Key Myawaddy border crossing reopens

Andy Wilman, executive producer of BBC’s Top Gear programme, has expressed regret for a remark on the show’s Burma special when host Jeremy Clarkson used the word "slope" as an Asian man crossed a bridge over the River Kwai. The term is a derogatory expression used to describe Asians. The comment led to complaints of racism and the threat of legal action from Equal Justice, a law firm specialising in discrimination cases, which accused Clarkson of "clear gross misconduct" and said his comments made the BBC appear "institutionally racist".

Thirty undocumented Burmese migrants were arrested and detained by Thai police on Tuesday as they were being transported to Pathum Thani Province, north of Bangkok, allegedly to work. The migrants – 18 men and 12 women – were dressed in white monastic robes as part of a guise that they were travelling to a Buddhist conference. Four Thai nationals – two Buddhist monks and two drivers – were also arrested when the two minivans were stopped at a Thai police checkpoint near the Thai border town of Mae Sot border following a tip-off.

Recent fighting between Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) around Momauk and Man Win Gyi in southern Kachin State has forced several thousand people to flee their homes. UNICEF estimates that about 1,000 children are among the displaced, and are at particular risk to landmines, possible recruitment, and disease. "The fighting and the associated displacement of families has increased the health risks that children face, including by reducing their access to safe, reliable water and sanitation facilities," said Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF representative to Burma.

Duty-free shops in Burma, including those at international airports, must gain new licenses by May as per a directive of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, who stated that arrangements made between businesses and the previous government will no longer be valid. Owners must now re-register with permission from the Central Bank to possess foreign currency and gain an export/import operator license. Failing this, businesses will be shut down. Duty free shops are one of the few businesses legally able to import foreign liquor.

Garment manufacturing accounts for approximately 60 percent of proposed investments in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), according to the zone’s Public Holdings chair Win Aung, who also heads the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Win Aung said that another 15 percent of bids are for electronics manufacture, while auto parts and food products account for 10 percent each.

Burma’s Ministry of Information said eight million tablets of unapproved pseudo-ephedrine were seized in Mandalay on 17 April. Five people have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law for possession of the stash, which the ministry said is among the largest bulk drug confiscations ever in Mandalay. The ministry did not specify the value of the illegal goods. Mandalay, in central Burma, is less than 300km from borders with both India and China, which has made it a convenient hub for the trafficking of illegal and contraband drugs.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that eight Burma Army servicemen and 14 Kachin Independence Army soldiers were killed in skirmishes in northern Burma’s Kachin State between 4 and 13 April in Momauk and Mansi townships. Clashes occurred as the Burma Army attempted to “re-secure a communication route” between Bhamo and Seinlon. The report did not, however, offer any details about displacement caused by the fighting. Aid workers have estimated that thousands of civilians were forced to flee, either to neighbouring Shan State or to the Burma-China border.

The 7 million population attributed to the city of Rangoon by some daily newspapers and journals is only their estimate based on some census numbers they have received, said Khine Khine Soe, the director of the Department of Immigration and Population. She said that some townships generally assumed to be in the “metropolitan” area are in fact yet to be demarcated by Yangon City Development Committee. She said the official numbers will not be revealed until the first quarter of 2015.