Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

US trade sanctions on Burma close to renewal

-
Thursday, 19 July 2012 11:12 Mizzima News

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday voted to extend trade sanctions on Burma for three more years.

The legislation was passed by committee to continue a U.S. ban on imports, and must now go to the full Senate.

US Sen. Mitch McConnell and Aung San Suu Kyi at her home in Rangoon in June. The US Senate is now considering the extension of trade sanctions on Burma. Suu Kyi has asked McConnell to work to remove more sanctions. Photo: Mizzima

The legislation, if approved, could be rescinded at any time, as a reward for Burma making continued democratic reforms.

Burmese opposition leader lobbied Sen. Mitch McConnell on Wednesday by telephone to work to remove the trade sanctions. However, the extension of the trade ban appears to have wide support in the US government and is expected to be renewed.

The bill updates legislation first passed in 2003 and which expires near the end of this month. It preserves the White House's authority to waive or terminate the sanctions.

The United States imported $356.4 million of clothing and other goods from Burma in 2002, the last full year before the U.S. import ban was imposed. Imports fell to $275.7 million in 2003 and have been zero in most years since.

The Obama administration eased some investment sanctions last week to allow US companies to invest in Burma and provide services in the country. Only days later, General Electric coorporation sold medical imaging equipment to two private Burmese hospitals, and said it was interested in entering the electrical energy and health sectors, among others.

Sen. Orin Hatch, the ranking Republican member of the finance committee, said on the committee website: “This bill reauthorizes our statutory sanctions regime on Burma. This provides the Administration with the continued flexibility to ease trade and investment rules between the United States and Burma, while at the same time retaining the ability to re-impose sanctions should the situation in Burma deteriorate.

“I am quite hopeful about the change taking place in Burma.  The Burmese people have suffered for much too long under the yoke of poverty and oppression.”

Hatch said, “While much work remains, I want to publicly acknowledge the leadership of the current governing party as well as those newly elected representatives in working to forge a new and open Burmese society, one we hope will be founded on the rule of law and economic freedom.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said, “By reauthorizing the import sanctions for three years, we maintain pressure on the Burmese government to undertake reforms.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more