Yangon - Myanmar's chief opposition party on Wednesday presented the ruling junta with a list of demands it must meet, including the freeing of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, before the party will contest the general election planned next year. The preconditions were announced by National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Nyan Win at the end of a two-day plenary meeting of the opposition party at its Yangon headquarters, attended by more than 300 party representatives.

Yangon - More than 100 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party gathered at their Yangon headquarters Monday for a plenary meeting held this week to set their stance on crucial issues such as the pending polls. Monday's meeting was in preparation for the plenary session Tuesday and Wednesday at which all members of the opposition will discuss the country's recently passed constitution, elections planned for 2010 and the future of democracy in the military-controlled nation, sources said.

Yangon - Myanmar's state-controlled press Friday issued warnings that Cyclone Bijli could hit the country's western coast over the weekend.

According to Myanmar's meteorological office, Cyclone Bijli, which was centred in the west-central part of the Bay of Bengal on Thursday, was forecast to enter the area between Bangladesh and Myanmar's Rakhine State on Saturday, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

Yangon - A son of late Karen rebellion leader general Bo Mya has defected to the Myanmar's military junta, an official statement said Saturday.

Nay Soe Mya, with a group of soldiers and their families totaling 159 people, crossed over on March 30 to enjoy the "fruits of regional development" after "witnessing the nation-building endeavours being carried out by the state," the statement said.

Yangon - The US government donated 16,000 tons of rice to typhoon-ravaged Irrawaddy delta Wednesday, prompting the normally hostile state-run media to the cover the news, an official of the US embassy in Yangon confirmed.

"There were five journalists from Ministry of Information who joined our trip for the first time," the official said.

The trip was led Larry Dinger, the deputy chief of mission, and included officials from the World Food Programme. The donated rice was imported from the US, sources said.

Yangon - The dramatic appreciation of the Myanmar kyat against the dollar over the past three months has cut into the earnings of Burmese working abroad, the Myanmar Times reported Tuesday.

"The kyat has recently risen in value for reasons not entirely clear, even against the US dollar, which now costs about 1,000 kyat," the English-language weekly reported.

For most of last year, the black market rate for the kyat was 1,200 to 1,300 to the dollar.