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GAZA CITY, GAZA (BNO NEWS) -- Two militants were injured Thursday when the Israeli military attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, coming just hours after Palestinian militants fired mortars at Israeli troops near the border fence, causing no casualties, Hamas and Israeli officials said.

The first incident occurred at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Thursday when three mortar shells were fired from the southern Gaza Strip on an area where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were engaged in routine activity on the Israeli side of the border fence. There were no reports of damage or casualties.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Israeli forces responded to the attack by targeting militants who were allegedly preparing to launch rockets at Israel, but few details were made available. He said farmers in the surrounding Israeli communities were as a precaution instructed not to enter their fields after the attack, but the advisory was lifted several hours later.

The incident was followed hours later by an Israeli airstrike on a "terror site" in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF said. The Gaza Health Ministry said two militants riding a motorcycle near the city of Khan Yunis were injured when they were targeted by an Israeli "drone," but it was unclear to which of the two incidents was being referenced to.

"This ongoing conflict that we are facing on a daily basis cannot be endured by Israeli civilians," Lerner said. "It is the IDF's obligation to operate to the best of its abilities to prevent such malicious terroristic intentions from terrorizing Israeli civilians and assaulting IDF soldiers. We will continue in our activities to deter all threats originating in the Gaza Strip."

Thursday's incident came less than a day after Gaza's health ministry claimed an Israeli drone killed a Palestinian militant near Shejaiyeh, but the Israeli military denied any involvement. The casualty of the explosion was identified as a 32-year-old militant of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.

Late last month, a 22-year-old Israeli man was killed by a Gazan sniper while carrying out maintenance along the Israel-Gaza border fence, prompting a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip that resulted in the death of a Palestinian toddler, making it the region's worst day of violence in nearly two months.

The violence on December 24 marked the first killing of an Israeli civilian in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip since November 2012, when an Israeli offensive set off eight days of fierce cross-border fighting. At least 174 Palestinians and 6 Israelis were killed while hundreds more were injured until an Egyptian-brokered truce was reached with Palestinian militants.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Global food prices rose slightly in the month of December but on average declined 1.6 percent in 2013 versus the previous year, although the prices remain among the highest on record, the United Nations (UN) food agency reported on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Food Price Index stood at 206.7 points in December, a marginal increase from 206.4 in the previous month. The index is used to measure the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, including meat, dairy, cereals, vegetable oil, and sugar.

FAO said a sharp increase in dairy prices and high meat values balanced out a steep decline in sugar quotations and lower cereal and oil prices in December. "The FAO Food Price Index remained elevated as strong demand for certain high-protein foods continued to drive up prices overall, countering falling prices of major food crops after last year's abundant harvests," said FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian.

The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 191.5 points in December, down 2.8 points from November, and the lowest monthly value since August 2010. Large global supplies, following record harvests in 2013, continued to exert downward pressure on international prices of wheat and maize in particular. By contrast, rice prices were up slightly in December.

FAO's Sugar Price Index averaged 234.9 points in December, a sharp slide of 15.8 points from November. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline, with the sugarcane harvest in Brazil - the world's largest sugar producer and exporter - exceeding expectations. Adding to the downward pressure on international prices were reports of record production in Thailand, the world's second biggest sugar exporter, as well as good harvests in China.

For all of 2013, the Cereal Price Index averaged 219.2 points, down as much as 17 points, or 7.2 percent, from 2012, while sugar prices were down 18 percent. Dairy prices, on the other hand, were up for both the month of December and for 2013 as a whole, according to the report.

The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 264.6 points in December, a rise of 13.2 points over November. Demand for milk powder, especially from China, remains strong, and processors in the southern hemisphere are focusing on this product rather than on butter and cheese. During 2013, the dairy index averaged 243 points - its highest annual value since its inception.

Meanwhile, the FAO Meat Price Index averaged 188.1 points in December, just slightly above its November level. Prices for bovine and pig meat moved higher: demand from China and Japan have resulted in beef prices showing consistent growth since last June. Prices for poultry were stable, while those for sheep meat moved lower. Still, in 2013, the index remained historically high, well above pre-2011 levels.

But global food prices remain among the highest on record, with the Food Price Index averaging 209.9 points for 2013 as a whole, marking a decrease of 1.6 percent from 2012 when the average stood at 213.4 points. It makes food prices in 2013 the third highest year on record. Still, the results are well below the record of 230.1 points in 2011.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

Miss Myanmar Supranational 2013 Khin Wint Wah is pictured. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burmese beauty queen Khin Wint Wah, the 19-year-old winner of Miss Myanmar Supranational 2013, continues to generate Internet buzz, being selected among the top six “Most Beautiful Girls of the Year 2013†by international pageant watcher The Beauties Concept on Wednesday.

