heavily affected initially, the state weather bureau said.

Isabela Governor Faustino Dy said about 1,400 people had been relocated to 17 evacuation centres from four coastal towns in his province to avoid powerful storm surges.

About 110,000 residents had already been evacuated from several flood prone towns in Albay, another eastern province, on Monday.

AFP

living In Fear of Myanmar Government Army

2011-09-25T15:48:00.003+08:00

The soldiers arrived unexpectedly in 15-year-old Sai Noom Mong's village in eastern Myanmar with a brutal message: Leave your homes, they told hundreds of startled residents, or we'll burn them to the ground.

Fearful of their fate but too frail to flee themselves, the teen's parents made a painful decision the following night. They secretly delivered their son to sympathetic rebels from their minority Shan ethnic group and said goodbye, unsure if they'd ever see him again.

"My father said there's a place you can go and get an education and be safe," Sai Noom Mong told The Associated Press in the rebel-controlled village of Loi Tai Leng, where he arrived in May after an arduous monthlong escape through the forest on foot. He has lived as an orphan ever since.

AP journalists crossed into rebel-controlled Myanmar to interview refugees fleeing human rights abuses allegedly committed by the army, despite a new government.

His family's breakup is one of myriad tales told here that underscore how fundamental change has yet to come to one of the world's most repressive nations, even though its all-powerful military government officially disbanded in March.

The civilian administration that replaced it is dominated by retired generals promising democratic reform, but many say the new government is only a proxy for continued military rule. Here in the east, ethnic minorities live in fear of an army and government that Amnesty International says are still committing human rights abuses on "a massive scale." Long-running clashes between the armed forces and ethnic rebel groups have not only ground on, they've spread to areas that haven't seen fighting for close to 20 years.

The upsurge in violence comes amid an unprecedented flood of foreign investment in lucrative dam and pipeline projects, much of it from resource-hungry China. Foreign investment pledges totaled $20 billion over the last year — dwarfing the amount of the last 20 years combined — and critics say commercial interests are trumping human rights concerns, especially in the east.

"Solving the ethnic conflicts is the biggest issue facing Burma right now," said David Scott Mathieson, a Human Rights Watch expert on Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

"A lot of people are optimistic the new government could be sincere about reform, but they are not factoring in the ethnic dimension," he said. "There's been a marked upswing in fighting, and that's not an improvement. It shows the state hasn't prioritized the issue."

The result: at least 50,000 people forced to flee their homes in the last few months alone; this in a nation that already counts nearly half a million displaced and at least 215,000 refugees abroad.

Myanmar is home to about 55 million people, 40 percent of them from ethnic groups including the Shan, Karen, Karenni, Kachin, Arakan, Chin and Mon. The Burmese majority, which comprises the other 60 percent, effectively rules the country and holds key positions of influence throughout society.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the then-ruling junta reached cease-fire agreements with 17 rebel movements, allowing them to keep their weapons and a degree of autonomy. But in the run-up to elections last year, the military insisted they transform themselves into "border guard" forces and submit to army leadership.

Most refused, and two cease-fire agreements that had held for nearly 20 years disintegrated — first in March with the northern faction of the Shan State Army, then in June with the Kachin Independence Army.

Now, "with power transferred to a 'new' government, the army seems to have increased the political and military pressure on ... ethnic groups to persuade them to submit," said Trevor Wilson, a fellow at Australia's College of Asia and the Pacific.

Some of the latest fighting, in Kachin state in particular, has taken place in zones where new dams are being built. The dams will generate revenue worth billions of dollars per year, but environmentalists say they will produce electricity primarily for export — a cruel irony given that only around 20 percent of Burmese have power.

"The military wants to control land and resources," said Yawd Serk, who commands the Shan State Army's southern faction from its headquarters in Loi Tai Leng. "They don't care that people are still suffering atrocities or living in the dark."

The government denies such claims, arguing the nation must develop. And rebels also profit from the country's resources, including jade, rubies and opium, to finance their struggle.

The government has boosted hope for change by unblocking the long-censored Internet, calling on exiles to return, and holding rare talks with prominent opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from seven years of house arrest last year. Last month, its leadership also called for peace talks with rebels, though most of them dismissed the offer as insincere.

"They're trying to show the international community that things have changed so there is less pressure on them," Yawd Serk said in an interview on the deck of his teakwood home. He wore a dark green military uniform. "But the reality is, they're waging the same battle they've always waged — they want to get rid of all ethnic resistance, period."

Rights groups and the AP have gathered testimony from victims confirming that even under the new government, the army is still subjecting citizens to forced relocation, forced labor, gang-rape and extra-judicial killings. Amnesty International says troops have used civilians as human shields and minesweepers.

One Burmese woman described troops shelling her village indiscriminately, killing four novice Buddhist monks at a temple. Another told how her husband was beaten unconscious by troops who accused him of collaborating with rebels; they spent their life savings to flee, but he died several days after arriving in Loi Tai Leng, which is on the border with Thailand.

Sai Noom Mong his father been hauled away repeatedly to dig ditches and build fences without pay for the military, sometimes two or three days a week.

The first time the army evicted his family from their home, he was just a few years old. The second time, this April, soldiers told villagers they needed their land to build a new military base. "You have no choice," Sai Noom Mong quoted the troops as saying. The soldiers didn't say where residents could go.

Today, at least, Sai Noom Mong no longer fears the army. Every dawn, he watches as the flag of the rebel Shan State Army is hoisted up a pole at the school where he has been able to study for the first time in his life. Teachers teach in his native Shan language, which is banned at schools elsewhere.

Black hair cut short, he wears a new blue tracksuit and sneakers, and sleeps at a dorm with other boys who were either separated from their parents like him, or whose parents were killed in the conflict.

Sitting on a schoolroom bench as a heavy rain poured outside, turning the orange dirt to mud, he said his father "promised I would be OK, and he was right."

But Sai Noom Mong has no idea what became of his family. His father's apparent contacts with rebels, which enabled him to organize his escape, could have tragic consequences if discovered by the army.

When asked about their fate, he is quiet, stoic. At night, when he dreams, he sometimes returns home — walking with his family through the emerald rice paddies of his childhood.

His nightmares tell a different story: He opens the door to his family's house and sees them all sprawling dead.

AP

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi calls for vigilance on Myanmar’s political changes

2011-09-23T17:04:00.003+08:00

“It is the beginning of the beginning,” Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said about her country’s political evolution. “Change is not always for the better,” she added. Her words take a bit the sail out of the “winds of change” described by US diplomat Kurt Campbell, who is set to meet Myanmar’s foreign minister shortly.

U Khin Aung Myint, speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw, Myanmar’s Upper House, recently said that Aung San Suu Kyi is welcome in parliament.

Myanmar, a nation in “full evolution”, is currently undergoing major changes, including a switch from military dictatorship to “civilian government” elected by parliament, which however is still linked to he country’s military leadership and influenced by international finance.

