National News

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• '2015 is like the pre-exams … in 2020 it will be very different’: Ko Nay Phone Latt
• Refugees watch election with interest, trepidation
• Heavy rain warning issued
• Big tourism increase forecast for Bagan
• WB funds to light up villages
• WWF reveals ‘treasure trove’ of Himalayan species
• Relocated villages face water shortages
• Shwe Pyi Thar workers launch hunger strike
• Up to 1 million still missing from Yangon voter list
• KIO: ‘We can’t sign if the govt does not accept all groups’

'2015 is like the pre-exams … in 2020 it will be very different’: Ko Nay Phone Latt Posted: 06 Oct 2015 11:33 PM PDT Ko Nay Phone Latt knows quite a bit about what happens when politics and technology collide. He's a third-generation National League for Democracy member – now running on the party's ticket to take a seat in the Yangon Region Hluttaw. He speaks to Catherine Trautwein about Myanmar's changes and how social media will impact the November 8 election.

Refugees watch election with interest, trepidation Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Outside of Nai Soi village in northern Thailand, more than 14,000 refugees from Kayah State debate elections going on just across the border. While there will be no voting for those in Thailand's largest refugee camp – most lack ID cards – that doesn't mean they don't have opinions about the coming polls.

Heavy rain warning issued Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Monsoon season won't be exiting quite yet, as a low-pressure area continues to hover over the Bay of Bengal. The rain will continue this week, with downpours expected along the coastal and upper reaches of Myanmar, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Big tourism increase forecast for Bagan Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Despite the doubling of the entry fee to the Bagan tourist zone over the past two years, and discouraging news of floods and explosions, officials expect visitor numbers to continue to grow "dramatically" in the near future.

WB funds to light up villages Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Power is coming to the people – the village people, that is.

WWF reveals ‘treasure trove’ of Himalayan species Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Scientists rarely discover mammals anymore – especially not ones as eccentric as noseless monkeys that sneeze every time it rains. But the critically endangered snub-nosed monkeys of Kachin State, discovered in 2010, were one of 211 new species found between 2009 and 2014 in the widely diverse slice of land hugging the eastern Himalayas, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.

Relocated villages face water shortages Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT More than 8000 people relocated for a hydropower project near Nay Pyi Taw say they are facing severe water shortages.

Shwe Pyi Thar workers launch hunger strike Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Angered that the establishment of a national minimum wage has led to effective pay cuts of about 30 percent, workers from the Han Jen garment factory in Yangon's Shwe Pyi Thar township have mounted a hunger strike.

Up to 1 million still missing from Yangon voter list Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT Yangon's electoral rolls are still short 1 million domestic migrants, according to the regional election commission's count. Those hoping to jump on the election bandwagon are only being given a very narrow window to amend their absence on the list, however, with officials advising applications to correct the errors be sent in by October 10.

KIO: ‘We can’t sign if the govt does not accept all groups’ Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:30 PM PDT The Kachin Independence Organisation is one of the largest groups refusing to join a nationwide ceasefire agreement which the government intends to sign with a minority of armed ethnic factions on October 15. KIO deputy chief of staff Major General Gun Maw spoke to senior reporter Ye Mon of The Myanmar Times at a summit of armed ethnic organisationsin Chiang Mai, held from September 28 to 30, when divisions among them dealt a blow to hopes that a genuine "nationwide" ceasefire would be reached.

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