U.S. to Relax Burma Sanctions

After two decades without an ambassador in Burma, the U.S. State Department is taking modest steps to normalize relations with the Asian nation now that it has made progress toward democracy. Ruled by a military dictatorship, Burma had jailed several thousand political dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who just won a seat in the lower house of Parliament. Elections have been set for 2015, when roughly 75 percent of the seats will be up for grabs. The U.S. will look to name an ambassador and set up a U.S. Agency for International Development office.