In a video link from her home in Yangon, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York. Welcomed by a long applause, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) said the international community “needs to know what's going on in Burma. [. . .] What we really need is awareness of what is going,” the Nobel Prize laureate said, because, although changes are taking place, “Change is not always for the better” or “it's not always sustained”.

The situation in Burma cannot be compared to the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa, she said. In fact, the Internet and social media do not have the same presence in Burma.

Even though economic and trade sanctions remain in place, a cautious optimism about Myanmar prevails in the United States. Ahead of a crucial meeting with Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in New York, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said that “winds of change are clearly blowing through Burma”. Their extent though is not yet known. In the meantime, US officials will be holding a series of meetings with Burmese officials over the next days.

Recent signs of openness by the Myanmar government, including statements by the speaker of the country’s upper house, are an attempt to gain credibility and prestige at the international level, sources in Myanmar told AsiaNews. For the country’s leader, they are crucial if Myanmar wants to take the helm of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s return to active politics could instead favour a second Panglong agreement with the country’s ethnic minorities, like the one signed by Aung San, Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, in 1947, which gave birth to the Union of Burma.

Meanwhile, Yahoo, YouTube, MSN and certain political blogs are now accessible after being blocked for many years.

At present, the Burmese are confident that they can hope in a better future for the first time in a long while.

Most people are focused however on the fate of the Irrawaddy River dam, which is located in Kachin territory. Environmentalists and experts believe that if it is built it could “disrupt” the local ecosystem as well as that of the entire country.

Spero

Myanmar Government continue dam project despite widespread objections

2011-09-23T16:55:00.003+08:00

Work continues on a $3.6 billion hydropower dam project in Myanmar on the Irrawaddy River despite widespread objections.

The Myitsone Dam, a joint effort by Myanmar's military government and the China Power Investment Corp., is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity, about 90 percent of it to be exported to China. Under an agreement signed by Chinese and Myanmar officials, CPI will receive 70 percent of the project's profits.

CPI is planning to build and operate six additional dams on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries.

Environmentalists have said the dam in Myanmar's northern Kachin state will wreck the ecology of the Irrawaddy and now a growing list of activists, intellectuals, parliamentarians as well as former military officers are voicing opposition to the project, Asia Times Online reports.

The Kachin Development and Networking Group warns that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages are being forced to relocate without proper resettlement plans and millions more downstream would be affected.

Creation of the Myitsone Dam's reservoir will flood an area larger than Singapore KDNG says.

In an open letter last month, Myanmar's noted dissident, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urged that the project be reassessed.

The Irrawaddy River is "the most significant geographical feature of our country," she wrote, and "the grand natural highway, a prolific source of food, the home of varied water flora and fauna" supporting traditional modes of life.

Even an environmental impact assessment of the project, fully funded by CPI, stated: "The fragmentation of the Irrawaddy River by a series of dams will have serious social and environmental problems not only at upstream of dams but also far downstream in the coastal area.

"There is no need for such a big dam to be constructed at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River."

The report also warned that the Myitsone site is less than 62 miles from the earthquake-prone Sagaing fault line.

While environmental activists and political groups have launched campaigns to urge the government to reconsider the project, Myanmar's Minister for Electric Power Zaw Min insists Myitsone will proceed as planned and that it is in the country's national interest.

Construction, which began in 2009, is to be completed in 2018.

"We'll keep working on the Myitsone Project. We'll never back down," Min said. "We won't halt this project in spite of objections from environmental groups."

UPI

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wins top UK Chatham House prize

2011-09-23T16:43:00.002+08:00

A leading British foreign policy think-tank said on Friday it had chosen Myanmar democracy campaigner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the winner of its prestigious prize this year.

The Royal Institute of International Affairs awards its Chatham House Prize annually to the person its members believe has made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

It said Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, had become an international symbol of democracy and peaceful resistance, having spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar (formerly called Burma).

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will accept the prize on Ms Suu Kyi's behalf at a ceremony in London on December 1.

Ms Suu Kyi, 66, whose British husband Michael Aris died in 1999, has always refused to leave Myanmar for fear of not being allowed back.

"International awareness helps our struggle for democracy in Burma, and our struggle provides us with an insight into the yearnings of all peoples for peace and freedom," Ms Suu Kyi said in a statement released by the think-tank.

Ms Suu Kyi was released last November from 15 years of house arrest for campaigning for democracy in Myanmar, which has been under military rule for five decades.

As a gesture to improved ties from the army-backed government that came to power in March, President Thein Sein and Labour Minister Aung Kyi recently met with Ms Suu Kyi, the leader of the country's democratic opposition.

Speaking by video link to a conference in New York on Wednesday, Ms Suu Kyi said she was hopeful of seeing signs of change "very soon" in her country.

Reuters, BBC Photo

Controversy Over Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam Fuels Rare Public Outcry in Myanmar

2011-09-23T16:37:00.001+08:00

The massive dam under construction in this remote corner of Myanmar is generating a litany of concerns that are not uncommon to such projects: about the risks of tampering with nature, about damage to wildlife, about the displacement of villagers.

But for many people in Myanmar, also known as Burma, the fears surrounding the Myitsone dam go much deeper. It will be the first dam across the Irrawaddy River, the iconic, even mythic waterway that has given life to centuries of Burmese civilization.

Passions are high. A government minister broke down in tears at a news conference last month when asked about the dam. High-ranking officials are said to be sharply divided over the wisdom of the project.

And in an authoritarian country that has begun to experiment with looser controls on the news media, the controversy has raised the prospect of something exceedingly unusual: that public outrage might actually force the government to reconsider its plans.

The Myitsone dam will flood an area four times the size of Manhattan. Government officials who support the project say it will be an invaluable source of electricity and cash, a milestone in Myanmar’s development. Critics say it will cause irreparable damage to the Irrawaddy, the lifeline of millions of Burmese downstream.

“The people are demanding to stop the project,” said U Ludu Sein Win, a dissident writer who is one of the most outspoken critics of the dam. “If the righteous demands of the people are ignored and they continue the dam project,” he wrote in Weekly Eleven, a popular Yangon-based newspaper, “the people will defend the Irrawaddy with whatever means possible.”

Such strident criticism of a government project in the domestic media, which would have been unheard of just months ago, reflects both the passions surrounding the project and the easing of some restrictions on expression by Myanmar’s new, at least nominally civilian government, which took office in March after decades of overt military dictatorship.

The Myitsone dam, which is being built and financed by a Chinese company, has also become a lightning rod for criticism about China’s power and influence in Myanmar.

Here at the dam site, Chinese workers in orange hard hats have been tunneling, blasting and shoring up riverbanks. The site is a few kilometers downstream from what is considered the “birthplace” of the Irrawaddy — the confluence of two smaller rivers — a place that has mystical value for the Kachin ethnic group that populates the hills of northern Myanmar. (The Kachin have a substantial army that has battled with troops from the central government in recent months, underscoring the instability in the area surrounding the dam site.)

