News Briefs (November 2008)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Burma Suffers Steep Drop in Foreign Tourists

A Burmese news journal says foreign tourist numbers are down by half at one of the country's most revered Buddhist sites after the country was hit by a devastating cyclone in May that killed more than 84,000 people. The Weekly Eleven news journal says foreign tourists visiting the famed Shwedagon pagoda fell to 25,380 during May through November compared with 53,841 in the same period last year. The tourism sector across the impoverished country has been hit hard following Cyclone Nargis in May. (AP)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Than Shwe Congratulates Obama

Burma's state-controlled press says the country's military leader has sent congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama. The Myanma Ahlin daily reported on Saturday that Than Shwe, chairman of Burma's military government, sent a message to Obama following his win in the US election. The US is one of the strongest critics of a Burmese regime that routinely jails dissidents and keeps Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. Washington has imposed economic and political sanctions against the junta because it refuses to hand over power to a democratically elected government. Obama has received congratulations from US friends and enemies around the world, including Iran's president. (AP)

Burma Lifts Rice Export Ban Imposed after Cyclone Nargis

A Burmese newspaper says the military government has lifted a rice export ban it imposed after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country's main rice-growing areas in the Irrawaddy delta and south of Rangoon in May. The Voice weekly said rice exports will resume with 60,000 tons being sold by private companies, although it gave no further details. Burma exported 107,600 tons of rice in April before the May 2-3 cyclone. In the 1950s, Burma was the world's top rice exporter, selling more than 1 million tons a year, but exports have dropped significantly since then. (AP)