“She was chosen in the top six among over 700 beauty queens from all international beauty pageant competitions,†Wai Yan Aung, founder of the Miss Golden Land Myanmar organization, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

“I am incomparably happy,†Khin Wint Wah told The Irrawaddy. “I didn’t expect that I would be selected in the top six. I will always remember it.â€

Wai Yan Aung said there were more than 10 international beauty pageant competitions in 2013 and The Beauties Concept selected an initial 100 nominees from all competitions, before whittling the list down to 50 candidates. From there, The Beauties Concept chose 11 top candidates, with a 12th finalist chosen by popular vote. The final six were also the decision of The Beauties Concept judges.

Miss Myanmar Supranational 2013 Khin Wint Wah at the competition in Belarus. (Photo: Facebook / Miss Golden Land Myanmar)

“There was no voting system for the selection of the top six. The international beauty pageant judges chose the top six from the top 12,†said Wai Yan Aung, whose Miss Golden Land Myanmar organized Burma’s Miss Supranational competition last year.

He added that another Burmese beauty queen, Burma’s 2013 Miss Universe titleholder Moe Set Wine, was the popular vote winner to round out The Beauties Concept’s top 12 finalists.

“The video records of candidates’ competitions, the activities, the interviews, the photos and also the body were all included in the judging,†Wai Yan Aung said.

Khin Wint Wah has also made it into the upper echelons of three other international beauty pageant monitoring websites, placing among the world’s top 27 “Most Gorgeous Women†by The Ideal Beauty, the top 40 of The Ideal Miss, and the top 50 of the Global Beauties, he said.

“She is very friendly and her friendship among international competitors and professionals is really strong so people support her both locally and internationally,†he said.

Khin Wint Wah, who won the Miss Myanmar Supranational 2013 in August, also took home the People’s Choice and the Miss Supranational Internet awards during the Miss Supranational competition in Belarus last year.

The Beauties Concept’s “Most Beautiful Girl of the Year†for 2013 was Miss Venezuela Earth, Alyz Henrich. Beauty pageant winners from the Philippines, Serbia and Spain joined Khin Wint Wah in the top six.

The Irrawaddy reporter May Myanmar contributed to this report.

The post Burma’s Miss Supranational Deemed One of Pageant World’s ‘Most Beautiful Girls’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Nay Min Aung, 26, who is blind due to a land mine blast sits by a hammock with his daughter in their home in in Kyaukki Township, Pegu Division, on Jan. 25, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

RANGOON — The number of people in Burma living with physical disabilities is on the rise, advocates for the disabled say, with an increase in traffic accidents and land mine explosions to blame.

“Violence and accidents are happening more frequently and because of this, the disabled population in the country is increasing annually,†said Aung Ko Myint, a founder of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative and president of the Myanmar National Association of the Blind.

As the country’s road network has expanded and automobile ownership has risen—aided by a lifting of import restrictions for foreign vehicles in October 2011—traffic accidents have more than doubled since 2001, from 4,478 accidents that year to 9,339 in 2012, according to government figures supplied to the World Health Organization. Over that period, injuries from the accidents have risen from 6,938 to 15,720, the data show.

At the same time, decades of civil war have left the ground strewn with land mines in some of the country’s ethnic conflict regions. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor said in a report published late last year that nine of Burma’s 14 states and divisions were believed to contain land mines. From 1999 to 2012, more than 3,300 people have been injured or killed in land mine blasts, according to the Monitor, an initiative of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

“Anyone can find themselves living with a disability, so people need to have discipline to avoid traffic accidents and also need to be educated on health matters,†Aung Ko Myint said, adding that the country’s underfunded health care system also bore some responsibility for the rising population of people with disabilities.

Soe Maung, a President’s Office minister, said in October that 2.3 percent of Burma’s population, estimated between 50 and 60 million people, are physically impaired. The figure was based on a National Disability Survey by the Ministry of Health released in 2010.

“All training schools for disabled people are full and many children who are born with a disability and elderly people who are disabled due to disease or an accident are waiting to attend training schools,†Aung Ko Myint said, adding that there were about 15 special education training schools for the deaf, blind, physically disabled and intellectually disabled in Burma.

He said up-to-date statistics on Burma’s disabled population do not exist, adding that it was hoped that a national census to be conducted later this year would shed light on the true size of the country’s disabled population.

“Although the number of disabled persons increases year after year because of land mines and weak health services, the fact is that the actual number of disabled citizens is not well known and is only now coming to light,†said Myat Thu Win, chairman of the Shwe Minn Tha Foundation, which focuses on assisting people with disabilities.

He said inadequacies in health care provision led to a high rate of children born with disabilities, often the result of malnutrition while in the mother’s womb. Poor health care also leads to handicapping circumstances for elderly patients who are afflicted with medical conditions that would otherwise be perfectly treatable in countries with more developed health care systems, Myat Thu Win said.

“Poverty and disability are directly linked,†he said. The Shwe Min Tha chairman said that contrary to the 2010 government data, Burma’s disabled were more likely to number in the range of 8 to 10 percent of the total population, or some 5 million to 6 million people.

