'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday urged Congress not to extend import sanctions on Myanmar, warning that sticking with the sanctions would be "a slap in the face" to reformers in the Southeast Asian nation.
Myanmar's leader met President Obama at the White House on Monday and pledged his government's commitment to democratic reforms, an end to communal violence and a cease-fire with ethnic minority rebels fighting in the northern part of his Southeast Asian nation.
Myanmar's president will meet Monday with President Obama amid criticism that the Southeast Asian country has done little to end its war against ethnic minority rebels, protect stateless Muslims or institutionalize democratic reforms that have been promised since its military junta was dissolved in 2011.
Few imagined Myanmar would embrace democracy when the U.S. began its historic engagement with the military regime. The country's rapid changes were lauded by visiting Western leaders, and the nation's president was hailed as a hero. But spasms of spreading, communal violence show the reform path is bumpier than expected and have taken the sheen off a foreign policy success of the Obama administration's first term.
Mobs in Myanmar stormed Muslim homes and mosques, setting fires and killing residents, in a massive riot that's steeped in sectarian tensions.
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Friday urged Myanmar's government to allow private businesses to develop the country's woeful telecommunications infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of competition and free speech.
Human rights advocates warned the Obama administration Wednesday against lifting sanctions on Myanmar's military-backed government because its democratic reforms could be reversed.
Poet Saw Wai parked himself on the lawn, unfurled a map of Myanmar with a blob of blood-red paint dripping down from a spot up north and invited people to make poetry with him.
Colombia's national police director is blaming the rebel group FARC for a grenade attack that injured six people on New Year's Eve, saying the incident breaks a much-publicized truce that the leftist guerrillas unilaterally declared as a goodwill gesture during peace talks.
American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz mixed entertainment with education to become the first world-class entertainer in decades to perform in Myanmar, with a concert to raise awareness of human trafficking.
American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz mixed entertainment with education to become the first world-class entertainer in decades to perform in Myanmar, with a concert to raise awareness of human trafficking.
Guarded by rifle-toting police, immigration authorities in western Myanmar have launched a major operation aimed at settling an explosive question at the heart of the biggest crisis the government has faced since beginning its nascent transition to democracy last year.
Security forces used water cannons, tear gas and smoke bombs Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks in by far the biggest use of force against demonstrators since the reformist government of President Thein Sein took power last year.
Security forces used water cannons and other riot gear Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks just hours before opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in the area to hear their grievances.
Signs of a boom abound in Myanmar. Flights to Yangon are full, hotel rooms booked solid. Foreign bars are packed with well-fed Westerners in khakis and jeans, twenty-first century prospectors drawn to this golden frontier.
In his meeting with Mr. Obama, Thein Sein pledged his government's commitment to more reforms, ending communal violence and striking peace deals with ethnic minority rebels.
Thein Sein said his government is in the process of reforming the military for its role in the democratization and peace-building process.