Criticism of the project has been allowed to spread through Facebook, blogs and even local newspapers, suggesting that the government itself may be divided on the issue. Last month the country’s most famous dissident, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has otherwise been cautious in her criticisms of the government since her release from house arrest last November, penned an open letter calling for the project to be reassessed.

Critics’ reasons for opposing the Myitsone project vary. Some say they are angry because the decision to begin such a huge project was made without public consultation. Others channel their frustration toward China, which plans to import 90 percent of the electricity the project generates, under financial conditions that have not been fully explained to the public.

“China has colonized Burma without shooting a gun and has sucked the life of the people of Burma with the help of the Burmese regime and its cronies,” wrote U Aung Din , a former democracy advocate who is now in exile in the United States. “Now, they are killing the Irrawaddy River as well.”

In April, four small blasts were reported at the camp in Myitsone where Chinese workers have their sleeping quarters. No one was seriously hurt.

But perhaps the greatest concern among critics of the dam is that it will further degrade a river that has played such a crucial role in Burmese history.

The Irrawaddy draws on glacial waters from the eastern extremities of the Himalayas. As it travels south, the river carries nutrients into Myanmar’s arid central region and ultimately fans out in the Irrawaddy Delta, an area of rice paddies so fertile that it once fed large parts of the British empire in Asia. Like the Mekong or the Mississippi, the river carries enormous symbolism.

NYTIMES

Western countries should reach out to Myanmar to encourage the new leadership's reforms

2011-09-23T16:33:00.001+08:00

Western countries should reach out to Myanmar to encourage the new leadership's reforms, which are exceeding even the most optimistic hopes, the International Crisis Group said Thursday.

The think-tank, which focuses on conflict resolution, credited the nominally civilian new president, Thein Sein, with taking steps to mend ties with the opposition and ethnic minorities in the nation formerly known as Burma.

"With the political process moving ahead quickly, now is not the time for the West to remain disengaged and skeptical," said Robert Templer, the International Crisis Group's Asia program director.

"It is critical to grasp this unique opportunity to support a process that not even the most optimistic observers saw coming," he said in a statement introducing a study named "Myanmar: Major Reform Underway," by the think-tank.

The upbeat tone contrasts with the stance of many human rights and exile groups who point to continued abuses and charge that Myanmar's changes have been purely for show, with the military still firmly in control.

President Barack Obama's administration has made engagement with Myanmar a key priority and has held a series of talks with the regime, while saying it will not lift sanctions without greater progress on human rights and democracy.

The International Crisis Group called for the West to lift sanctions if parliament grants a general amnesty to political prisoners, saying that such a dramatic step was a real possibility with some military legislators in favor.

"Failure to do so, or to shift the goalposts by replacing old demands with new ones, would undermine the credibility of these policies and diminish what little leverage the West holds," the report said.

The think-tank said that Western nations should at least demonstrate "a less cautious political stance" and encourage international financial institutions' involvement in Myanmar. The regime recently invited an IMF team to advise on currency reform.

Myanmar last year held elections which the United States and the opposition said were unfair. The junta handed over to Thein Sein, who took the new civilian position of president after a nearly 50-year military career.

Myanmar's rulers last year freed opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner who spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. She met in August with Thein Sein -- a step the study said showed a true willingness by the new president to break with the junta's legacy.

The International Crisis Group also credited Myanmar's rulers with starting talks with ethnic minorities, who have long been in conflict with the army, but it acknowledged that little has changed on the ground.

Fighting flared up in far northern Kachin and Shan states earlier this year, causing thousands to flee. The US State Department has said that the army has carried out major human rights violations in long-running conflicts, including using rape as a weapon of war and forcing minorities into labor.

Myanmar exile groups have led a campaign to set up a UN inquiry into human rights abuses. The International Crisis Group agreed on the need for accountability, but said the commission was unlikely to become reality and could "cause retrenchment" by Myanmar's leadership.

In a recent interview with AFP, Suu Kyi reiterated her support for a UN probe, saying it could help bring reconciliation.

"For the sake of future harmony and forgiveness there is a necessity to establish facts," she said. "It's not a tribunal. It has nothing to do with revenge."

AFP

Myanmar asked IMF to help cool soaring currency

2011-09-23T16:27:00.002+08:00

'How much do you want?' the old lady asks, pulling out a wad of notes. Despite a soaring currency that has led Myanmar to call in the IMF, Yangon's illegal money changers are not short of customers.

The woman, who conducts her business down a back alley in Myanmar's main city, sometimes changes her rate for the dollar against the kyat several times a day based on the gold price, her best indicator of the greenback's value.

While the kyat is not your average safe haven amid the global financial turmoil, its value has risen sharply in recent years, dealing another blow to the authoritarian country's crumbling economy, particularly for exporters.

'Almost every sector of our economy is suffering from the appreciation of the kyat,' said Khin Maung Nyo, an independent economist in Yangon, the former capital and main business hub.

AFP

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi too busy to use Facebook and Twitter

2011-09-18T18:19:00.003+08:00

Myanmar democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent years as a prisoner in her own home with no telephone or Internet access, says now she is free she is too busy to use Facebook and Twitter.

"I just haven't had the time," the Nobel Peace Prize winner told AFP in an interview at her party offices in Yangon.

"If I were to tweet and so on it would take up so much of my time. I have to confess we are a bit snowed under because paying off a debt of work that has accumulated over seven years is not done in a hurry," she said.

Soon after her release in November, Suu Kyi had expressed a desire to use social networking sites. But she said that for now, her party would make do with websites set up by its supporters overseas.

Internet connections are notoriously slow in Myanmar, whose rulers also have a history of blocking critical websites and jailing online dissidents.

Social networking sites were used by anti-government demonstrators to thwart censorship during pro-democracy revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

And during a failed monk-led uprising in Myanmar in 2007, citizens used the web to leak extensive accounts and video to the outside world, prompting the regime to block Internet access.

Suu Kyi said that an Arab-style uprising was not the answer to Myanmar's problems, and welcomed tentative signs of political change under the new nominally civilian government.

Her party won a 1990 election but was never allowed to take office. It boycotted an election held last year, the first in two decades, and as a result it was delisted as a political party by the regime.

Recently, however, the regime has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards its opponents, including Suu Kyi, who met President Thein Sein last month.

Internet users in army-dominated Myanmar during the week said they were able to see previously blocked media websites, including the Burmese-language version of the BBC, but doubts remained about whether the move would last.

AFP

Myanmar government allow Youtube and many banned websites

2011-09-16T18:17:00.002+08:00

Internet users in army-dominated Myanmar on Friday said they were able to see banned media websites for the first time this week, but doubts remained whether the move would last.

Foreign media including the Burmese-language version of the BBC, which the regime until recently accused of "killer broadcasts" and "sowing hatred" in daily state newspaper proclamations, were suddenly freely available online.

"There are many government staff seeing these banned websites at our office," one government official said.