The Eden Center for Disabled Children echoed that estimate, saying about 10 percent of the population was likely physically disabled to varying degrees.

Advocates like the ECDC say disabled citizens in Burma are in urgent need of basic opportunities in education and employment, and handicap accessibility to buildings and transportation infrastructure must be improved.

An adjustment to popular perceptions might also be in order.

Aung Kaung Myat, a 20-year-old paraplegic, told The Irrawaddy that Burma’s disabled are often stigmatized and excluded from society. “We are not getting on well, socially. People think that we will make them unlucky and that we are disabled because of deeds carried out in past lives,†he said. “It is used to justify their unwillingness to help us. This superstition is still present.â€

Burma held its first arts festival for the disabled in October, and next week the capital Naypyidaw will host the 7th Asean Para Games for athletes from Southeast Asia with physical disabilities. Burma plans to send 213 participants to compete.

Burma will also host a regional Asean festival for disabled artists later this year.

The post Car Accidents, Land Mines Blamed for Rising Disabled Population in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A second crew member died Wednesday after a large U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia earlier in the day, military officials said on Thursday. Two other crew members were injured while a fifth remains unaccounted for.

"Two crew members are confirmed dead following the crash of a U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter in the Virginia Capes," the U.S. Navy said in a brief statement on late Wednesday evening after an injured crew member died of injuries. "Two additional crew members are in stable condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The search for the fifth crew member is continuing."

The accident occurred at around 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday when the MH-53E Sea Dragon aircraft went down in the ocean about 18 nautical miles (33 kilometers) off Virginia Beach, a city just east of Norfolk in Virginia. Five crew members were on board the aircraft as it conducted routine training operations.

A second Navy helicopter that was also in the area reported the crash to rescue workers and dropped a life raft to four people who were in the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The group was rescued at around 11:45 a.m. when two Navy helicopters hoisted them from the water and flew them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where two of them later died.

A search and rescue operation for a fifth crew member continued throughout the day with multiple vessels and aircraft involved, including two MH-60S helicopters from the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 28 (HSC-28). Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter are expected to resume searching on Thursday, but finding the crew member alive appeared unlikely.

The U.S. Navy said the downed helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 (HM-14) at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field. The aircraft is one of the largest helicopters in the Western world and is known to be prone to accidents, with Sea Dragon crashes having killed more than 30 people since 1984.

Wednesday's crash came less than 24 hours after a U.S. Air Force helicopter crashed in a nature reserve in a coastal area of eastern England. All four crew members on board were killed in the crash of the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, which is a highly modified version of the better-known Black Hawk aircraft.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu is greeted with respect at a monks’ conference in Rangoon in June 2013. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu said he will hold another large conference for thousands of monks from across Burma next week. He said the monks would gather in Mandalay and discuss his controversial proposal to restrict marriages between Buddhist women and Muslim men.

In June last year, U Wirathu organized a large gathering of monks in Rangoon, who came out in support of his draft Law for the Protection of Race, Religion and Language.

This proposed law would require any Buddhist woman seeking to marry a Muslim man to first gain permission from her parents and local government officials. Any Muslim man who marries a Buddhist woman is required to convert to Buddhism. The monks said at the time that they would pressure lawmakers into adopting the proposal.

On Thursday, U Wirathu told The Irrawaddy that he expected 5,000 monks to attend his Mandalay conference on Jan. 15 and hold discussions on the perceived threats to Buddhism in Burma.

“Mainly our intention is to protect our race and religion. We will discuss issues of our race and religion,†he said. “This meeting is very important for Buddhist people and the result from the meeting will provide complete security for the country.â€

U Wirathu said he would again lobby for the clergymen’s support for his controversial proposal. “We found on the ground in almost every township that there are women who were forced to convert to another religion. We need to have an interfaith marriage law to protect them,†he claimed.

U Wirathu hails from a monastery near Mandalay and is considered the leader of a large group of monks belonging to the 969 movement. The group has organized a nationwide campaign calling on Buddhists to shun shops owned by Burma’s Muslim minority.

The movement is accused of spreading hate speech and has been linked to growing inter-communal tensions in Burma. In 2012 and 2013, outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence have left more than 200 people dead and displaced about 150,000 people, most of them Muslim.

Last year, U Wirathu’s proposal sparked widespread criticism from different corners of Burmese society, with some raising questions about the monks’ interference in politics and lawmaking.

The 969 movement has since been campaigning in support of the proposal among Burma’s largely rural Buddhist majority, who deeply revere monks. U Wirathu now claims that 4 million people signed a petition in support of the proposed law.

In November, the controversial monk also made headlines by suggesting that the hugely popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is unfit for the presidency.

His remarks come at a time when Suu Kyi has been stepping up pressure on the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and the military to amend the Constitution and remove a clause that prevents her from becoming president.

