Burma freed an outspoken critic and a major ethnic rebel as it began releasing 6 300 convicts, but kept some political detainees behind bars.
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/ 30 January 2011
Burma is preparing to open its first session of Parliament in more than two decades, a major step in the ruling military’s self-styled transition.
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/ 10 November 2007
Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi received rare front-page billing on Saturday in Burma’s state-controlled press, which said the ruling junta is ”putting energy” into democratic reforms demanded by the international community. Suu Kyi was allowed to meet leaders of her opposition party on Friday.
A tropical cyclone packing winds up to 240kph battered Burma on Saturday, ripping roofs off dozens of buildings near the country’s biggest city, knocking out electricity and forcing tourists to flee coastal flooding, officials said. There were scattered reports of injuries and deaths, but the government refused to provide any details.