Exiled media organisations like the Irrawaddy and Democratic Voice of Burma, whose reporters face long prison sentences for working in the country, were also unblocked, as well as regional publications the Bangkok Post and Singapore's Straits Times, checks by AFP confirmed.

But Myanmar's rulers have a history of interfering in the Internet and Burmese netizens, accustomed to using proxy servers to skirt website bans, are likely to remain wary.

"We also have to be careful in the beginning as we do not know the intention" of the authorities, the official said. "I cannot say whether they will allow the people to see these websites permanently."

During monk-led protests in 2007, Myanmar's citizens used the web to leak extensive accounts and video to the outside world, prompting the regime to block Internet access.

The country's Internet legislation has long been among the world's most repressive, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

"There should be no more restriction in the future," said Zeyya Thaw, a pop singer and activist who has spent time in prison.

"We have to wait and see the situation," he told AFP.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged Myanmar to take "concrete actions" to improve human rights. At the same time she welcomed the military-backed government's talk of "the need for important reforms", and its dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar now has nominally civilian rule following a controversial election in November 2010, slammed by critics as a sham aimed at shoring up army rule. The regime remains dominated by generals.

In May RSF said a new set of directives had been sent to the country's Internet cafes, requiring them to record personal details of users and the websites they visit.

The rules banned Internet phone calls as well as CD, USB and other external drives from the cafes.

Outside the major cities of Yangon and Mandalay, the Internet's reach is severely limited.

Just one in every 455 of Myanmar's inhabitants was an Internet user in 2009, based on statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency.

AFP

Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins Decline More Due To Building Dam

2011-09-13T16:02:00.002+08:00

A recent survey of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River showed their numbers have dropped to only 85. Their population has been studied by photographing them and noting unique markings of their dorsal fins. Survival of their calves is very low, so the small numbers mean they could go extinct.

They are mainly threatened by fishing practices that result in them being accidentally caught, as well as habitat loss. In the 1950s there thousands living in the Mekong. Now on any given day, there may be more tourist boats looking for them than there are dolphins.

Thailand, Burma, the Philippines, India and Indonesia also have critically endangered populations. Only the Irrawaddy living in Bangladeshi waters are at more stable population of about 5,800.

Irrawaddy dolphins are actually ocean dolphins that live in brackish water. They have been known for behaviors such as spitting water, fluke-slapping and spyhopping, which means they raise their heads out of the water to see better. (Orcas also do this.)

There have been reports these dolphins sometimes help fishermen by driving fish into their nets. Sadly, it is this close relationship with humans that is costing many dolphin lives because they get stuck in their nets sometimes and drown.

Habitat loss occurs when river development projects like dams and levees are constructed. Additionally sometimes explosive devices are used for fishing to kill fish in the Mekong’s deep pools. Such loud explosions can injure or kill the dolphins.

CARE2

Big Sucking Sound in Burma (Myanmar) is China's Resource Grab

2011-09-13T15:56:00.002+08:00

Foreigners have long coveted Burma’s ample energy resources. Under British colonial rule, the Glasgow-based Burmah Oil Company (BOC) drilled in central Burma, built an oil refinery in Rangoon and reinvested its profits in Persia via the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the forerunner to British Petroleum.

The BOC was forced to divest its assets in Burma (Myanmar) after a coup in 1962 by General Ne Win.

Today it is Chinese companies that are building pipelines across Burma to funnel natural gas from Burmese waters, and imported crude oil arriving in tankers, to southwest China.

The oil pipeline, due for completion by 2013, could eventually supply as much as 10% of China’s oil imports, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

South Korea’s Daewoo International is developing the offshore gas field, with China National Petroleum Company as the sole buyer. China also plans to build a $20 billion railway along the same route, Burma’s government said on Aug 29.

While the pipelines have drawn complaints from land-right activists, a far bigger row is brewing at a Chinese-owned hydropower dam in northern Burma. Under a 2007 agreement, China Power Investment Corp. wants to build seven large dams in Kachin State that can supply power to neighboring Yunnan Province.

The main contractor is China Gezhouba Group Corp. The largest dam is under construction at Myitsone, where two rivers meet and spawn the Irrawaddy River, Burma’s main waterway that empties into the Indian Ocean.

When completed, say anti-dam campaigners, it would create a reservoir the size of New York City capable of generating up to 6,000MW of power. Transmission lines will supply electricity to energy-hungry Yunnan Province.

Taken as a whole, the seven dams represent a $20 billion bet on stability in Kachin State, which is wedged between China and India. Since June, the area has seen an upsurge in fighting between Burmese troops and the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

The fighting has forced a halt to some Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including smaller dams, though engineering work has since resumed at Myitsone, according to exiled Burmese media reports.

The Chinese dams are deeply unpopular with ethnic Kachin, who cite environmental, cultural and safety concerns. In April 2010, a series of bombs were detonated at the project site of Myitsone.

In March, the KIO wrote to Beijing to register its objections and warn of the consequences of increased militarization on its turf. “The KIO would not be responsible for the Civil War if the War broke out because of this Hydro Power Plant Project and the Dam construction,” the letter said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently added her voice to the debate, calling on all parties to review the project and to prioritize the conservation of the Irrawaddy. She highlighted the risk of building a reservoir near an earthquake fault line and said that over 12,000 people had already been displaced.

Her intervention has galvanized opponents to the project, who also seized on a leaked copy of a 2009 assessment by Chinese and Burmese experts commissioned by CPI Corp.

The report, which wasn’t made public at the time, warned of “serious social and environmental problems” along the Irrawaddy, which irrigates Burma’s main rice-growing areas. Its authors advised that it would be better to build the dam further upstream than at the confluence site.

The controversy has stung Burma’s new, semi-civilian government. On Aug 12, in a rare press conference, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, a retired general and notorious hardliner, teared up when asked about the future of the project.

In a rambling reply, he complained that the previous junta had tried its best under difficult conditions and was pressured by U.S. sanctions. The room went silent, said a Burmese reporter. “They were real tears, his nose was red,” he says.

A legal challenge could be next. Pawk Ja, a Kachin activist who unsuccessfully ran for parliament last November, says she wants to sue CPI Corp on behalf of villagers displaced by the dam.

A former goldmine owner, she became an activist after Yuzana Company seized 200,000 acres of land in her township for a tapioca plantation. Last year, a local court accepted her class-action lawsuit against the company for failing to pay adequate compensation, but the case was later thrown out. She says CIP will be next. “This is our national heritage,” she says.

FORBES

French nuclear plant explosion: 1 killed, 4 injured

2011-09-12T23:19:00.002+08:00

The Centraco nuclear site in Southern France was on Monday rocked by an explosion that killed one and injured four people, France's nuclear safety watchdog said.

Out of the four injured, one was seriously injured while the remaining three suffered lesser injuries.

Though the media reports earlier, were hinting at a possible risk of radiation leakage, the Nuclear Safety Authority confirmed that no radioactive leakage was detected and that the blast took place in an oven used to melt nuclear wastes.