On Thursday, U Wirathu repeated his claims about the National League for Democracy leader and said that increasing security along Burma’s border with its Muslim-majority neighbor Bangladesh was of more importance then discussions about Suu Kyi becoming president

“She should not be our national leader because we cannot rely on her to protect our national interests,†he said, adding, “I am with the group who want to build a fence along the border.â€

The post Wirathu to Discuss Interfaith Marriage Restrictions at Monks’ Conference appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

By James Valles

FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY (BNO NEWS) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Wednesday denied any involvement in orchestrating traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge as a way to get back at a local mayor who did not support his re-election campaign, saying he was "misled" by his staff.

Lane closures on the already congested bridge caused a traffic nightmare in the city of Fort Lee back in September 2013 on the first day of school. Democrats claim Christie and his administration, specifically Bridget Anne Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, carried out the act to 'punish' Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich for not supporting the governor's campaign.

Christie had previously denied his administration was involved in the lane closures but on Wednesday admitted he had been misled after the publication of emails which were subpoenaed by Democrats. They revealed that Kelly communicated with David Wildstein, who was a high-level New York and New Jersey port authority official at the time, three weeks before the lane closures.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Kelly wrote on August 13.

"Got it," Wildstein replied.

Responding to the release of the emails, Christie called the acts "unacceptable," adding that he was not only "misled" by a member of his staff, but that the acts were "completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct" that occurred without the governor's knowledge.

"This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions," said Christie, adding that his team had reassured him that they were not involved. The New Jersey governor is considered to be a possible top candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

In other messages also released on Wednesday, an unidentified person texted Wildstein on September 10, the second day of the road blocks.

"I feel badly about the kids. ... I guess," wrote the unidentified person. "They are the children of Buono voters,â Wildstein replied, referring to the Democratic candidate who ran against Christie during the gubernatorial race last year, which was won by Christie. Barbara Buono has called for a federal investigation.

"Right now, we have no idea how far this scandal goes," Buono said in a statement released on Wednesday. "The Governor has created a culture where cavalierly endangering citizens' lives to exact political retribution is an acceptable form of governance. It's beneath the dignity of his office and a breach of New Jerseyans' trust."

Her statement added: "Everyone who had knowledge of the closing should be terminated immediately and the Department of Justice should conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether other towns in New Jersey suffered because the Governor wanted to get revenge."

Wildstein, the port authority's director of interstate capital projects, and Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority, both resigned in December.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, called Wednesday's revelations troubling and compared the New Jersey governor to a bully, saying: "These revelations are troubling for any public official, but they also indicate what we've come to expect from Governor Christie - when people oppose him, he exacts retribution. When people question him, he belittles and snidely jokes. And when anyone dares to look into his administration, he bullies and attacks."

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

A bank and office buildings are seen in downtown Rangoon. Companies are struggling to find affordable office space in Burma’s biggest city, with property in short supply and rental prices high. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Realtors say a new tax measure has successful cooled an overheated property market in Burma’s biggest city, with sale prices stagnating for high-end properties, but that rental fees have continued to soar.

In October, the Rangoon divisional government applied fixed values for properties to determine the amount owed in property taxes. Last month, realtors reported that property prices and sales had ground to a halt for properties over 1 billion kyats (US$1 million), although demand has continued for lower valued properties.

But even in high-value areas, rentals are a different matter. In commercial areas along streets such as Sule Pagoda Road, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and Pyay Road, realtors say that at the start of 2014, rental fees are at their highest ever and have more than doubled since 2012.

“On Kaba Aye Pagoda road, the rental fee for an acre of land was 3 million kyats two years ago, but now it’s 12 million kyats,†Zaw Zaw, manager of Unity real estate agency, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. “It’s because demand is still increasing.â€

As has been a longstanding problem, supply has failed to keep pace. Since 2005, when development of the construction sector picked up in Rangoon, the number of new residential units in the city has increased by an average of 20,000 units annually, satisfying only about one-third of demand, according to a number of local realtors and construction developers.

“Demand and supply in Rangoon are not in balance, so rental fees are also increasing,†said Than Oo, managing director of Mandine real estate agency.

In commercial areas, space has become more coveted because many new car showrooms have entered the city since the government implemented a more liberal car import policy in 2012.

“Many car showrooms need a lot of land along the main roads, but space is very limited in Rangoon, so owners are asking for higher [rental] amounts,†said Zaw Zaw of Unity real estate agency. “I heard some car showrooms cannot afford to pay rent in this next year.â€

Champion Construction Materials, a development company, pays 250 million kyats monthly for a showroom on U Wisara Road, but others have not been so lucky to find a spot, says company manager Khun Htoo. “Foreign companies are now looking for a good location for their businesses, but there are very few offices for them. That’s one factor why foreign investment has been delayed here,†he said.

“We need more office towers for the future, as well as residential apartments. But until 2015, land prices in Rangoon may continue to soar,†he added, saying he did not have confidence in the current government to fix the problem before the next general election is in 2015.

