A round-up of other world news in brief
Burma's ailing dictator resigns
RANGOON – Burma’s reclusive and ailing dictator Than Shwe has resigned his military post, exiled Burmese media have reported, paving the way for him to become president in Burma’s government after the elections.
Shwe, the despot who has brutally ruled southeast Asia’s poorest country as commander-in-chief of the armed forces since 1992, yesterday handed control of the army to his adjutant general.
However, the 77-year-old will remain head of the Burmese government.
More than a dozen other senior military officers also resigned, in an ominous sign for the country's forthcoming elections. – ( Guardianservice)
Thousands protest over station plan
BERLIN – Thousands took to the streets of Stuttgart yesterday to demonstrate against building a new train station, a one-issue protest that has become a wider outcry against German politicians in general.
Several thousand people formed a human chain, police said, to march in protest against one of Germanys biggest-ever building projects – demolishing Stuttgart’s landmark railway station and building an underground station.
Violence erupted in the southern city this week as thousands have staged daily sit-down strikes trying to stop the €4.1 billion project, which critics say is not needed and a waste of taxpayer money.– (Reuters)
Recession blamed for US births fall
CHICAGO – US birth rates in 2009 declined for the second year in a row, a sign the economy may be causing some women to think twice about having children, health officials said yesterday.
Estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 4,136,000 children were born in 2009, down 2.6 per cent from the 2008 figure.
That followed a similar decline in 2008, the start of the economic downturn that has yet to abate.
“We saw a decline in 2008 and 2009. The timing is very consistent with saying it is associated with the recession and the economy in general,” said Paul Sutton of the Centers for Disease Control. – (Reuters)