"According to initial information, the explosion happened in an oven used to melt radioactive metallic waste of little and very little radioactivity," the agency said in a statement.

The Centraco site is situated near the Marcoule nuclear plant which is located in Langedoc Roussillon, in southern France, near the Mediterranean Sea.

Centraco is operated by a subsidiary of EDF, the power company that caters to the nation's electricity needs.

EDF's spokeswoman Carole Trivi said, "a fire broke out after the explosion, but it has since been brought under control".

She clarified that no waste treated at the site of explosion came from a reactor as there were no nuclear reactors at the site.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known, and an investigation has been opened, Trivi said.

With France being a country hugely dependent on the nuclear energy for electricity, all the fifty-eight nuclear reactors of the country had been put through stress tests in the aftermath of Fukushima N-plant disaster faced by Japan.

ZEENEWS

Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam Danger

2011-09-12T16:56:00.002+08:00

The Irrawaddy River flows from north to south through the center of Burma. Since 2005, Burma’s military junta in partnership with the China Power Investment Corporation have been preparing plans to build a 3,600 - 6,000 megawatt Irrawaddy Myitsone dam on the river. China Gezhouba is the main dam builder. Located a mile below the confluence of the Mali and N’Mai Rivers in Kachin State, the source of the Irrawaddy River, the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam is the largest of seven dams now proposed for these three rivers.

If built, the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam would create a reservoir the size of New York City and displace 10,000 people, mostly from the Kachin ethnic group. The dam will also submerge historical churches, temples, and cultural heritage sites that are central to Kachin identity and history.

The dam site is located within the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rainforest region, which is recognized as one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots and a global conservation priority. If built, the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam would inundate approximately 766 square kilometers of this pristine rainforest and cause irreversible damage to its river systems. The dam would also disrupt transportation of nutrients to the Irrawaddy’s delta, which provides nearly 60 percent of Burma’s rice.

Local communities oppose the dam not just because of its environmental impacts, displacement, and threats to cultural sites, but also because the dam is located less than 100 kilometers from a major fault line, posing a risk to basin inhabitants should an earthquake weaken the dam structure or cause landslides in the reservoir. If the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam were to break during an earthquake, it would endanger the lives of hundred of thousands of people by flooding Kachin State’s largest city, Myikyina.

In May 2007, twelve respected leaders from Kachin State sent a letter at the request of local communities to Senior General Than Shwe and the junta’s Ministry of Electric Power calling for the project to be cancelled. In December 2007, the Burma Rivers Network also sent a letter to the Chinese government calling on Chinese companies operating in Burma to conduct environmental and social impact assessments, publicly release information, and include affected communities in the decision-making process. Neither letter has yet received a response.

In Burma, the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) is working to protect the Irrawaddy River and its communities in Kachin State. International Rivers is working to support local groups’ efforts against the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam and is also challenging CSG’s involvement in dams in Burma.

International Rivers

America has begun to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

2011-09-12T00:23:00.003+08:00

Americans united in grief on Sunday's 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks which killed almost 3,000 people and plunged the country into an era of war and bitter internal division.

President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush stood together at Ground Zero in New York for the main ceremony at the site of the destroyed Twin Towers. Obama was then due to pay homage at 9/11's other crash sites in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.

With federal officials warning of a new terrorism scare, security in major cities was extraordinarily tight, and Obama has called for a "heightened state
of vigilance and preparedness."

The ceremony began in New York on Sunday with a procession of bagpipers and singing of the national anthem.

Heavily armed police squads and bomb-sniffing dogs have deployed across the city, while motorists in some neighbourhoods were forced to go through checkpoints.

The weather over New York was mostly clear early Sunday, recalling the brilliant sky 10 years ago to horrific surprise attack on the World Trade Centre, where 2,753 of the day's 2,977 victims died in the inferno of the collapsing skyscrapers.

As every year since September 11, 2001, the main ceremonies were in New York.

But unlike previous years, the ritual of reading the names of the dead took place against a backdrop of the gleaming, three-quarter-built 1 World Trade Centre tower, rather than a chaotic-looking construction site.

Sunday will also see the dedication of a simple, but moving monument consisting of massive fountains sunk into the footprints of the former towers, with the names of the dead written in bronze around the edges.

Even as US intelligence agencies chased down what officials said was a credible but unconfirmed threat of an Al-Qaeda attack around 9/11, Obama assured terrorism would never win.

"We will protect the country we love and pass it safer, stronger and more prosperous to the next generation," he said. "Today, America is strong and Al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat."

Obama and Bush were attending the ceremony together for the first time, along with victims' family members, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani - who led the city 10 years ago.

The 9/11 remembrances unite Americans like almost no other event. According to a poll last week, 97 percent of people remember where they were when they heard the news, on a par with John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The country was thrilled - with young people spilling onto the streets in Washington and New York - at the news in May that US Navy SEALs had flown into Pakistan and shot dead Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

Yet while Al-Qaeda is severely weakened and New York is recovering, the anniversary still finds a nation struggling to overcome the longer-term impacts of the last decade.

In Afghanistan, where US forces will also hold ceremonies on Sunday at the Bagram air base, with a similar event at the US embassy in Kabul, troops are stuck in a war against a Taliban guerilla movement few Americans understand.

"Some back home ask, why are we here? It has been a long fight and people are tired," US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said at a ceremony at the US embassy in Kabul. "The reason is simple: Al-Qaeda is not here in Afghanistan, and that's because we are."

Early Sunday, the US Army said 50 American soldiers were among 89 people wounded when a suicide bomber driving a truck attacked an advance NATO combat post in central Afghanistan on Saturday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which two Afghans were killed.

Though US troops have a reduced presence in Iraq, their occupation of the country, years of vicious inter-Iraqi violence and a host of torture scandals have bled the US economy and sullied Washington's image abroad.

And as unemployment and next year's presidential election become the focus for most Americans, those already distant wars - launched in the wake of 9/11 - can seem a world away.

Leading politicians may make patriotism part of every stump speech, but the loss of more than 6,200 US soldiers in wars launched by Bush, the hundreds of slain allied troops and the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi civilians rarely get a mention.

In this time of rancour, Sunday is at least a chance for brief reflection, and ceremonies were being held around the world to honour those killed on 9/11.

In the first of the global memorials, the US rugby team attended an emotional service in New Zealand hours ahead of their opening World Cup match against Ireland.

At the ceremony, David Huebner, the US ambassador to New Zealand, said 9/11 was a day "to commemorate the triumph of the human spirit", a rare day "that galvanized the collective hearts and minds of humanity".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Al-Qaeda had been weakened since the attacks, which also killed dozens of Britons.

"Al-Qaeda is now weaker than at any time in the decade since 9/11 - and political progress through peaceful protest in the Middle East and North Africa has shown it to be increasingly irrelevant to the future."

But the Taliban hit back Saturday saying the post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan by the United States and its allies "will remain a permanent stigma on the face of Western democracy."

