YANGON, Myanmar -- With their sensual choreography and provocative outfits, the five members of Myanmar's first girl band are pushing the limits of artistic acceptability in this socially conservative country. But when their parents call, asking why they are still not home at 10 p.m., the band members scurry back to their lives as deferential...
At least 17 people died and 80 were injured in an early morning explosion at an industrial district in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, the police said Thursday. A police officer said 12 men and 5 women had been confirmed dead as of 6 a.m. Witnesses said a fire at a chemical warehouse causing an explosion that set off smaller blasts. The police...
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar -- The road leading to Myanmar's giant Parliament building is 20 lanes wide, well suited for military processions but eerily empty the rest of the time. A half-hour drive away, down this city's manicured avenues, is another immense edifice, still under construction: a military museum that will serve as a shrine to the country's...
Væsentlige eksportartikler fra byen omfatter ris, teaktræ, petroleum, uld og jernmalm. Byen har rismøller, savværker, olieraffinaderier og stål-, jern- og kobberindustri.
Byen blev sandsynligvis grundlagt i det 6. århundrede. Byen var dog, indtil den blev gjort til hovedstad i 1753 af kong Alaungapaya, en lille fiskerlandsby. Byen kom under britisk suverænitet i 1852. I 1930 blev byen ramt af et stort jordskælv og en flodbølge, som ødelagde størstedelen af byen.
Under 2. verdenskrig besatte japanske styrker byen den 8. marts 1942.
Hovedstaden blev flyttet til Naypyidaw d. 7. november 2005.