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All USDA assets were transferred to the USDP in early July, raising complaints by political parties that it was a violation of the election laws.

When will an Interim Gov’t be Appointed?

The current Burmese government including Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly is set to be replaced before the election with an interim government led by Lt-Gen Myint Swe, now chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-5 which controls the Rangoon Regional Military Command and Naypyidaw Regional Military Command. Military sources said the move is required to allow the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to campaign and to stem complaints across the country and the international community that the election can not be fair and free because the junta-backed USDP and cabinet members are  still involved with the military government.

Boy Arrested With Banned Books
 
Police arrested a 14-year-old boy in Rangoon after finding him in possession of banned books written by Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleague, Win Tin, a National League for Democracy executive member. The boy was caught in a bus station with six copies of Suu Kyi’s  “Freedom From Fear” and five copies of Win Tin’s recently released “What’s That? Human Hell?” The books, which are collections of political essays and articles, are banned in Burma. The boy remains in detention at an undisclosed location, according to Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Junta Forms New Missile Force

The Burmese military junta formed a strategic missile force, the Directorate of Missiles, in September 2009 that will work with North Korean suppliers and report directly to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the commander-in-chief of the army, according to military sources who leaked classified information to The Irrawaddy.  As part of the initiative, Burma has positioned a new air defense missile battalion close to the Thailand-Burma border, according to sources at the Coastal Regional Military Command in Mergui in southern Burma.

Hydro-power Electricity Erratic in Shan State

Electricity distribution from Burma’s Shweli hydro-power dam No. 1 in northern Shan State is intermittent and has not benefited local residents, according to business sources. A Muse resident told The Irrawaddy that locals in the China-Burma border towns of Muse, Nam Kham and Pang Sang used to acquire dependable and cheaper electricity from China, but after the completion of the Shweli hydro-power project in April they were instructed to use only electricity from the Shweli project. Local businessmen said the Shweli project does not provide reliable electricity for businesses.

Don’t Feed the Elephants in Bangkok

A tourist eats lunch as another takes a picture of himself next to an elephant holding a basket for money donations on Khaosan Road, a popular tourist area in Bangkok.(Photo: AFP)

You can still feed elephants in Thailand’s bustling capital—but it could cost you. Bangkok authorities said anyone caught handing bunches of bananas or sugar cane to the elephants—proffered by their handlers to make money—could face a US $320 (10,000 baht) fine. Previously, mahouts—as elephant handlers are known—and their accomplices were fined for bringing an elephant into Bangkok, but those feeding the animal escaped punishment. Typically a tourist would pay 20 baht ($0.62) for the privilege of giving fruit or vegetables to the elephants.

Thai Probe of Journalists’ Deaths Called Incomplete

Thailand’s government has failed to properly investigate the shooting deaths of two journalists killed while they covered recent political violence in Bangkok, a press freedom group said. The Committee to Protect Journalists concluded in a seven-page report that both the government and protesters during the March-May demonstrations “engaged in lethal recklessness that led to the deaths of two journalists” and injured nine other media members.