Myanmar elections
Myanmar holds its first election in 20 years on Sunday,a vote in which parties backed by the military are assured victory. Still, the election has stirred hopes of change in the isolated nation. Reuters journalists will be blogging live the vote.
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4:48 PM: District government officials in the Thai border
town of Mae Sot say about 12,000 people have fled from a clash between Karen rebels and Myanmar government soldiers in the Myanmar town of Myawaddy. Earlier, a Thai officer said up to 20,000 people had fled but that estimate seems high. -
5:03 PM: Why have ethnic groups shunned Myanmar's election? www.reuters.com -
A group of Myanmar refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, walk across a stream of water at the Thai border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. Several rockets or mortar bombs fell on the Thai side, a witness said. There were no reports of casualties. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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A group of Myanmar refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, walk across a stream of water at the Thai border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. Several rockets or mortar bombs fell on the Thai side, a witness said. There were no reports of casualties. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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6 PM: Philippine President Benigno Aquino appears to be the first Southeast Asian leader to comment on the elections. He offered some colourfully candid comments in a briefing with reporters.
"Based on reports that we got there, voter turnout seems to be very bad -- very, very little. I am quoting supposedly diplomats there and according to the media. What we really wanted to happen there was broad-based participation. so that they can come up with a consensus and mandate whereby the new government works on that concrete mandate.
"We have been appealing for Aung San Suu Kyi and also for her party to be included because an all-inclusive election is a very necessary process to promote long-term stability in Myanmar.
"The neighbouring countries are already sharing the burden of the instability, like the diaspora of people from Myanmar.
"We tried to say this not once, at least twice, and this was echoed by several other heads of states during ASEAN meet, but they answered us that they will just be following their legal procedures and so on and so forth."
"I wish they can correct the negative effects of having a non-inclusive elections in the coming days, amongst them freeing Aung San Suu Kyi." -
Smoke rises in Myanmar's Myawaddy town when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, near the Thai border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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6:11 PM: Latest story from Reuters saying military-backed parties set to sweep rare poll www.reuters.com
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6:19 PM: The Guardian says independent Myanmar observers "have reported widespread allegations of voter intimidation and bribery in the country's first elections in a generation". www.guardian.co.uk
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6:22 PM: Another blog post by Britain's Ambassador to Myanmar Andrew Heyn for The Guardian. Here, he talked about the polling day having a 'low-key feel'. www.guardian.co.uk
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A Myanmar refugee, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, carries his relative at the Thai border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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Myanmar refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, eat at the Thai-Myanmar border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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7:21 PM: Thai news agency MCOT's report says Thailand will help the Myanmar people fleeing clashes between the government forces and a Karen group www.mcot.net
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7:40 PM: A breakaway faction of the state-aligned Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) seized government departments, including the Special Branch Police, in the Three Pagodas Pass region, The Irrawaddy reported www.irrawaddy.org
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A group of Myanmar refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, get down from a truck at the Thai border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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8:06 PM: The Irrawaddy says there are widespread irregularities with voting and vote counting. Their latest election news page (in Myanmar language) is here:- www.irrawaddy.org
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A group of Myanmar refugees, who crossed over from Myanmar to Thailand when a battle erupted between Myanmar's soldiers and rebels, board a boat on the Moei river along the Thai-Myanmar border town of Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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8:32 PM: The Irrawaddy says witnesses in Myawaddy said the bodies of about 30 government and DKBA Brigade 5 soldiers have been found in the town. See under Election Timeline www.irrawaddy.org
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8:37 PM: Kraisak Choonhavan, president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), spoke to Mizzima news. “I think there was a lot of wishful thinking, that perhaps the elections will change something, not much, but then something is better than nothing. But that hope, I think is dashed, completely." See the entry at 19:19 www.mizzima.com
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9:03 PM: Burma Campaign UK, an advocacy group, releases statement saying ethnic fighting in Myawaddy is a prelude to possible "civil war". It said it "could be just the first example of many such attacks against armed ethnic groups, creating a major humanitarian and human rights crisis."
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9:13 PM: Latest news story from Reuters on the polls denounced by U.S. President Barack Obama as stolen www.reuters.com
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Australia defends its handling of French submarine deal
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia defended its scrapping of a deal for French submarines on Sunday, saying the government had raised concerns to Paris for months, as a new deal with the United States and Britain continued to fuel a multinational diplomatic crisis.