Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Muslim people gather as the bodies of victims of a fire are brought for their funeral at Yaeway cemetery in Yangon on April 2, 2013. Thousands of Muslims attended the funeral for the 13 victims of the fire that broke out in a dormitory of an Islamic school in the central, multi-ethnic Botataung district of the former capital. The fire caused by faulty electrical equipment killed 13 boys at the school in Yangon on Tuesday, the fire service said.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

People carry a coffin during the funeral for victims of a fire at Yaeway cemetery in Yangon on April 2, 2013.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

Muslim women cry during burials of victims of a mosque fire on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on April 2, 2013. A fire engulfed a mosque housing Muslim schoolchildren in Myanmar's largest city on Tuesday, killing at least 13. Police, anxious over sectarian violence that has shaken the nation, blamed an electrical short circuit for the blaze and said they were investigating mosque authorities for possible negligence.

By Reuters

A fire caused by faulty electrical equipment killed 13 boys at an Islamic school in Myanmar on Tuesday, the fire service said, although some Muslims voiced concern since it followed a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the Buddhist-majority country.

The boys suffocated after the fire broke out in a dormitory of the school in the central, multi-ethnic Botataung district of the former capital of Yangon at about 2:40 a.m. (2010 GMT on Monday).

Yangon Region Fire Service said it was setting up a team to investigate the fire with the police, the electricity company and representatives of Muslim groups.

"The fire, caused by the overheating of the transformer placed under the staircase, spread, trapping the boys sleeping in the attic. As a result, 13 twelve-year-old boys died of suffocation after inhaling smoke," a fire service officer said, reading from a statement.

About 70 boys were thought to have been sleeping in the dormitory, which is in a mosque compound. Most managed to escape when fire officers broke open the double-locked doors to the building, Colonel Win Naing, chief of Yangon Division police, told reporters.

Continue reading.

Minzayar / Reuters

People carry a coffin during a funeral for the victims of a fire at Yaeway cemetery in Yangon on April 2, 2013.

Lynn Bo Bo / EPA

Journalists work in the Voice Weekly News Journal newsroom as they prepare for publication in Yangon, Myanmar.

Lynn Bo Bo / EPA

A Buddhist monk and a man read a new private daily newspaper in Yangon, Myanmar on April 1. Myanmar ended a five-decade state monopoly on daily news, when four privately owned newspapers hit the streets.

Lynn Bo Bo / EPA

A journalist works in the Voice Weekly News Journal newsroom in Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar ended a five-decade state monopoly on daily news, when four privately owned newspapers hit the streets on Monday.

In August of 2012, Myanmar's quasi-civilian government embarked on media reforms as part of its democratization program and recently granted licenses to 16 media groups to print daily papers. Only four publications were available on the first day that the reforms took effect.

"All four papers sold out quickly today," Kyi Kyi, a roadside book vendor, told Reuters.

"But it's very hard to predict their future sales since three of them were distributed free of charge today and the remaining one was sold at 150 kyat ($0.17) per copy." Continue reading.

Myanmar media was ranked among the most oppressed during its military rule.

-- European Pressphoto Agency, Reuters, Associated Press

Khin Maung Win / AP

A press operator holds a page of a daily newspaper at a printing press on April 1, in Yangon, Myanmar.

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Workers arrange the pages of The Voice Daily newspaper at a press machine house in Yangon on April 1.

Lynn Bo Bo / EPA

A street vendor displays new private daily newspapers and journals to a taxi driver at a road of Yangon, Myanmar on April 1.

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Firemen attempt to extinguish fires during riots in Meikhtila, Myanmar, on March 22, 2013. Unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in central Myanmar has reduced neighborhoods to ashes and stoked fears that last year's sectarian bloodshed is spreading into the country's heartland in a test of Asia's newest democracy.

Nyein Chan Naing / EPA

A riot policeman stands guard next to a burning building in Meikhtila on March 22, 2013. A curfew was imposed for the second night as riots between Buddhists and Muslims continued.

By The Associated Press

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar — Myanmar President Thein Sein has declared a state of emergency in a central town where at least 20 people have been killed in violence between Buddhists and Muslims.

Burning fires from two days of Buddhist-Muslim violence smoldered across Meikhtila on Friday as residents cowered indoors amid growing fears the country's latest bout of sectarian bloodshed could spread.

The government's struggle to contain the unrest is proving another major challenge to Thein Sein's reformist administration as it attempts to chart a path to democracy after nearly half a century of military rule that once crushed all dissent. Read the full story.

Nyein Chan Naing / EPA

People carry their belongings as they arrive at a temporary rescue center in Meikhtila on March 22, 2013.

Soe Than Win / AFP - Getty Images

Residents sit on a railway track watching buildings burn around a mosque in riot-hit Meikhtila on March 21, 2013.

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Burnt houses are seen in Meikhtila on March 21, 2013.

AP

In this early Nov. 29, 2012 photo provided by a monk, flames are seen at the gate of Chinese mining partner Wan Bao where protesters occupying a copper mine camped before a police crackdown in Monywa, northwestern Myanmar.

Nyein Chan Naing / EPA

An injured monk is carried into the Monywa hospital after being injured during a demonstration outside the Latpadantaung copper mine on Nov. 29, 2012.

The Associated Press reports from Monywa, Myanmar — Security forces used water cannons and other riot gear Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks just hours before opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in the area to hear their grievances.

The crackdown at the Letpadaung mine near the town of Monywa risks becoming a public relations and political fiasco for the reformist government of President Thein Sein, which has been touting its transition to democracy after almost five decades of repressive military rule.