Pope Benedict XVI called on world leaders to resist the "temptation to hate" as he remembered the victims of the 9/11 attacks at a mass in Ancona, Italy.

In a letter to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the leader of the world's Roman Catholics said the tragedy of the attacks was all the worse because those behind it claimed to be acting in the name of God.

In addition to the carefully stage-managed Ground Zero ceremony, Obama was to pay respects at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the four hijacked planes fell into a field, apparently after passengers overpowered the assailants.

AFP

New York tighter security deploys extra police amid 9/11 threat

2011-09-09T15:16:00.002+08:00

New York is deploying extra police at key locations including tunnels and bridges in response to intelligence reports of a possible threat linked to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, officials said on Thursday.

The police department 'is deploying additional resources... some of which you will notice and some of which you will not,' Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters, stressing that there was no confirmation of the reported threat.

The city's police commissioner, Mr Raymond Kelly, told the press conference that new measures included police 'trained in heavy weapons positioned outside of Manhattan to respond citywide.'

Extra shift hours would effectively increase by a third the size of patrols around New York, with checks on ferries, tunnels, bridges and landmarks, Mr Kelly said.

There will be increased towing of illegally parked cars and more bomb detection sweeps in carparks, as well as 'increasing the number of bag inspections on the subway', Mr Kelly said.

In addition, 'the public is likely to see and may be somewhat inconvenienced by vehicle checkpoints at various locations'.

'The threat at this moment has not been corroborated. I want to stress that,' Mr Bloomberg said.

'It is credible but it has not been corroborated. But we do live in a world where we take these threats seriously.'

The possible threat was first announced by federal officials in Washington, who did not confirm the potential locations of an attack.

The scare came days ahead of Sunday's anniversary ceremonies for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush are due in New York on the day.

Officials have also said they believe that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been plotting attacks around the anniversary before he was shot dead by US commandos in May.

AFP

US envoy in Myanmar for meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and government

2011-09-09T14:06:00.002+08:00

A United States Embassy official says Washington's special representative to Myanmar has arrived in the country's administrative capital of Naypyitaw for talks with officials of the new nominally civilian government.

Derek Mitchell is scheduled to meet the foreign minister and other government officials during the trip that began Friday. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's spokesman says he will return to Yangon on Saturday to meet with the pro-democracy leader.

This is Mitchell's first visit to Myanmar since the country's military regime handed power to a new nominally civilian government led by president Thein Sein, an ex-general who was prime minister under the junta.

Mitchell's trip follows a visit by U.S. Sen. John McCain in June.

AP

UN urges Myanmar to fulfil reform pledges

2011-09-08T15:55:00.002+08:00

The UN chief has welcomed pledges of reform by Myanmar's army-backed government, but said in a report released Wednesday the detention of political prisoners undermines confidence in the regime.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the new nominally-civilian government and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi after controversial November elections gave the country a chance to "embark on the path of progress".

In the report, dated August 5 but released Wednesday by the United Nations office in Yangon, Ban said commitments from new President Thein Sein, a former general, to undertake political and economic reforms were positive.

But he urged "timely implementation", stressing that the country continued to suffer from "serious, deep-seated and long-standing" human rights, political and economic problems.

"Whether the new government has the capacity, willingness and support to deliver on its reform agenda remains to be seen," he said.

Ban said the continued detention of political prisoners, who are estimated to number over 2,000 in the country, "remains of deepest concern" to the United Nations.

"The detention of all remaining political prisoners will continue to overshadow and undermine any confidence in the government's efforts," he said.

Democracy icon Suu Kyi, who has recently held talks with Thein Sein and undertaken her first political trip outside her home city of Yangon, should be allowed to continue her activities without interference, he added.

"Any restrictions on her movements or threats to her security would cause serious concern and send the wrong signal," Ban warned.

Suu Kyi was released from seven straight years of house arrest days after the election, which Ban described as "flawed and controlled". Her party boycotted the vote because of rules that appeared designed to exclude her.

UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, visited the country for the first time in more than a year last month amid signs the regime was reaching out to critics.

AFP

Toys for the boys in Myanmar

2011-09-08T15:52:00.003+08:00

The isolated light-brown spots can be seen even on Google Earth. They are indicative of big, new buildings that have been carved out of densely forested jungle areas across the Myanmar heartland, with some dots seen in the hills east of the central city of Mandalay.

Most of them are for security reasons located in sparsely populated areas, but in the modern digital world not even Myanmar can keep the location of its new military installations secret.

Myanmar has embarked on a massive expansion of its military and military capabilities since the country was shaken by a nationwide pro-democracy uprising that almost toppled the regime in 1988. But this expansion appears to have been haphazard, with an emphasis on creating a loyal officer corps that the regime can depend on for its survival rather than building a professional fighting force.

Recent defectors from the Myanmar military say that the number of infantry battalions and other military units have been increased dramatically since 1988, but most of these are understaffed and the foot soldiers are often forcibly recruited, poorly paid and badly motivated.

Several sources with access to information from inside the Myanmar military say that the stated strength of the country's armed forces, often given by Western analysts as between 300,000-400,000 men, is grossly exaggerated. Some sources put the actual figure at less than half that number and because the central authorities have had ceasefire agreements with almost all of the country's ethnic rebel armies for two decades or more, the troops, and even most of the officers, lack combat experience.

Prior to the 1988 uprising and the ceasefire agreements with the rebels, the Myanmar military was known as a poorly equipped but ruthlessly efficient light-infantry force. Soldiers fought in yearly operations against insurgents in extremely difficult terrain, making it a tough, battle-hardened army with few equivalents in modern Asia.

"Now, the soldiers are doing nothing. They have new uniforms and better guns, the officers have more money to spend than anyone could dream of in the old days. They have new cars, new golf clubs, mistresses, everything - except professionalism," says a disgruntled former Myanmar army officer who requested anonymity. Meanwhile, the morale among the rank-and-file is reported to be low while desertion rates are high.

Consequently, recent military campaigns against ethnic Kachin and Shan rebels in the country's north and northeast have been disasters. Even after months of fighting, the government's troops have failed to occupy a single major camp run by the Shan State Army (SSA) in the heart of Shan State, while in the north the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) recently gave the military a bloody nose when it tried to dislodge the rebels from their strongholds near the Chinese border.

To make up for the lack of combat experience - and to keep the officers happy with new equipment - the Myanmar government first embarked on a massive procurement campaign in 1989. Throughout the 1990s, an estimated US$1.4 billion of military and military-related equipment was bought from China, including anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air missiles, aircraft, naval vessels, armored personnel carriers, trucks and other military vehicles, artillery pieces and rocket launchers. Additional weaponry and military hardware were procured from other military partners such as Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, North Korea, and, at one stage, Pakistan, Portugal, Poland and the former Yugoslavia.

