Burma's opposition has confirmed reports that its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has had her house arrest extended. The confirmation, by the National League for Democracy (NLD), followed government reports o­n Sunday that she would remain in detention.

A rally of several thousand women workers at Muktangaon in the capital yesterday called o­n the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow duty-free access for the goods from least developed countries (LDC) like Bangladesh. Participants at the rally arranged in the build-up to the sixth WTO ministerial conference slated for December 13-18 in Hong Kong also demanded that the industrially developed nations do away with the visa requirements for the workers from LDCs. Amidst rounds of slogans against the WTO rising from the mammoth gathering, speakers accused the multilateral trade-governing body of applying double standards in its treatment of developed and developing countries. Karmojibi Nari, a non-government organisation working for female workers, organised the rally where representatives from different political parties, business bodies, trade unions, rights organisations demanded transparency in the discussions to be held during the sixth WTO conference.

Civil society leaders o­n Friday blasted the World Trade Organisation, saying it has not o­nly failed to deliver o­n its promises but also furthered the deprivation of the least developed countries in the name of free trade. They were speaking at a gathering of several thousand women workers at Muktangan in the capital. Karmojibi Nari, a women�s rights organisation, organised the rally to press home two major demands in the context of the December 13-18 WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong � market access for goods and labour movement from the least developed countries.