NEWS IN BRIEF
OFFICIALS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Two Burmese officials have been sentenced to death for espionage after they were found guilty of leaking details of secret regime visits to North Korea and Russia, as well as information on the regime's tunnel project near the capital, Naypyidaw.
Major Win Naing Kyaw (in Photo) &Thura Kyaw, aka Aung Aung, of the ministry of foreign affairs office was also sentenced to death under the state emergency act/
BURMA TO BUY RUSSIAN FIGHTER
Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20MiG 29 fighter planes to Burma in a deal worth 570 million US Dollars. Russia is Significant arms supplier to the Burmese regime. In 2001 the regim used its first down-payment for gas exports from TOTAL's gas project to buy 10MIG jets from Russia.
OPIUM CULTIVATION IN BURMA INCREASES
United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) latest report opium poppy cultivation in South - East Asia revels that opium poppy production in Burma has risen by almost 50% since 2006 and has increased by 11% from a year ago.
BURMA 3RD MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
The corruption watchdog Transparency international says Burma is the third most corrupt country in the world in its 2009 report. The report also placed Burma at the bottom of the list as South East Asia's most corrupt country.