Homegrown defense

Recent years, however, have seen a rapid expansion of the number of homegrown defense industries, witnessed in the new clearings in the jungles throughout the country. Before the 1988 uprising, the country had no more than half a dozen such factories.

Today, there are more than 20 military factories apart from the research facilities where new weaponry, including missiles, are being developed. The Myanmar military is also known to be carrying out nuclear research, although even former Myanmar army major Sai Thein Win, the whistleblower who fled the country last year, says that the project is unlikely to produce a usable atomic weapon.

"When the German-made machinery arrived from Singapore, I asked my commander who was going to operate it. 'You are,' he said. He had never before worked in a defense factory, and I - and I was trained in Russia - could see that this equipment was not suitable for the purpose for which it had been obtained. The nuclear program is nothing but a pipedream," Sai Thein Win told Asia Times Online in a recent interview.

Known by the acronym ka pa sa after the initials of the Myanmar name for "the Directorate of Defense Industries", the early factories were located exclusively around the old capital Yangon, on the western bank of the Irrawaddy River near the town of Pyay, or Prome, and near Magwe further to the north. According to analyst Andrew Selth, an Australian expert on the Myanmar military: "Before 1988 these factories could produce automatic rifles and light machine-guns, light mortars, grenades, anti-personnel mines and ammunition."

Myanmar's attempts to develop its own defense industries began in the early 1950s when a small factory was set up to produce bullets and copies of an Italian 9mm TZ45 submachine gun, known as the "Ne Win Sten" after the army commander at that time and later the country's first military ruler.

Selth states in a monograph about Myanmar's arms industries, published in 1997 by the Australian National University: "The Burmese [Myanmar] arms industry was given a major boost in 1957, when the state-owned West German company Fritz Werner GmbH agreed to build a factory in Rangoon [Yangon] with Heckler and Koch to produce Gewehr 3 [G3] automatic rifles. Finance was provided on favorable terms by the West German government."

All such West German assistance was supposed to be halted after the 1988 uprising was drenched in blood, resulting in international condemnation of Myanmar's military regime. But an internal audit report for the West German company, dated March 31, 1990, reveals that "raw materials imported from abroad are recorded in the stock ledger, but delivered directly to Myanma Heavy Industries for custody and use by them in production of goods on the JVC's [Joint Venture Company] behalf." The report, compiled by Fritz Werner's accountants from the U Hla Tun Group, goes on to mention Ministry of Heavy Industries production sites at Yangon, Sinde and Nyaungchitauk at Padaung near Pyay, and Malun near Minhla - or exactly the locations of Myanmar's then most important defense industries.

Fritz Werner is still active in Myanmar, but, according to Sai Thein Win and other sources, it is doubtful whether it is still actively involved in producing military equipment, although in 1984 it became the first foreign company to enter into a joint-venture agreement with Myanmar's Heavy Industries Corporation, which produces weapons for the country's armed forces.

The old Gewehr series - G2, G3 and G4 - has been replaced by other, indigenously produced infantry weapons which are lighter and more suitable for Myanmar's tropical climate. Called MA 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 - after "Myanmar Army" - they are based on Chinese designs and resemble modern versions of the Soviet-era Kalashnikov and the old Makarov pistol. The new MA series is produced at ka pa sa 1 near Yangon's Inya Lake, while the more advanced ka pa sa 2 in Malun produces mortars and artillery pieces and also has a shooting range built by Singapore to test the effectiveness of the weapons.

Brothers in arms

Missile research and development is carried out at the newly built ka pa sa 10 at Konegyi village in Minhla, where experts from North Korea and possibly also China and Russia are reportedly active. Myanmar is said to be interested in producing a North Korean-designed, Scud-type Hwasong 6 missile. But it is still an open question how close Myanmar is to producing a functioning missile. North Korean ships, however, continue to arrive frequently in Myanmar's ports, carrying what is described as "general goods" that are often destined for Myanmar's defense industries.

The production capability of the old mortar and shell factory ka pa sa 3 at Sinde, Padaung, has been surpassed by the new ka pa sa 12, set up in 1996. It now produces 60mm, 81mm, 105mm and 120mm mortar shells in a complex that sprawls over more than 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) south of Sakhangyi village in Thayetmyo township, Magway Region.

According to Myanmar military insiders, machinery for ka pa sa 12 was imported from the Czech Republic and installed with help of experts from that country. Ka pa sa 12 uses modern electronic control equipment and is now considered one of the most advanced in Myanmar.

The most reliable factory for the production of small arms is ka pa sa 11 in Taikkyi township, Bago Region. It manufactures parts for the new MA-series of light infantry weapons, and machinery for the facility was reportedly obtained from South Korea's Daewoo company.

A more mysterious industrial complex is at Sidoktaya near Magway Region's border with Rakhine State. Designated as ka pa sa 20, 100,000 acres have been cleared for the facility and Google Earth imagery shows a helicopter landing pad and unusually long buildings.

It is staffed by 400 soldiers, military engineers and officers, many of them Russian-trained in nuclear physics, leading to speculation that it could be one of several locations in Myanmar where nuclear-related research is being carried out. Close to ka pa sa 20 is a new hydroelectric power station to provide a steady source of electricity to the top-secret facility.

Ka pa sa 8 in Sinbaungweh township, Magway Region, produces parts for tanks, ka pa sa 9 in Padaung, Bago Region, makes bullets for the MA-series of weapons, and ka pa sa 7 in Pyay makes sea mines and produces and repairs armored vehicles. Ka pa sa 6, also near Padaung, produces various kinds of ammunition and was reportedly built by Chinese experts. Ka pa sa 13 near Letpan village in Magway Region makes mines and parts for artillery.

Defectors such as Sai Thein Win, the only one willing to be interviewed by name by Asia Times Online, question the efficacy of these new arms factories. According to him, the fact that they are scattered all over the country and are, as he puts it, situated "in the middle of nowhere" (they can be seen with a even cursory look at Google Earth), makes it extremely difficult to coordinate production.

"Raw materials and parts have to be sent across the country, from one facility to another, and one factory doesn't know what another is doing. The outcome is that many of these new weapons are basically useless," claims Sai Thein Win.

Myanmar's newly recruited infantry may lack combat experience, and the quality of the weapons produced in its defense industries may be of poor quality due to bad coordination between the various ka pa sas. But it is clear that the Myanmar regime is in no hurry to change its priorities, as defense spending still accounts for as much as 50% of the central government's budget.

Regime survival has always been the main prerogative of Myanmar's generals and thus a loyal and well-supplied officer corps is still of utmost importance, regardless of their weakness on the battlefield.

By Bertil Lintner

Chiang Mai

Derek Mitchell US special envoy to head for Myanmar

2011-09-07T11:58:00.001+08:00

The new US pointman on Myanmar will depart Wednesday on his first trip to the country since taking up the post, for talks with its military-backed government, the State Department has announced.

Derek Mitchell, a veteran policymaker on Asia, was last month appointed the first US coordinator for policy on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, as part of US President Barack Obama's strategy to engage with the Southeast Asian nation.

