USDP registers senior army officers as election candidates
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has accepted 57 senior military officers, including several top commanders, as candidates to contest for parliament during the general elections scheduled for Nov. 8, according to a party official. These candidates retired from their military portfolios this week. The USDP is currently made up of former junta members, including President Thein Sein, who is an ex-general. (Source: The Myanmar Times)
Storm alert issued for Rakhine State, Irrawaddy Delta
Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has warned the people living in coastal areas in Rakhine State and the Irrawaddy Delta region for potential heavy rains and strong winds after an atmospheric depression developed in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. Although the depression is closer to the Indian coast, strong winds are expected to make landfall in some areas of Myanmar where dozens of towns have already been hit by floods during the past weeks. (Source: 7 Day Daily)
Flood Death Toll Reaches 103
Myanmar state-run media announced that the death toll of the floods, which have wrought destruction on hundreds of towns and villages across the country, reached 103 on Aug. 11, while more than one million people have been affected. Some 500,000 acres of paddy field have been destroyed, out of a total 1.3 million acres inundated, the government mouthpiece said. (Source: Myanma Ahlin)