Myanmar to hold furniture show to boost timber export

YANGON,Feb-24 (Xinhua)_A five -day Myanmar furniture show will be held here early next month in a bid to introduce the country's value-added wood products to the world market and boost timber export, according to the timber trading circle Sunday.
Jointly sponsored by the state-run Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) and the Timber Enterpreneurs Association, the Myanmar Furniture Show 2008, from March 3 to 7 with 166 booths, will display various pieces of furniture,finished wood-based products,rattan and bamboo wares as well as wood-made home decoration items,said the sponsor.

Golden In The Rubbish

Although the hairs of the pig were by products got from the pork butcher business in the previous period, in the present day they are being exported is a new export item by the price of thirty thousands kyats per ton from Muse to Ruili.In the domestic,the present price of pig hairs is from 15kyats to 20 kyats.These hairs are bought to make the paint bushes in the China and so they are the gold hairs of the pig getting from the Rubbish.

Palestinians pass through the destroyed border wall into Egypt near the Rafah border crossing on 28 Jan, 2008.

Train derails in N Thailand,no casualties,Military helicopter crashes in C Philippine village

Train derails in N Thailand, no casualties

BANGKOK, 29 Jan—A train running from Bangkok to the North on Sunday morning derailed in central province of Nakhon Sawan Province, forcing all the services along the line to have been halted. According to website of the Bangkok Post, the train, bounding for northern city of Tapan Hin, was derailed in Nakhon Sawan’s Chumsaeng Station on Sunday morning. Several trains have had to terminate their services at Chumsaeng station since it is the only railway line connecting the North and Bangkok. There is no report of casualties. But all northern bound services had to be suspended until further notice. — MNA/

Military helicopter crashes in C Philippine village

MANILA, 29 Janu— A Philippine Air Force Huey helicopter has crash-landed on a personnel pick-up mission in the central Philippines, the military said Monday. According to an initial Air Force report, all nine people on board survived the crash but at least five of them sustained minor injuries. The military said the UH-1H chopper was on way from Iloilo to Cebu’s Mactan Air Base when it hit coconut trees and soon plunged on a grassy land in Balamban of the central Cebu Province Saturday afternoon. The main and tail rotor blades of the chopper were torn from their assembly while the elevator,skid and cargo doors were damaged, the report said.

Committee for Prevention against Recruiting Minors into Army holds seventh meeting

The committee allowed ambassadors and military attaches working in Myanmar including personnel of UN agencies such as UNICEF and UNDP to visit recruiting units and basic military training depots in Yangon and Mandalay. Arrangements were made for interview with raw recruits for seven times.

27 die in clashes in western Kenya Army deployed for first time since vote

NAIROBI, 27 Jan—Three days of attacks and counterattacks among rival tribal gangs have killed at least 27 people in the previously calm city of Nakuru in western Kenya, prompting the deployment of the Kenyan Army for the first time since the disputed presidential election last month unraveled this East African nation. People have been hacked with machetes, shot with poison arrows, stoned, bludgeoned and burned to death in street fighting mostly in the poorest neighbourhoods of the city, residents, local media and aid groups said Saturday. Gangs of young men from President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe are battling Kalenjins and Luos loyal to opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has accused Kibaki of stealing the 27 December election.

US soldier dies in non-combat related incident

BAGHDAD, 28 Jan— An American soldier died in a non-combat related incident in Iraq, the US military said on Saturday. A soldier assigned to Multi-National Division — Centre (MND-C) died on Friday, a brief military statement said, without specifying the location of the incident. The incident is under investigation, it said. MND-C, also known as Task Force Marne, is responsible for security in areas located along the southern edge of Baghdad and stretch to the border of Saudi Arabia in the west and to the Iranian border in the east. The latest death brings the number of US soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to more than 3,930 since the outbreak of the US-led war on Iraq in 2003, according to media account based on Pentagon figures.

Chavez suggests creating military force against US

CARACAS, 28 Jan— Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez suggested creating a joint military force for the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) member nations to see off any possible United States military aggression. Speaking during his Sunday show “Alo Presidente” alongside special guest Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega,he said “we are going to commission a working paper. We need a joint ALBA defence strategy”. Ortega backed the idea, adding that the United States was working via Colombia to threaten “not only Venezuela but also the whole of Latin America”. “If they mess with one of us, then they will be dealing with al of us,” Ortega said. “Touching Venezuela would mean setting the region alight. Messing with Venezuela is messing with all of Latin America.” Chavez added that Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio da Silva had recently agreed with the idea of creating a South American defence council, and that using the same logic not only a defence council but dedicated Armed Forces could be created.

Over 18,000 police officers protest in UK

25 Jan — Thousands of British police officers marchedthrough central London on Wednesday in protest overannual pay rise.The PoliceFederation, which represents rank and filepolice officers, claimedsome 18,500 officers participated in the biggestpolice protest since 1919,Sky news reported. The police, out oftheir uniform, areexpected to march throughthe Home Office and theHouses of Parliament tovoice their anger.Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is the targetas she decided not tobackdate the agreed 2.5 per cent pay rise forofficers to September butinstead implement it in December.She argued thatkeeping public sector payawards below 2 percent isnecessary to keep inflationunder control.Police officersbelieve the governmentshowed a breach of trustby deciding to ignore therecommen- dation of anindependent PoliceArbitration Tribunal.Nonetheless, it wasannouncedrecently thatteachers are getting 2.45per cent rise in pay,

ndthe civilianstaff who workin police stations are alsogetting more than theircolleaguesin uniform.The Police Federationhas applied for judicialreview

of the HomeSecretary’s decision.

Great writers like Kipling and Orwell were captivated by Myanmar's exceptional beauty.

Great writers like Kipling and Orwell were captivated by Myanmar's exceptional beauty.