"His trip is intended to build upon US dialogue and engagement toward shared goals of genuine reform, reconciliation, and development for the Burmese people," the State Department said Tuesday in a statement.

Mitchell will attend meetings in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on September 9-10 and hold discussions in Yangon on the following four days.

In his Senate confirmation hearing in June, Mitchell said he would seek "direct and candid" dialogue with Myanmar's leaders but that the US should be flexible in its approach.

Mitchell's appointment filled a post created when Congress, under then-president George W. Bush, approved a wide-ranging law on Myanmar in 2008 that tightened sanctions against its then military-led government.

The position was not filled at the time due to a political dispute, but after Obama took office in January 2009, his administration changed tack, concluding that the sanctions aimed at isolating Myanmar had been ineffective.

Myanmar's now nominally civilian government has recently shown signs it wants to improve its image by reaching out to critics such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who met President Thein Sein for the first time last month.

Suu Kyi was released by the then-military government in November, ending seven straight years of house arrest, just days after an election that was marred by allegations of cheating and which was won by the military's political proxies.

The new administration is dominated by former generals.

AFP

Chinese Gas pipeline linked to abuses across Myanmar

2011-09-07T11:47:00.001+08:00

Two controversial gas pipeline projects being built in western Myanmar to feed China’s growing energy demand are fuelling further conflicts, human rights abuses and environmental degradation, a report released on Tuesday said.

Shwe Gas Movement, a group of Myanmar exiles in Bangladesh, India and Thailand, said the two pipeline projects must be suspended and all financing frozen or divested until there is transparency and accountability, protection of the environment and community rights, and until affected people can share the benefits.

The pipelines, expected to be operational by 2013, will supply China with oil shipped from the Middle East and natural gas from Myanmar's vast offshore reserves in the Bay of Bengal.

Chinese state energy group CNPC is building the pipelines with companies from Korea and Myanmar, which will run from Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s west coast to southern China’s Yunnan province.

The Shwe offshore fields will produce trillions of cubic feet of natural gas which the report – “Sold Out: Launch of China pipeline project unleashes abuse across Burma” – said could be used to spur economic and social development in one of the world’s least developed nations.

It also said the Shwe Gas project will provide revenues of around US$29 billion over the next 30 years to Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world and suffers from serious energy shortages of its own.

Rights groups have said the people of Myanmar will see little of the money from the pipelines, saying profits will likely be filtered away by the military government for their own purposes, like buying arms.

JOBLESS & HOPELESS
According to the report, some 8,000 residents living near the onshore gas terminal and deep sea port in Rakhine are losing their main livelihoods – fishing and farming – as fishing grounds are now restricted and farm lands confiscated to make way for the project infrastructure, leaving them jobless and without income.

The oil and gas projects, meanwhile, only provide low-paying, unsafe and temporary construction jobs and workers are unable to complain about the working conditions or wages without retribution, the report added.

Women are especially vulnerable. They get paid less for the same jobs, are harassed and intimidated and face problems due to an increase in the sex industry to cater for an influx of male workers, the report said.

The report also said the expanding construction has damaged coral reefs, destroyed mangroves and led to forest-clearance, dredging and strip mining, all of which could increase the area’s vulnerability to natural disasters.

Still, local communities are standing up and making their voices heard despite threats, it said. It pointed to a strike in April by more than 100 workers over working conditions and a complaint in June by residents from Wat San village in Rakhine state over companies dumping waste into a local creek used for irrigating crop lands and watering livestock.

FUELLING CONFLICT

The report also said increased militarisation in the pipeline areas – some of which cross areas of clashes between ethnic armed groups and the government – is set to inflame conflict.

In June, government troops clashed with ethnic Kachin rebels near Chinese-built hydroelectric dams in what some analysts claim was due to business interests where local communities were cut off from the lucrative deals.

Chinese-built energy projects are a highly contentious issue for ethnic minorities in Myanmar, who see their construction as an incursion by an aggressive military that is reaping financial benefits from their resources.

The deployment of more troops to protect such foreign investment leads directly to increased abuses towards the local population, ranging from forced labour and forced relocations to torture, activists said.

BANGKOK

Former Thai PM Thaksin can seek pardon

2011-09-06T09:55:00.002+08:00

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra can seek a royal pardon, says Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung.

A group of red shirt supporters has gathered signatures for a petition seeking a pardon for former prime minister Thaksin, who was convicted in 2008 of abuse of authority over a land deal.

However, critics of the petition have asked whether Thaksin could be considered eligible, as the law, in their view, requires convicts to have served at least some of their term first.

Thaksin fled overseas before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions sentenced him to two years in jail in absentia.

Mr Chalerm yesterday challenged critics of the petition to help Thaksin to closely read the Criminal Procedures Code, which, he said, does not cancel the rights of convicts to seek a pardon even if they have fled a court verdict.

The interpretation that convicts need to serve some punishment before asking for a royal pardon is just an opinion, Mr Chalerm said.

His red shirt supporters gathered 3.5 million signatures to back a petition to His Majesty the King seeking a royal pardon. The Corrections Department under the Justice Ministry announced over the weekend that it has finished verifying the petition and had submitted it to Justice Minister Pracha Promnok.

Pol Gen Pracha, who is authorised to consider whether to forward the petition to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary, said he will stick closely to the law in handling the issue.

Meanwhile, former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban urged United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporters to refrain from inciting mischief as they plan to increase the number of their red shirt villages.

He said the red shirts have the right to spread their political doctrine but they should not stir up social divisions.

The UDD said at the weekend it has added 64 more red shirt villages in three districts of Udon Thani and would open some in the South.

BANGKOKPOST

Wikileaks Reveals N. Korea-Myanmar Weapons Trade

2011-09-05T12:04:00.002+08:00

US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks indicate that South Korea and the United States clashed on the direction of North Korea policy right after North Korea launched the Daepodong-2 long range missile in July, 2006.

According to Wikileaks, the Roh Moo-hyun administration of South Korea wanted to go ahead with the inter-Korean ministerial meeting following the test fire, despite pressure from the Bush administration to delay the meeting.

And the website disclosed that South Korea and the United States clashed once again in October, 2006 when North Korea conducted its first underground test of nuclear weapons.
Then US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill urged the Roh administration to abandon the Mount Geumgang tourism project and to more actively participate in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative. However, the diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks indicate that South Korea was unwilling to give up the Mount Geumgang project and was careful to commit more actively to the PSI, saying that the North could retaliate against those measures with more nuke tests.

The website also released diplomatic cables revealing the North's illegal trade activities, including its shipping of torpedo batteries to Iran via Beijing in July 2009.

In addition, Wikileaks revealed North Korea and Myanmar cooperated in an exchange of weapons for rice.

The diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Yanggon, Myanmar said Myanmar exported 20-thousand tons of rice to North Korea from January to June 2009 in return for conventional weapons and related technology from the rogue state.

Arirang News.