Rental fees are also soaring in residential areas, especially for high-end apartments and homes in townships downtown.

“Rental prices for two homes in one compound in Bahan Township have increased 20 million kyats monthly this year,†Zaw Zaw of Unity real estate agency said. In Bahan Township, where many Burmese business tycoons own homes, land values range from about 800,000 kyats to 1 million kyats per square foot.

“Mostly embassies and foreign businessmen used to rent these houses, but now most foreign business people are moving to condos or apartments,†he added.

Ma Mitchell, an Ahlone Township resident, said her family’s monthly apartment rent has more than doubled since 2012. “My apartment was on the sixth floor and I paid 50,000 kyats, but now that has increased to 120,000 kyats. We cannot afford that price, so we had to move into my mother’s house,†she said.

The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), the administrative body of Rangoon, plans to build more low-cost housing in outskirt townships to help balance supply and demand.

“The best way to reduce the property prices in Rangoon is to implement many housing projects here,†Toe Aung, deputy head of the YCDC urban planning department, told The Irrawaddy. “Now we have three [low-cost housing] projects in North Dagon and South Dagon townships.â€

The YCDC’s low-cost apartments were being sold for about 20 million kyats each on privately owned land. “But people are saying it’s still expensive,†Toe Aung said.

To further reduce prices, he suggested building the housing on government-owned land. “We can’t sell any cheaper on privately owned land,†he said. “But on land owned by government ministries, apartments can be built and sold for lower prices.â€

The post Rangoon Starts to Control Property Prices, but Rent Is Another Story appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Construction is carried out at the site of an industrial zone in the Kokang region of Shan State. (Photo: May Kha / The Irrawaddy)

Industrial zone projects are underway in Shan State’s Kokang self-administrative region, say local lawmakers who are inviting foreign investment to the area on the Sino-Burmese border.

Myi Shauk Chan, a member of the Shan State parliament from Kokang, told The Irrawaddy that three industrial zones had already been planned for his region. Construction on one, named “125-mile†has already begun, with that industrial zone covering just over 1,000 acres of land in Laogai District.

“We won’t let just China come and invest in our region; we will allow any domestic or foreign investor to do business with us,†Myi Shauk Chan said of the projects in Kokang, whose in inhabitants are largely ethnic Han and trace ancestry to southern China.

Initial construction of the 125-mile industrial zone is being carried out by the Shan State administration and a Kokang-owned company.

“We will try to reach a level where we can do packing for our products here. In terms of distribution, we will do it both inside and outside the country. Those who want to export products for international consumption must pay tax but they don’t need to do so for domestically [distributed goods],†explained Myi Shauk Chan.

Kyaw Ni Naing, another state lawmaker from Laogai, told The Irrawaddy that so far grading had been done on about 500 acres of the 125-mile project site. Locals, whose sugarcane fields were located in the planned project area, have been compensated to their satisfaction, he said.

“Over 100 villagers have been given about 30,000 yuan [uS$4,955] for each acre and they are satisfied,†said Kyaw Ni Naing. “We only use Chinese money here so we compensated them with that currency.â€

The 125-mile industrial zone project will reportedly include factories for tea production, auto parts, walnuts, garments and sugarcane-based products, as well as other food and beverage enterprises.

“We are doing this project for the development of our region and will follow the government’s regulations in implementation,†Myi Shauk Chan said.

He added that more than 20,000 local residents could potentially be employed by the industrial zones following their completion.

“Over 10,000 Kokang people are working in China, which buys sugarcane and tea from us, packs it and then exports it back to Burma. It will be more convenient for us if we have such factories in our area,†said Kyaw Ni Naing.

Currently, locals in Laogai grow largely sugarcane, tea, walnuts and rubber, most of which is bought up by traders from China. These plantations account for about 70 percent of the Kokang region’s economy.

The post Kokang Sowing Seeds for Investment With Industrial Zones appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, left, and Burmese President Thein Sein shakes hands during the Indian leader’s visit to Burma in May 2012. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burma and India held discussions on Wednesday to resolve outstanding differences over the demarcation of the border that separates India’s Manipur State and western Burma’s Sagaing Division, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said.

Deputy director-general Sein Oo said a Burmese delegation, comprising the military’s northern commander Gen. Tun Tun Naung and Foreign Affairs officials, met with an Indian delegation in Sagaing’s Tamu Township to discuss a disagreement over the construction of an Indian border checkpoint at border pillar No. 78.

Sein Oo said the construction activities began in mid-December and sparked a protest among some 500 Tamu Township residents, who had filed a complaint with local authorities.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Indian officials agreed to refrain from further construction work and continue discussions about the delineation of the border. “They told us at the meeting that they will not continue to build any more in areas where the border line is disputed,†said Sein Oo.

