Myanmar laws

MANILA: The Philippines said on Monday it would use an international forum in Manila this week to pressure Myanmar over new laws blocking Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from elections this year. Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said he would raise his concerns with Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference beginning on Wednesday.

Priests suspended

VIENNA: A monastery in Upper Austria hit by accusations of sexual abuse announced on Monday it had suspended two more of its clergy after further complaints, taking to five the suspensions in one week. One of the padres accused of sexual abuse at the Kremsmuenster monastery meanwhile apologised for his behaviour and said he “never meant to be a sadist”. “Father Alfons has been relieved of his duties ... and Father Petrus will also be suspended from his duties until the allegations have been fully investigated,” Abbot Ambros Ebhart in a statement on the monastery’s website. The number of complaints of sexual abuse by priests has been growing in Austria since cases came to light earlier this month.