Myanmar

YANGON (Reuters) - Hundreds of Myanmar nationalists rallied in the country’s commercial capital on Sunday in a show of support for the military, amid tensions between the civilian government and the army ahead of elections expected later this year.

Around a thousand protesters marched from Yangon’s famed Shwedagon pagoda to City Hall downtown to accuse the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi of allegedly failing to protect the country’s Buddhist majority and for proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military.

YANGON, Feb 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – A gunman, with a bogus bomb, robbed a bank located in the eastern part of Myanmar’s Yangon, on Friday, an official from Office of the Yangon Region Police Force told Xinhua.

“The robbery took place at a branch of CB Bank in North Dagon township, at around 9:00 a.m. local time. The bomb is fake and measures are being carried out to capture the suspect,” the official said.

YANGON (Reuters) - Two women, one pregnant, were killed and seven other people injured after Myanmar troops shelled a Rohingya village on Saturday, according to a lawmaker and a villager, two days after the U.N.’s highest court ordered the country to protect the minority.

Maung Kyaw Zan, a national member of parliament for Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state, said shells fired from a nearby battalion hit Kin Taung village in the middle of the night. Government troops have been battling ethnic rebels in the state for more than a year.

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi admitted on Thursday that war crimes may have been committed against Rohingya Muslims but denied genocide, saying refugees had exaggerated the extent of abuses against them.

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times ahead of an initial International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the issue, she said Myanmar was the victim of “unsubstantiated narratives” by human rights groups and U.N investigators.

She also said the country could itself punish perpetrators through domestic mechanisms.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — An independent commission established by Myanmar’s government has concluded there are reasons to believe that security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations that led more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

However, the commission, headed by a Philippine diplomat, said in a report given Monday to President Win Myint that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out against the Rohingya.

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - China and Myanmar inked dozens of deals on Saturday to speed up infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian nation, as Beijing seeks to cement its hold over a neighbor increasingly isolated by the West.

But no major new projects were agreed during the two-day visit by President Xi Jinping, the first of any Chinese leader in 19 years. Analysts said Myanmar was generally cautious of investments by Beijing and was also being careful ahead of elections later this year.

Naypyidaw Jan 17 (AFP/PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Myanmar's capital on Friday in a show of support for the embattled government of Aung San Suu Kyi as Beijing hopes to smooth the way for multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deals.

The wide highways and manicured lawns of Naypyidaw, purpose-built by generals under Myanmar's junta, were dotted with red banners bearing Xi's face and greetings in Burmese and Mandarin ahead of the visit.

YANGON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Win Myint Wednesday called for the participation of people in their tasks of Union Peace, building a Democratic Federal Union and development programmes.

Speaking on the occasion of new year 2020, the president expressed his belief that the hardships and challenges that the country is facing can be successfully overcome by holding onto truth, justice, honesty and transparency.

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi thronged the streets of the capital Naypyitaw on Saturday to celebrate her arrival back from The Hague, where she defended the country against genocide charges.

The Nobel laureate waved as her black car drove slowly past crowds who waved flags, held up pictures of her face and shouted jubilant greetings.

YANGON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Red Cross Societies of China and Myanmar agreed on Friday to further strengthen cooperation in a meeting between officials from both sides.

Chen Zhu, vice president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and president of Red Cross Society of China, visited Myanmar and held a meeting with Tin Nyunt, acting president of Myanmar Red Cross Society.