Lead Story News Parliament Politics
According to an agenda for the Lower House’s 22 March parliamentary session, lawmakers in the chamber are due tomorrow to select a speaker to replace Win Myint, who abruptly stepped down from the post on Wednesday.
Lead Story News Parliament Politics
The speaker of Parliament’s Lower House, Win Myint, has resigned his post, with word of his stepping down coming shortly after the President’s Office announced that President Htin Kyaw would be resigning effective immediately.
Lead Story News Parliament Technology & Science
A Union minister told lawmakers on Monday that his ministry would spend more than 6.4 billion kyats ($4.8 million) to establish a social media monitoring apparatus.
Muskets and melodies kicked off celebrations for the 70th Chin National Day in Mindat, Chin State, on Monday, commemorating the remote region’s long struggle for democracy and self-determination.
Robert San Aung told DVB that he had sent a letter to President Htin Kyaw, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned ministries and officials.
At the second proper hearing for two Reuters journalists facing charges under Burma’s Official Secrets Act, the plaintiff tells the court that Vice President Myint Swe signed off on the case being brought against the two men.
Irrawaddy Division Lead Story News Politics
“I did not expect to be appointed chief minister,” he said. “If anything, I thought I might one day become a minister for agriculture.”
Irrawaddy Division Lead Story News Politics
A meeting of the Irrawaddy Region legislature, convened Monday to approve a replacement for former Chief Minister Mahn Johnny, was postponed and rescheduled for 18 January, with lawmakers told a letter naming his successor had not yet been received from Naypyidaw.
President Htin Kyaw has accepted the resignations of four ministers in the cabinets of the Bago and Magwe governments, bringing to at least seven the number of ministers from state and regional administrations to depart their posts so far this year.
Changes to government leadership are afoot in some parts of Burma as multiple ministers appointed by the National League for Democracy at the state- and region-level have tendered their resignations in recent days.
Constitution Lead Story News Politics
In his Independence Day speech, Htin Kyaw called for reform of a military-drafted constitution and for justice for all recognised minorities under a federal system, but made no mention of the Rohingya.
One week since they went missing, two Reuters reporters detained by Burmese authorities are being treated well and in good health, according to a senior government spokesman, who nonetheless declined to provide information on where the two men are being held.
Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested last Tuesday evening after they were invited to dine with police officers on the outskirts of Yangon.
Arakan Lead Story News Rakhine
President Htin Kyaw has established yet another governmental body to address the situation in troubled Rakhine State, this one comprised of Burmese and foreign members including the chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and a former US presidential aspirant.
The delay of the much-anticipated reform comes as Suu Kyi faces criticism that she has neglected economic reforms.
The Union Election Commission has summoned a spokesperson for the Union Solidarity and Development Party to provide evidence after the latter questioned the commission’s ability to rule on electoral disputes impartially.
Tens of thousands of Catholics are expected to throng Yangon on Wednesday when Pope Francis will conduct Mass at Kyite Ka San Stadium.
A presidential proposal submitted to Parliament is seeking to reshuffle Burma’s existing anti-corruption commission, naming Aung Kyi, a former information minister under the previous military-backed government, as its chairperson.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has a lot of responsibilities,” he said. “That’s why she is transferring some tasks to Kyaw Tin.”
She also told her fellow delegates that much of Burma’s recent success was down to her government’s policy of ensuring “a level playing field”.
Thousands of people rally in front of Yangon’s City Hall in a show of support for the Tatmadaw, with participants waving national flags and military banners at a gathering with little precedent in a country formerly ruled by an oppressive junta.
Critics have accused the NLD-led government of over-promising and under-delivering on legislative reform.
International Relations Lead Story News
President Htin Kyaw and his wife Su Su Lwin will attend the funeral of the late Thai King Bhumibol on behalf of the Burmese nation.
With Pope Francis due to visit Burma and Bangladesh next month, a Christian leader from the latter has said he is expecting the Catholic pontiff to urge leaders of the two countries, and the world, to view both Buddhists and Muslims simply as human beings.
International Relations Lead Story News Religion
Pope Francis will meet Burma’s top Buddhist monks, its military generals and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in November when he visits that country and Bangladesh, both caught up in a crisis over the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Burma has sent a list of hundreds of names of suspected terrorists to the Bangladeshi government, and is seeking to have those individuals detained for their alleged involvement in deadly attacks last month by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in Arakan State, according to a senior Burmese government official.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
“The committee members went to an IDP camp in Kyauktaw and will pay a two-day visit to Buthidaung and Maungdaw,” said a spokesperson for the Arakan state government.
A judge has sentenced a Rangoon resident to eight days in jail for public disorder after he entered a residential neighborhood and threatened to kill all Muslims in the vicinity.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
The 15-member committee will oversee a host of measures, including those related to rule of law, economic development, the closure of IDP camps, and citizenship issues.
Lead Story News Travel & Tourism
A decision this week by India to grant visas free of charge to Burmese nationals, likely a boon to Burma’s outbound tour operators, has been met with some concern by an association of travel agencies that specialise in pilgrimages to the sacred Buddhist site Bodh Gaya.