Burma’s government had complained to India about the new border checkpoint in December and May last year, according to state newspaper The New Light of Myanmar. The paper said the Indian project was halted on Jan. 2 and teams from India and Burma carried out a joint land survey in Tamu Township on Jan. 6.

A 1967 Burma-India border treaty established the current border, but both countries disagree about the location of several border pillars in the Kabaw Valley, according to the paper.

Sein Oo said both sides would cooperate to complete joint survey and delineate the disputed border line, although he provided few details of the plans. “We found that they have a wish to solve the problem. There will be no border tension between the two countries over the current dispute and we will try to find a compromise,†he said.

In recent months, other disagreements over demarcation of the border have gained attention from the Indian media, which have reported that the Manipur State government is upset over the alleged construction by the Burma Army of a border fence on territory in southern Manipur in August.

A delegation of all political parties in Manipur sent a memo to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Sing in early December to demand that India’s central government investigate the accusations, The Times of India reported.

The post Burma, India Officials Discuss Disputed Border Demarcation appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Leaders of the Asean countries pose for a group photo during the 22nd Asean Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan on April 25, 2013. Burma’s President Thein Sein stands on the far right. (Photo: Reuters)

Burma’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) begins in earnest next week when it hosts its first major regional meeting—a gathering of foreign ministers from the 10 member countries.

The meeting next Wednesday in Bagan will be the first of hundreds of Asean events, including two leaders’ summits, during Burma’s year-long leadership of the huge trading bloc. And 2014 is a crucial year for the 40-year-old regional grouping, as it moves toward a unified market along the lines of the European Union.

But as Burma itself strives to re-emerge as a viable economy after decades of isolation, how much of a strain will the Asean chairmanship be on a country with limited resources?

“Managing the [Asean] chairmanship will impose extra burdens upon a narrow cohort of able people who are managing the reform process, but who are already grossly overworked. To this extent, the chairmanship could be an unwelcome distraction,†economist and Burma expert Sean Turnell told The Irrawaddy while visiting Rangoon.

“On the other hand, the country is receiving assistance in the role from prior chair countries, which is likely to be helpful both for the matter at hand, and perhaps more broadly in terms of public administration.â€

Some in giant neighbor India have welcomed Burma’s prominent role this year in Asean, saying Indian and Burmese businesses will likely benefit from new opportunities.

“Holding of the Asean [leadership] symbolises [burma’s] re-entry to the global community. At the same time, it gives [burma] another opportunity to demonstrate that it is committed to democracy and wider integration with the world outside,†Saroj Mohanty, a strategic analyst at the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), wrote in a commentary last month.

“However, doubts have been raised about the country’s ability to steer a grouping as significant as the Asean in a rapidly changing strategic environment in the region where the US, China, Japan and the EU are intensifying their re-balancing efforts.This has been further compounded by the internal challenges the country faces and its abysmal infrastructure.â€

Burma’s failure so far to improve its dilapidated infrastructure continues to affect economic progress, with poor roads and inadequate electricity supply. Hosting major events draws attention to these problems and makes them worse for local people, critics say.

“During the World Economic Forum, [hosted by Burma in 2013] many infrastructure problems were made glaringly obvious,†the Southeast Asia Globe magazine reported.

“For most, travel to the capital, Naypyidaw, involved a long journey by road from [Rangoon] airport. Only a select few were able to land at the capital’s airport and, for those lucky enough to alight there, the 30-minute taxi ride into town often cost more than the flight. Upon arrival, many found a shortage of hotel rooms along with poor internet connections and frequent power cuts.â€

Such a negative experience for high-profile business or political visitors clearly does not help Burma’s image, but Turnell, a professor at Macquarie University in Australia and co-editor of the Burma Economic Watch, believes the year-long leadership of Asean will help Burma in more ways than one.

“The chairmanship shines a light on the country in ways that, perhaps, might encourage further reforms and dissuade more negative elements,†he told The Irrawaddy this week.

It will be too late for the Asean year and all the many hundreds of comings and goings between Rangoon and Mandalay and Naypyidaw, but plans at least have been drawn up to greatly improve the railway system.

Ironically, perhaps, it is Japan and not Asean countries stepping forward to help improve Burma’s infrastructure.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is finalizing arrangements with the Ministry of Rail Transportation for a US$200 million loan agreement to finance modernization of the Rangoon-Mandalay line. The refurbishment is aimed at cutting the journey time between the two commercial cities by half.

Burma’s other giant neighbor, China, has so far said little about the 2014 leadership of Asean. This might be a reflection of the allegations that Beijing sought to manipulate the 10-nation bloc’s foreign policies during Cambodia’s 2012 stewardship.

“In recent years, China’s shadow has loomed large over Asean proceedings. In its 2012 stint as chair, Cambodia was heavily criticised for toadying to China over the South China Sea dispute,†reported the Southeast Asia Globe.

