Bagan bag snatchers target female cyclists

The move follows two incidents last week in which foreign tourists were robbed while cycling through the town. The first victim was a Chinese female robbed by a man on a motorbike while returning to her hotel after sunset, police said. They said the incident occurred at Thinkharya and Anawrahta roads near Alodawpyae Temple.

Her backpack contained her passport, bank card, digital camera, mobile phone, more than US$300 in cash, and her hotel key, police said.

Two days later, a British female tourist was robbed by a thief on a motorbike. Her bag was snatched near Shwe Leiktoo Pagoda. It contained cash equivalent to about $1,000, and a camera and other valuables, police said.

They said they had asked staff at bicycle-rental shops to warn tourists about the incidents so they could protect themselves.

 

 

Eleven Media seeks green light to go daily 

Eleven Media Group has applied to the Ministry of Information for permission to print daily, joining seven other companies that have applied to do the same. 

Last Friday’s application follows a government announcement in December that – for the first time in almost half a century – privately owned companies would be allowed to publish daily newspapers starting in April.

So far eight companies, including Eleven Media, have sought permission from the ministry to print daily newspapers. 

Previously, the information ministry said that any Myanmar national wishing to publish a daily could submit an application from February 1. It also said that daily newspapers would be permitted in any language.

The government ended a near 50-year policy of state censorship last August that required news outlets to submit their publication to state censors before distribution.

Myanmar has several state-run dailies and a host of privately owned weeklies, usually referred to as journals. Some journals report news while others focus on sports and other topics.

The opening of the media is considered a critical part of President Thein Sein’s social and political-reform process.

 

 

14 Myanmar crew missing as ship sinks 

A cargo ship that sank yesterday off the northwestern coast of the Philippines was not registered in Myanmar though it did have a Myanmar crew, an official from the Department of Marine Administration said.

“There aren’t any registered ships in Myanmar with the name MV Arita Bauxite. Also, there aren’t any coal-carrying ships in Myanmar. The only registered ships in Myanmar that carry national flags are the ones from Myanmar Five Star Line,” the official said.

Thaung Kyaing, director of the Seaman Employment Control Division, said officials were still investigating if the Myanmar crew left the country through agencies registered with it. If the seamen were recruited through registered agencies the division would know the agencies, he said. AFP reported that the ship was carrying 24 crewmembers when it sank after its engines failed. A Chinese vessel rescued nine crewmembers and recovered a body of a Malaysian national. Fourteen crew remain missing.