The story is here, and begins:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the U.S. will start easing some of its most rigorous economic restrictions on Myanmar following the country’s April 1 by-elections, which came amid continuing political reforms in the country. Does this mean Americans will soon be able to start legally buying Myanmar’s world-renowned gems, which are currently blocked by law in the U.S.?
For politics nerds only…
Anasuya is back in Bangkok after covering the recent Myanmar elections.
Imagine my joy, as someone who loves political ephemera, when she showed me the items pictured above.
I may scan in a few of the documents later and share them here, but wanted I post this snapshot for now.
Just briefly, I wanted to pass along a snapshot of a few of today’s front pages following yesterday’s landmark elections in Myanmar.
As you can see in the image above, The Bangkok Post ran a photo of some of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters. The IHT has an image of Suu Kyi herself. And The Wall Street Journal has a front page story about the election. (The photo is of damage caused by the recent bombings in Southern Thailand.)
Just briefly: there are stories about Myanmar’s parliamentary by-elections today from Bloomberg, The WSJ, Reuters, The New York Times, and many more.
The latest news, as the AP reports, is that Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party says she has won a parliamentary seat.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Voice of Burma has a liveblog featuring text and video updates.
And for real-time reports with local color, I suggest the following journalists, who are Tweeting from Myanmar:
Thanks to Richard Barrow for pointing out that Newley.com is one of the Bangkok blogs mentioned in the new edition of the Lonely Planet Thailand
This modest site is recommended as part of a boxed text feature on Bangkok sites called “The Inside Scoop.”
Some of the other blogs mentioned include 2Bangkok, Austin Bush Photography, Patrick Winn’s Global Post blog, and Greg Jorgensen’s Greg to Differ. (You can find more Thailand-related blogs on my Links page.)
You may recall that Newley.com appeared in Lonely Planet’s last edition, as well. I am honored.
(Image: Richard Barrow.)
A quick update to my previous post: Bloomberg reports:
The threat is “generic” and likely related to U.S. moves to sanction Iran over its nuclear weapons program, according to Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based analyst at IHS Jane’s.
The U.S. is “looking at pro-Iranian groups that might possibly react to what may very well go down in the Straits of Hormuz and possibly beyond,” Davis said. “It seems unlikely that terrorist attacks would be launched before the situation in the Middle East has escalated significantly.”
Tensions over the ratcheting up of sanctions led Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi to threaten on Dec. 27 that Iran may block the Strait of Hormuz, the transit for about a fifth of the world’s oil, if the European Union bans exports from the Islamic Republic.
(Emphasis mine.)
An emailed alert from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok at 1:40 p.m. local time today warned of a “possible terrorist threat” here in the Thai capital.
The statement, now available on their Web site, says:
Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens: Possible Terrorist Threat
This message alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok.
U.S. citizens are encouraged to maintain a heightened awareness when out in public; be alert for unattended packages/bags in public/crowded places and report any suspicious behavior to the nearest law enforcement personnel. We also encourage you to keep a low profile in public areas, particularly areas frequented by foreign tourists.
Some citizens subsequently received a recall note, but that was apparently sent in error.
The end of the statement says:
Note: Due to a technical error, some recipients received this message – followed by a recall message – a few minutes later. Please disregard the recall message.
For ongoing updates, you can also find the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok on Twitter at: @USEmbassyBKK.
(Emphasis mine.)
I won’t be posting anything here until the week of Jan. 9.
You might catch me on Twitter before then, though.
If you’re looking for something to read, check out the recent stories I link to from my Journalism page.
Or click over to the Popular Posts page for evergreen Newley.com posts.
I hope you have an excellent holiday season. Thanks, as ever, for reading.
(Image via.)
I won’t be posting anything here until Dec. 15 at the earliest.
In the meantime, I may be on Twitter, but dispatches there will likely be few and far between.
Thanks, as ever, for reading. More soon.
Image via.
The WSJ reports:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday on a historic mission to gauge whether the government’s recent steps toward reform are real, even as dissident groups stepped up their efforts to keep the U.S. from lifting sanctions soon.
Ever since Myanmar’s new government launched a series of limited but important reforms this year—including a partial release of political prisoners, a loosening of restrictions on the Internet, and the legalization of labor unions—observers have been both excited by the prospects of change and skeptical about government intent in the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation.
Now U.S. officials face renewed pressure from exiled dissidents and human rights activists who fear the emerging thaw between U.S. leaders and Myanmar’s government is moving too fast. Their offensive includes a series of new reports released in recent days documenting human rights abuses in the country, especially in areas controlled by ethnic insurgent groups that have fought on-again, off-again wars with Myanmar military’s for years.
The NYT says:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived here on Wednesday to measure the depth of the political and economic opening the country’s new government has unexpectedly begun.
After years of abysmal relations between the United States and Myanmar, the Obama administration has promised to respond to progress — Mrs. Clinton’s trip being the most significant reward so far — even as it presses for more significant steps to end the country’s repressive rule and international isolation.
Those include freeing hundreds more political prisoners, an end to often violent repression of democracy advocates and ethnic groups, and clarification of the country’s illicit cooperation with North Korea on developing ballistic missiles and, possibly, nuclear technologies.
And there’s a lot more where that came from.
Meanwhile, check out ABC News Radio affiliates, Slacker Personal Radio, or Aol Radio for my brief dispatches from Bangkok.