A woman stands under the sign for the Yangon division office of the National League for Democracy on Thursday in Tarmwe township in Yangon, Myanmar.

MYANMAR'S ruling junta has allowed the opposition party of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi to reopen regional offices that have been closed since 2003, a party spokesman said on Thursday.

BANGKOK, Mar 11, 2010 - It may have not won an Oscar, but its having been a final contender for the prestigious statue at the U.S. Academy Awards on Mar.

Burma's long awaited election law has been published in state controlled newspapers but failed to create much excitement.

Over the past two decades, India's approach to Burma has undergone a complete turnaround, from support for the country's democracy movement following the popular uprising in 1988 to today's cozy relationship with its military dictators.

Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she is surprised but undaunted at the military government's new election laws that will bar her from running for office or even voting in polls to be held this year.

Burma's military government today announced criteria for the formation of an election commission, one of five new laws enacted ahead of long-awaited polls that, until now, have been shrouded in secrecy.

Newly issued laws in preparation for 2010 elections in Burma are designed to exclude the main opposition party and ensure a victory for the ruling military, Human Rights Watch said today.

Yangon a ' Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday issued permission for detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party to reopen its branch offices, a party spokesman said.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has received state approval to open a branch in Myanmar, local media reported Wednesday.

Western sanctions that have decimated Myanmar's once-thriving garment sector have led to a rare series of strikes that have unnerved its military rulers, fearful of civil unrest in the run-up to long-awaited elections.

The military ruled Burma emerges as an important actor on the projected peace talks between the Union government of India and the banned militant group, United Liberation Front of Asom .

Burma issued the first details of long-awaited polling laws Tuesday, revealing that the ruling military will pick all members of the country's new election commission.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi exits a Yangon hotel after a meeting with a U.S. envoy in November.

Rangoon a ' Burma has put in a bid to host the South-East Asian Games of 2013 at the military's new capital of Naypyitaw, media reports said Monday.

In the latest escalation of labor tensions in Burma, around 4,000 factory workers at an industrial estate on the outskirts of Rangoon staged a sit-in on Saturday to demand better pay, according to sources in the area.

' Burma VJ ,' a documentary about the September 2007 mass uprising in Rangoon that was nominated for an Academy Award, missed out on Sunday as a Japanese film about the secret slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese town titled ' The Cove ' took the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature of 2009.

Myanmara s elections scheduled for this year must include detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi , United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Laws will set out rules on how Burma's 1st parliamentary elections in 20 years will be carried out later this year.

MYANMAR'S military government announced on Monday the enactment of long-awaited laws for forthcoming elections this year but gave no immediate date for the polls, state media said.