A historic visit: For the first time ever, a sitting U.S. president has visited Myanmar (or if you roll that way, Burma), a country long cut off from the outside world. The president, accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, isn’t going there to endorse the government he claims, but the steps it needs to take. The official U.S. Embassy account for the country has more.
U.S. praise for Myanmar grows by the day, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still cannot bring herself to use the name of the country in the presence of officials from the former Burma.
It appears Clinton did not wish to offend Myanmar’s government and its diplomats in Phnom Penh by referring to the country by the name officially used in Washington, Burma - two short syllables that rile the former generals who now lead its nascent democracy.
ShortFormBlog says: Just refer to it as “Burmamar,” and call it a day.
» Approximately 300 Buddhist Rakhine residents stopped a bus full of Muslims who were headed home following a religious ceremony. After beating ten Muslim men to death, the group then set fire to the bus. Many believe the mob’s actions were a response to the recent rape and murder of a young girl allegedly committed by a local Muslim man.
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We hope that this will be the beginning of a new era where there will be more emphasis on the rule of the people in the everyday politics of our country.Myanmar pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi • Speaking about her party’s victory in Sunday’s elections — the National League for Democracy won nearly all of the 45 seats up for grabs, including one for the Nobel laureate herself. Suu Kyi says her party will push for constitutional changes and an end to ethnic conflicts. This may be tough, however — they won 45 seats out of several hundred, and the ones already there are filled by military and military supporters, and the constitution was written by the military. But the success on Sunday was nonetheless a breakthrough for a democratic movement.
A turning point in a democratically-repressed country? With an unofficial vote count having her at 82 percent, the Nobel Laureate, who spent most of the past two decades under house arrest, is likely to find herself on the other side of the political process. Her party, the National League for Democracy, also says it won 10 other seats in the contest. The election, however, did not come without hitches — with allegations of harassment and vote-tampering reported. The military government hopes, however, that the relatively minor instances will convince Western governments to cut back on economic sanctions that have long crippled the country. Is this the point where things change for the better in Myanmar? Or is it more complicated than that? (photo by Barbara Walton/EPA)
Good for her! The longtime peace activist will run in April’s parliamentary elections, representing the Kawhmu Township area of Yangon. It’s likely she’d be able to win this seat, and if she does, she’d be in a position to lead her party in parliament, leading to some major committee assignments for the long-imprisoned political figure. Fingers crossed! (photo by edenpictures on Flickr) source
Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party can run in elections: Suu Kyi, shown with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. It’s not clear if she will run in the highly-anticipated elections herself, however. source
» Details still limited: Local officials have as of yet not explained what caused the blast. ”There are many casualties. We are not in a position to give you further information. We are still looking into it,” said a police officer from Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Police Station.
Hillary Clinton offers Myanmar incentive to reform itself: The Secretary of State has been in Myanmar for the past day or so. “I came to assess whether the time is right for a new chapter in our shared history,” she says. The U.S. is willing to reward Myanmar for implementing reforms. source
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» When preparing to fly into the isolated South Asian country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to depart early from a stop in South Korea, because the airfield in Myanmar’s capitol lacks runway lights to facilitate nighttime landings. On her schedule for the next three days: a meeting with Thein Sein, the General-turned-President, who despite being viewed as a moderate reformer (compared to the norms under decades of brutal military rule) still has the familiar trappings of a leader wrapped in a fraudulent democratic process — he won the last election with over 90% of the vote. She’ll also be visiting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a dissident who’s been jailed or under house arrest for most of the last twenty years.
U.S. interrupts suspected missile parts shipment: A North Korean ship suspected to have had an illegal shipment of missile parts aboard was turned back by the U.S. Navy nearly two weeks ago. They requested to inspect the ship, but the North Koreans refused and ended up returning home amidst considerable diplomatic pressure. A U.N. resolution passed last year permits member nations to conduct such inspections of North Korean cargo, as a means to enforce a ban on them trading nuclear and/or missile technology. In this case, the ship was bound for Burma (Myanmar). source
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