Burma will be on top of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's agenda during her sixth Asian trip when she meets leaders of Japan, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Australia during the next two weeks, said a top US official. He said the US is focused on the Nov. 7 election in Burma

Young members of disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) distributed election boycott leaflets in Insein and Mingalardon Townships in Rangoon Division this morning, said local residents.

In a further plea for a “transparent and credible” election in Burma, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Bangkok on Tuesday: “It is not too late, even now, to make this election more inclusive.”

Politicians representing pro-election parties have expressed support for the “Kale Declaration” made by ethnic leaders and politicians opposed to the Nov. 7 election in Kale, Sagaing Division on Sunday.

While the Burmese military junta presses ahead with its decision to hold a general election that much of the international community has condemned as a “sham,” the Obama administration is believed to be considering imposing additional sanctions on Burma, a congressional report has said.

A major opposition party in Burma called on Tuesday for the postponement of the Nov. 7 election in three townships of Arakan State which were   devastated by Cyclone Giri.

Burmese authorities have banned all Rangoon journals from being distributed by air to isolated regions of the country after anti-regime leaflets were found inside some journals, a source at the Ministry of Transport said on Monday.

The Mon cease-fire group, the New Mon State Party (NMSP), released a statement on Oct. 18 requesting people in Burma including ethnic Mon to abstain from voting on Nov. 7.

Tensions are high in Arakan State as the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) seeks to marginalize the ethnic Rohingya party, the National Democratic Party for Development (NDPD), which is competing in the Nov. 7 election in several constituencies with high Muslim populations in the state.

WASHINGTON —  Burma's United Nations Ambassador, Thant Kyaw, told an incredulous UN committee on Wednesday that his country has no political prisoners.