“If Beijing tries to overplay its hand and push the [burma] government too hard on Asean matters, it’s likely that [burma] will push back,†the Globe quoted Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, as saying. “[burma] will likely not repeat Cambodia’s mistake.â€

The Asean year will certainly put the international spotlight on Burma, but whether it will bring more business investment into the country will only become clear by the end of 2014.

One foreign company certain to benefit—in prestige terms, at least—from Burma’s stewardship is the upmarket carmaker BMW. The German firm is providing almost 100 luxury limousines to the Naypyidaw government to carry Asean VIPs to and from meetings.

The post Will the Asean Chair Strain Burma’s Resources? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

A man walks in front of one of the largest reclining Buddha images in the world, near Monywa in northern Burma. (Photo: Bruno Barbey / 7 Days in Myanmar)

RANGOON — The latest photography book about Burma to hit bookstores, “7 Days in Myanmar,†offers something different.

Unlike other coffee-table books on the Southeast Asian nation, this large-format, 276-page book by Editions Didier Millet publishing group includes photographs not only by well-known international photographers, but also by local photographers.

Twenty-one foreigners from 10 different countries and nine Burmese photographers traveled to every corner of Burma— from major cities to small villages in the country’s hilly regions and the southern and western coasts —over seven days in April to May last year. Along the way, they captured images of people, landscapes, industries and traditions in modern Burma, as the country emerges from five decades of isolation from the outside world.

In 300 photographs, the book captures not only Burma’s best-known tourist attractions—including the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay, Buddhist monasteries in Bagan and the floating gardens of Inle Lake—but also the daily realities of ordinary people from all walks of life, in all their complexity and diversity, as Burmese historian Dr. Thant Myint-U says in a foreword to the book. The local photographers traveled to areas that are off limits to foreigners, from the jade mines in northern Burma to cities in western Burma’s Arakan State that have been difficult to access in recent months due to inter-communal violence. The book also contains images of the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, as Burma and its athletes prepared for the 27th Southeast Asian Games.

The images are accompanied by an introduction to Burma, written by veteran Associated Press journalist Denis Gray, as well as an essay about 19th-century photography in colonial Burma by historian John Falconer of the British Library. A behind-the-scenes story by the book’s general editor, Nicholas Grossman, is a fascinating read that offers insight on the difficulties of documenting a country in such depth over the course of one week.

And there were challenges, as the goal was not to produce typical postcard photographs.

“We wanted to capture fresh angles of the country as seen through the eyes of great lensmen who are well known for their original visions,†project director Melisa Teo explains in the book.

With even a quick perusal of the contents, many readers will likely agree that she and the photography team followed through with their aim.

The post One Week, 30 People, 300 Images of Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

GAROWE, SOMALIA (BNO NEWS) -- Former Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas was on Wednesday chosen as the new president of the semi-autonomous Somali state of Puntland, defeating the incumbent leader by just one vote in parliament, according to official results.

The first round of voting began at 9:30 a.m. local time when the 66 members of parliament cast their vote for one of the eleven candidates, but none of them managed to secure the required two-thirds majority. It triggered a second round in which incumbent President Abdirahman Farole received 31 votes, Gaas received 18 votes, and businessman Ali Haji Warsame secured 16 votes.

After Warsame was eliminated during the second round, nearly all of his supporters opted for Gaas instead, giving the former prime minister 33 votes against Farole's 32 votes. Parliament Speaker Said Hassan Shire dismissed one of the votes as "spoiled," but both sides accepted the results.

"Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas has been elected as the next President of Puntland for the next five years," Shire was quoted as saying by the Garowe Online news website. Farole congratulated Gaas and called on all government workers, officials, and security forces to work with the new president.

"Many people doubted Puntland's election process since we tried the democratization process. Today we can all see the voting process," Farole said, according to the website. "I remind the new President that Puntland has many enemies. I remind him that Puntland should be first, then helping Somalia should be second. What belongs to us all is the people, the State and our system."

Nicholas Kay, the UN's Special Representative for Somalia, also congratulated Gaas and praised members of parliament for the "smooth process" during Wednesday's election. "I also appreciate the important role of the traditional leaders. I congratulate all the people of Puntland," he said.

Kay noted that, despite numerous challenges along the way, through "compromise and perseverance," the Puntland-led process has achieved its goal of selecting a new leader. The semi-autonomous has had a functioning government since the elections in 1998 and transitions of power have taken place without major incidents.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (BNO NEWS) -- North Korea will hold parliamentary elections in the second week of March, marking the country's first election since Kim Jong-un was promoted to Supreme Leader following the death of his father in December 2011, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

A brief dispatch from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly had decided to hold an election on March 9 to elect deputies for North Korea's 13th parliament. The 12th and current parliament was formed in 2009 and consists of 687 legislators.

"The Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) decided to hold an election of deputies to the 13th SPA on March 9, Juche 103 (2014), according to Article 90 of the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK," KCNA said in its report, referring to the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The decision was promulgated on Tuesday."

