US President Barack Obama has pledged to finalise the lifting of US sanctions on Myanmar, also known as Burma. The announcement, made during a bilateral meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi on the 14th of September, follows the latter leader’s sweeping victory in last November’s elections and the country’s fast transition to democracy after decades of military dictatorship. For
A powerful earthquake in Myanmar struck on the 24th of August. It left three people dead, including two children, and hundreds of ancient temples damaged in the country’s old capital, Bagan, in the central part of the Southeast Asian country. Tremors from the 6.8 magnitude quake were felt across the region, including in Bangkok, Bangladesh and eastern India. “Two young girls
The new law aims to stop illegal logging in the country. The measure will safeguard teak for 10 years.
The newly elected president of Myanmar, U Htin Kyaw, has released more than 200 political prisoners. The order comes weeks after the new government’s appointment and days after it took office on the 4th of April. In early April Aung San Suu Kyi, who effectively steers the government, had announced that Myanmar’s new leadership considered freeing political prisoners a priority,
Myanmar has sworn in its new president. As of the 30th of March U Htin Kyaw, an old friend and longstanding political ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, is the first civilian president the country has had in more than fifty years. On the same day the Lady, leader of Myanmar’s democratic movement and Chairman
The new president of Myanmar is Htin Kyaw, Aung San Suu Kyi’s closest aide. His nomination was announced by the Lady’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party on the 10th of March, and his appointment confirmed by the parliament on Tuesday the 15th of March. The Myanmar presidential election The NLD, which gained absolute majority in
At least 113 people died in a landslide at the site of a jade mine in the township of Hpakant in the state of Kachin, northern Myanmar on the 21st of November. A 60 metre high mountain of waste collapsed in the middle of the night, burying the 70 huts located at its foot together
Marking a turning point in the history of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has won an absolute majority in the country’s recent elections, officially obtaining the power to control parliament and select the new president. With only 83% of the total results announced so far, the government’s Union Election
A day after Myanmar’s elections, held on the 8th of November, the Union Election Commission (UEC) is slowly announcing the preliminary results as they are being counted. So far Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) has seen a strong start, winning 35 out of the first 36 seats declared
Citizens in Myanmar will be called to vote for members of the country’s parliament, who will be in power for the next five years, on November 8. These are the first general elections since 50 years of military rule ended in 2011, when the country started a process of political reform, opening the way for democratic
