Myanmar (Burma)

Why (Almost) No One In Myanmar Wanted My Money

Robert Smith — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:12:00 +0000

When you arrive in Myanmar, you can see how eager the people are to do business. At the airport in Yangon, new signs in English welcome tourists. A guy in a booth offers to rent me a local cellphone — and he's glad to take U.S. dollars. But when I pull out my money, he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry," he says.

He points to the crease mark in the middle of the $20 bill.

As Myanmar Reforms, Old Tensions Rise To The Surface

Anthony Kuhn — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:37:00 +0000

The town of Meiktila in central Myanmar presents a tranquil scene on a hot April day: A woman presses juice from sugar cane while customers loll around in the midday heat. The town is right in the center of the country, on a broad and arid plain where white cows graze among palm trees and pointy pagodas. It's a bustling trading post on the road between the capital, Naypyidaw, and the country's second-largest city, Mandalay.

But just down the street, there is evidence of a conflagration: Large areas have been reduced to heaps of charred rubble.

Myanmar's Top General Promises Continued Role For Military

Scott Neuman — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:29:00 +0000

Myanmar's top military commander says the armed forces, which ruled the country (also known as Burma) for nearly five decades, will continue to play a "leading role" as it transitions to democracy.

Wednesday's statement comes as pro-democracy opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent years under house arrest on orders of Myanmar's ruling junta, attended her first Armed Forces Day military parade.

Myanmar Imposes New Curfews Amid Anti-Muslim Violence

Krishnadev Calamur — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:46:00 +0000

The government of Myanmar has imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew in three townships amid growing anti-Muslim violence that is drawing closer to the main city of Yangon.

Violence against Muslims has been a major problem in the country as President Thein Sein introduces democratic changes after decades of military rule.

Here's more from The Associated Press:

"State television reported incidents in the three townships in Bago region, all within 150 kilometers (100 miles) of Yangon.

Google's Eric Schmidt Heads To Another Isolated Asian Nation

Jackie Northam — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, who went to North Korea in January, is making a short visit Friday to Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Why is the senior executive of a U.S. technology powerhouse visiting some of the poorest and least wired countries in Asia?

Schmidt will be the first top U.S.