Burma New Government to Start Work on April 1

Burma's new government is to start work on April 1. “The swearing-in ceremony for the new president will be on March 30 or 31,” an official at Naypyidaw told DPA news agency. Parliaments in Burma's remote capital have elected imncumbant prime minister Thein Sein as the country's new president.

Singapore Finds Radiation in Some Food from Japan

Singapore has detected radioactive contamination in vegetables grown near Japan's tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said in a statement late Thursday that it found small levels of contamination in samples of Japanese mustard, parsley and two other plants imported from the prefectures of Tochigi, Ibaraki, Chiba and Ehime. The AVA said the levels of radioactive contamination were small enough that the short-term consumption of those foods wouldn't pose a health hazard. The AVA said it added food imports from Chiba and Ehime to a ban already in place on the sale of milk, milk products, fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures.

80 Filipino Women Rescued from Human Traffickers

Philippine police have rescued 80 Filipino women from a suspected human trafficking syndicate that was planning to send them to be maids in Malaysia and the Middle East. Police Superintendent Celso Bael said they stopped the women, who pretended to be tourists, from boarding a chartered flight from the southern city of Zamboanga to Malaysia on Thursday. He says that, from Malaysia, some would have been be sent to Libya, Lebanon and Egypt. Women, who were recruited from the Philippine capital and nine provinces around the country, have been brought to the Social Welfare Department for counseling.