UN evacuates Myanmar

YANGON : The UN said it had begun evacuating staff today from its base in western Myanmar (Burma) where fierce sectarian unrest has seen deadly clashes between Muslims and Buddhists.

UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Yangon, Ashok Nigam, said about 44 workers and their families were leaving Maungdaw in the troubled Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh.

“It is most of the international staff but local staff based in Maungdaw will still be there,” he said, adding the voluntary measure was “temporary” and “because of the insecurity and disturbance”.

A first group left Maungdaw yesterday followed by a second group today.

UN workers were gathering in the state capital Sittwe, he said, and most would be flown to Myanmar’s main city of Yangon. Workers for other nongovernmental organisations had also been helped to leave the area, Nigam said.

Myanmar’s government declared a state of emergency in Rakhine yesterday to deal with the violence.

The state, which is predominantly Buddhist, is home to a large number of Muslims including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Nigam said it was “a challenge” for staff to function in Maungdaw, which has been put under a curfew and where the UN has a humanitarian operation. – Sapa-AFP MCALLEN (Texas): A shotgun that once belonged to Western sharpshooter and entertainer Annie Oakley sold for more than $143 000 (R 1.18m) at an auction in Dallas.

The trove of about 100 of the icon’s items headlining Heritage Auctions’ “Legends of the Wild West” event brought in nearly $520 000, according to the auction house.

The items included several guns, her Stetson hat, photographs and letters. Oakley’s great-grandnieces put up the items, which they had inherited from their mother, who died in 2009.

One of those descendants, Terrye Holcomb, said, overall, the auction’s success left her with a positive feeling, but “there’s a little bit of melancholy and sadness that goes with it”.

Oakley became famous for her marksmanship while travelling in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. She died in 1926 at the age of 66. – Sapa-AP