Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi set for key elections

The NLD is expected to enter parliament as the official opposition

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Burma: Battle for Democracy

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Voters in Burma go to the polls shortly for by-elections that promise to be the most open contests in decades, with Aung San Suu Kyi among those standing.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) is contesting all 45 seats, vacated when politicians joined the new, military-backed civilian government.

It is the first time Ms Suu Kyi is standing in an election herself.

It is also the first time international observers have been allowed to monitor elections in modern Burma.

The European Union looks set to ease some sanctions on the country if Sunday's elections go smoothly.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi spent a total of 15 years under house arrest after the military overturned her party's landslide general election victory in 1990.

While only a fraction of seats are being decided, the NLD is expected to enter parliament as the official opposition.

With tens of thousands of people turning out to back Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow NLD candidates, the by-elections have taken on a huge significance, the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Burma reports.

'Not irreversible'

Election officials in Rangoon and other parts of the country have been making final checks at polling stations, ensuring ballot boxes and booths are ready.

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Burmese by-elections

• At least 45 seats are being contested by 176 candidates from 17 parties, with eight independents
• The Lower House has 440 seats (330 elected), the Upper House 224 seats (168 elected) and the regional assemblies 14, with25% of the seats appointed by the military
• Aung San Suu Kyi is seeking a seat inKawhmu district south of Rangoon
• Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), is contesting all seats
• By-election fills vacancies of those elected in 2010 polls who became ministers and deputy ministers

"We're preparing the election on 1 April to be free and fair," election official Maung Maung Than told the Associated Press news agency. "We'll make it free and fair, I believe this."

Ms Suu Kyi is standing for a lower house seat in the Kawhmu Township constituency outside Rangoon.

She arrived there on Saturday in a convoy of NLD cars, plastered with party stickers.

Small groups of people gathered to welcome her, wearing NLD T-shirts and waving party banners and portraits, AFP news agency reports.

The NLD boycotted the 2010 general election on the grounds that election laws were unfair.

Earlier, Ms Suu Kyi described this year's election campaign as not ''genuinely free and fair" but said she and her part did not regret taking part.

"Still we are determined to go forward because this is what our people want," she said.

At the same time, she warned that Burma's democratisation was "not irreversible".

'Exciting prospect'

A small number of representatives from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), along with the EU and US, have been invited to observe polling.

Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for a lower house seat in the Kawhmu Township outside Rangoon

More than 100 foreign journalists are believed to have received permission to cover the vote.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said political sanctions on Burma were mostly "aimed towards individuals" and could be eased when EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on 23 April.

The lifting of such sanctions could "even happen with immediate effect", he told AFP on a visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

"The European Union and also myself, I am excited by the prospect that finally, hopefully Myanmar citizens will get more freedom," Mr De Gucht added.

"Political freedoms and economic freedoms always go together."

Iran crisis: US to apply fresh oil sanctions

Oil exports are a crucial part of the Iranian economy

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Iran nuclear crisis

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• Oil embargo impact

US President Barack Obama has approved the introduction of fresh sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil.

In a statement, Mr Obama said US allies boycotting Iranian oil would not suffer negative consequences because there was enough oil in the world market.

The move would allow the US to take measures against foreign banks that still deal with Iranian oil.

Iran is facing international pressure to address concerns over its nuclear enrichment programme.

Western countries suspect Iran of attempting to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insists the programme is purely peaceful.

Mr Obama said in a statement that he would continue to monitor the global market closely to ensure it could handle a reduction of oil purchases from Iran.

The US president was required by a law he signed in December to determine by 31 March whether the market allowed countries to "significantly" cut their purchases from Iran.

'On notice'

A statement from the White House acknowledged that "a series of production disruptions in South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and the North Sea have removed oil from the market" in the first months of 2012.

"Nonetheless, there currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their import of Iranian oil," the statement says.

"In fact, many purchasers of Iranian crude oil have already reduced their purchases or announced they are in productive discussions with alternative suppliers."

Under the law signed in December, countries have until 28 June to show they have significantly reduced the amount of crude oil they purchase from Iran or face being cut off from the US financial system.

Earlier this month, the US gave exemptions from the sanctions to Japan and 10 EU countries which have reduced their imports of Iranian oil.

The new measures will put pressure on other heavy importers of Iranian oil such as South Korea, India, China, Turkey and South Africa.

"Today, we put on notice all nations that continue to import petroleum or petroleum products from Iran that they have three months to significantly reduce those purchases or risk the imposition of severe sanctions on their financial institutions," Senator Bob Menendez, who co-authored the sanctions legislation, told the Associated Press.

