Editorial Desk
The Nation
Publication Date : 24-10-2012

It was inevitable that the US would eventually initiate some form of military cooperation with Myanmar, but few expected that it would come so early. Washington's invitation for Nay Pyi Taw to join the annual Cobra Gold US-Thai military exercise is a reward for Myanmar's rapid process of reform. It also demonstrates just how desperate the US is to make trade inroads into a country that has been isolated from the international community for the past five decades.

RANGOON—Fresh clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have broken out in volatile western Burma, leaving at least two people dead and more than a thousand homes burned to the ground, authorities said on Tuesday.

by Danielle Bernstein
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation says Burma’s decision to deny it an office in the country is a setback that appears to contradict an earlier agreement the group struck with Burmese officials. This week, thousands of Burmese monks and others protested against the opening of the office for the 57-nation group that has been investigating communal violence in Rakhine state.