The election in March will be the first for leader Kim Jong-un, who took over to lead the impoverished and secretive country in December 2011 after his father, Kim Jong-il, died of a heart attack. Foreign experts and observers believe the elections may signal possible changes in the country's power elite under the new leadership.

North Koreans last went to the ballot box in July 2011 to 'elect' deputies to provincial, city and county assemblies. But voters who showed up had little choice but to vote for 'candidates' who were already selected for them by the ruling party, with the government reporting a 99.97 percent turnout among registered voters and those on the ballots receiving 100 percent of the vote.

Dutch stamp dealer Willem van der Bijl, who was briefly detained and accused of being a spy in 2011 during his 24th trip to the country, provided a unique insight into the election process in a 2012 interview with NK News, an independent American news website that focuses on events in North Korea.

Van der Bijl appeared in a posting on the website of the state-run Pyongyang Times newspaper after the elections took place and seemed to praise the process. "Looking round the poll, I have been greatly impressed by the free and democratic elections and I have had a better understanding of the DPRK's reality," he was quoted as saying in the report, that later turned out to be partially fabricated.

The stamp dealer told NK News that he had visited a polling station on election day and told North Korean journalists that the experience had given him a "totally new view" on how elections are held in North Korea, and that he was "surprised" to see how the country's system works.

"This was an ironic comment - in my view - on what I had seen," he said. "From their point of view, a foreigner who says he is surprised, etc., and if you miss the ironic undertone, it is a perfect piece of propaganda. Later I found out my 'interview' is on the internet as well, and even signed by me, with what is indeed my signature, as a scan from my passport."

Van der Bijl described a process in which voters have little choice but to vote in favor of the pre-selected candidate. "The voter is allowed to take a piece of paper from one of the piles at the table, in front of the officials, and visible to everybody in the room," he said. "The paper is, per pile, colored green or red, and it is your 'free' choice as to whichever color you like. After you took, in front of everybody, your - green, I hope - piece of paper, you ... are able to put it in a box."

In North Korea, all residents are legally required to vote during elections unless they have left the country with permission or if they work at sea. A similar process to what Van der Bijl described has also been reported in which voters are able to vote against the selected candidate by picking up a red pen, but doing so is known to result immediate arrest and severe punishment.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A large U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia on late Wednesday morning, killing one crew member and leaving another unaccounted for, military officials said. Three more crew members were rescued and taken to hospital.

The accident occurred at around 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday when the MH-53E Sea Dragon aircraft went down in the ocean about 18 nautical miles (33 kilometers) off Virginia Beach, a city just east of Norfolk in Virginia. Five crew members were on board the aircraft as it conducted routine training operations.

A second Navy helicopter that was in the area reported the crash and dropped a life raft to four people who were in the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The group was rescued at around 11:45 a.m. when two Navy helicopters hoisted them from the water and flew them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

The U.S. Navy later said one of those hoisted from the water had died but the conditions of the other three were not immediately known. "One crew member has been confirmed dead following the crash this morning," Naval Air Force Atlantic said in a statement. "Three crew members are being evaluated at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital."

A search and rescue operation for a fifth crew member was continuing with multiple vessels and aircraft involved, including two MH-60S helicopters from the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 28 (HSC-28). Also searching in the area are Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater, a response boat from Coast Guard Station Little Creek and vessels from the Virginia Beach Fire Department Marine Response Team.

The U.S. Navy said the downed helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 (HM-14) at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field. The aircraft is one of the largest helicopters in the Western world and is known to be prone to accidents, with Sea Dragon crashes having killed more than 30 people since 1984.

Wednesday's crash came less than 24 hours after a U.S. Air Force helicopter crashed in a nature reserve in a coastal area of eastern England. All four crew members on board were killed in the crash of the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, which is a highly modified version of the better-known Black Hawk aircraft.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A large U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia on late Wednesday morning, leaving one crew member unaccounted for, military officials said. Four other crew members were rescued, but their conditions were not immediately known.

The accident occurred at around 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday when the MH-53E Sea Dragon went down in the ocean about 18 miles (29 kilometers) off Virginia Beach. Five crew members were on board the aircraft, which is one of the largest helicopters in the Western world.

A U.S. Navy spokesperson confirmed four crew members were rescued after the crash, of whom at least two were being taken to hospital, but search and rescue operations were ongoing for a fifth crew member. Two U.S. Coast Guard vessels were participating in the rescue operations.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A large U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Wednesday off the coast of Virginia, military officials said, sparking a search and rescue operation for possible survivors. News reports said five people are believed to have been on board the aircraft.

The accident happened late Wednesday morning when the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion aircraft went down in the water about 18 miles (29 kilometers) off Cape Henry. News reports said five crew members were on board the aircraft, which is the largest and heaviest helicopter in the U.S. military.

A U.S. Navy spokesman confirmed a search and rescue operation was ongoing as of noon EST, but had no other details. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman Arlene Salac referred inquires about the accident to Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)