This is the latest in a series of gradual moves designed to put pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

An EU oil embargo also comes into effect in June.

Turkey announced on Friday that it would be cutting oil imports from Iran by 20%.

US officials have refused to speculate on the likely impact on global oil prices of the latest move.

Correspondents say mounting pressure on Iran to make concessions over its nuclear programme has already been cited as one of the factors behind recent oil price rises, including a sharp rise in the price of petrol in the US.

The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says Friday's move is a significant tightening of the screw because it means, in theory, that if a company or country tries to buy oil from the Iranian central bank then it could face being cut off from the US banking system.

But, he says, the US has had to make exceptions to countries like Japan, who have already made moves to cut back, reflecting the reliance of countries on Iranian oil.

And other big consumers, he says, like China and India, get round the sanctions by bartering wheat and soybeans for oil.

Spanish general strike protesters clash with police

Striker in Spain: "We are not responsible for this situation"

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Spanish police have clashed with demonstrators on the day of a general strike called in protest at the government's labour market reforms.

Some of the marchers in Barcelona smashed windows and set rubbish bins alight. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges.

There were also protests in the capital, Madrid, and other cities.

Land and air travel were all affected, and domestic and European flights cut to a fraction of normal levels.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will unveil measures on Friday aimed at saving tens of billions of euros and making it easier for businesses to sack employees.

It hopes the changes will cut unemployment which is currently the highest in the EU at 23%.

Nearly half of Spain's under 25s are out of work.

Shops burnt out

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“Start Quote

The unions see it not just as a trial of strength but as a battle over the future of the welfare state”

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Unions said 800,000 people joined the protest in Barcelona. Police put the number at 80,000.

Most of the protests were peaceful, but some protesters hurled rocks at bank offices and shop fronts. A branch of the coffee chain Starbucks was set on fire.

"They burned a two-storey Starbucks cafe and another shop," a spokesman for the regional interior ministry told the AFP news agency. "It is out now. In the shop there is broken glass and they took out whatever they could burn."

Police fired tear gas and shot rubber bullets at the ground, TV pictures showed.

In Madrid, 900,000 people took part in protest marches, according to unions. The government did not provide any figures.

Scuffles with police broke out early on Thursday as workers from Spain's biggest unions picketed Madrid's bus depot.

Unions claimed strong support at car factories and other industrial sites but the government played down the impact.

Noisy picket lines formed outside transport hubs and some businesses.

Unions said more than 80% of workers took part, but the government said many services were kept running.

One young demonstrator told the BBC that Spain was a "market dictatorship".

The strike is the government's first big challenge since taking office after elections last November.

'Rights wiped away'

By agreement between the government and the unions, bus and rail services were kept to a minimum service while only one in 10 domestic and one in five European flights were able to operate.

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“Start Quote

The rights that our parents and grandparents fought for are being wiped away without the public being consulted”

Angel AndrinoProtester in Madrid

Outside Atocha - one of Madrid's main rail stations - picketers waved red union flags and blew whistles as police looked on.

One protester in Madrid, 31-year-old Angel Andrino, said he had been sacked a day after the labour reforms were approved in a decree last month.

Accompanied on the march by his parents and brother, he told the Associated Press news agency: "We are going through a really hard time, suffering.

"The rights that our parents and grandparents fought for are being wiped away without the public being consulted."

The UGT union said that participation in the strike was "massive" and that virtually all workers at Renault, Seat, Volkswagen and Ford car factories around Spain had honoured it during the shift.

Regional TV stations in Andalusia in the south, Catalonia in the north-east and Madrid were also off the air because of the strike.

With the EU's highest rate of unemployment, Spain is under pressure to reduce its budget deficit and bring its public finances under control.

"The question here is not whether the strike is honoured by many or few, but rather whether we get out of the crisis," the country's Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said.

"That is what is at stake, and the government is not going to yield."

On 10 February, the government approved legislation cutting severance pay to a maximum of 33 days' salary for each year worked, compared with the current 45 days.

The government insists the reforms will create a more flexible system for businesses and workers, in a country with a stagnant economy that needs to start creating jobs.

Mr Rajoy, who took office in December, defended his measures on the grounds that they would eventually generate more jobs.

"No government has passed as many reforms in its first 100 days in office as this one," he said on Tuesday, speaking on a visit to South Korea.

"The biggest mistake would be to do nothing," the Spanish prime minister added.

Are you in Spain? What do you think of the planned labour reforms? Are you taking part in the strike? Will you be affected by the strike? You can send us your views and experiences using the form below.

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