Full news coverage of Myanmar on NBCNews.com

According to a nurse at a Monywa hospital, 27 monks and one other person were admitted with burns caused by some sort of projectile that released sparks or embers. Read the full story.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

A novice monk who suffered burn injuries points to his wounds as he gets treatment at a hospital in Monywa on Nov. 29, 2012.

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Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

A Rohingya girl carries water to her tent at an IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 24, 2012.

Paula Bronstein, Getty Images — In Myanmar an estimated 111,000 people were displaced by sectarian violence in June and October. The violence affected mostly the ethnic Rohingya people who now live in crowded IDP camps racially segregated from the Rakhine Buddhists in order to maintain stability. Around 89 lives were lost during a week of violence in October, the worst in decades. As of 2012, 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar. The Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, according to the United Nations.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Images made available to NBC News on Nov. 27

Kyaw Tin examines a woman named Mumtaz at a government-run medical clinic on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25. Mumtaz was later taken to a local hospital.

A pregnant woman suffers from labor pains as foreign medical teams try to assist Rohingya in need at a makeshift medical clinic on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.

A worker builds new housing aimed at offering the Rohingya an alternative to tented IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.

Aaisha sits with her 11-month-old baby Bibi at an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 23.

Rohingya pray inside a makeshift mosque during Friday prayer at an IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 23.

Gulzar looks out from her tent at a crowded IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.

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Barbara Walton / EPA

U.S. President Barack Obama and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi step out onto the balcony of her house to deliver a statement in Yangon, Myanmar, on November 19, 2012.

Jason Reed / Reuters

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tour the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Nov. 19. Obama became the first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, trying during a whirlwind six-hour trip to strike a balance between praising the government's progress in shaking off military rule and pressing for more reform.

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Barack Obama and Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

"I don't think anybody is under the illusion that Burma's arrived, that they're where they need to be," Obama told a news conference as he began a three-country Asian tour, his first trip abroad since winning a second term.

"On the other hand, if we waited to engage until they had achieved a perfect democracy, my suspicion is we'd be waiting an awful long time," he said.

-- Reuters

Read the full story: Praise and pressure as Obama makes historic Myanmar trip

Jason Reed / Reuters

Crowds wave U.S. flags as they line a street outside the home of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as Barack Obama arrives to meet her in Yangon, Nov. 19.

Minzayar / Reuters

A woman sews the edges of newly made U.S flags at a shop in Yangon on Nov. 16. U.S. President Barack Obama leaves on Saturday for a trip to Asia that will include a historic stop in Myanmar.

 AP reports -- White House officials cautioned Thursday that President Barack Obama's historic trip to Myanmar, a onetime U.S. adversary, should not be viewed as a "victory celebration."

Obama aides, seeking to assuage critics who say such a visit to the former pariah state is premature, said urgent action was still needed in Myanmar, most notably freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tension in the western state of Rakhine.

But Danny Russel, Obama's top Asia adviser, said the president's personal appeal to leaders in the nation also known as Burma would be an effective tool in pressing for further democratic reforms.

"This is a moment when we believe the Burmese leaders have put their feet on the right path and that it's critical to us that we not miss the moment to influence them to keep going," Russel said.

Continue reading.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

A store manager stands surrounded by American flags in a flag shop as the city gets prepares for the forthcoming visit of US President Barack Obama, on Nov. 16, in Yangon, Myanmar. Barack Obama will become the first US President to visit Myanmar during his four-day tour of Southeast Asia that will also include visits to Thailand and Cambodia.

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Mark Baker / AP

Balloons fly across some of the 3,000 Buddhist temples during a sunrise flight in Bagan, Myanmar, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012.

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(Updated Nov. 14)

GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing. 

Minzayar / Reuters

Minzayar / Reuters

The puppy with its mother a day earlier on Nov. 5.

A puppy stays by the remains of a dog who local residents say is its mother on Nov. 6 (above), days after it was killed in an area burned in violence at East Pikesake ward in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar. The exact circumstances of the dog's death are unknown.

Update (Nov. 14): Many readers wondered about the fate of the puppy. We contacted Reuters and they informed us that after the pictures were taken the puppy was taken to a nearby monastery. The photographer, who uses the byline Minzayar, also responded in our comments section: 

When I was walking around the burnt areas in that villages, I saw this scene which broke my heart. Before taking pics, I asked the local people around who would adopt the puppy. No one couldn't because they are all in difficulty themselves suffered from the communal violence. Then, I dropped all my cameras, just sitting and watching the little puppy with the deepest sympathy and sorrows, cries inside me. Then I took the pictures. I rubbed its head... He licked my hands.. Then after a few minutes, took the pictures again.. When my time comes that I must leave, I was about to take the puppy back to the hotel but then, there was one very kind local man who has been watching me and the puppy. He said he also wants to adopt it but cannot because he is poor. Then finally, we decided to send the puppy back to the Buddhist monastery in the village. In Myanmar, monasteries are believed to be the most peaceful place than everything. I believe I did what I could do best in my given situations.
I will surely pay a visit to the puppy again sometime in the future.

To add, me and the local man picked up the puppy together..

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Nyein Chan Naing / EPA

A Buddhist monk and others search through rubble near a Buddha statue in an earthquake-damaged monastery in KhuLe village, SintKu township, Mandalay Division, Myanmar on Nov. 12, 2012.

Nyein Chan Naing / EPA

The collapsed Yadanatheinkha bridge, which had been under construction in Kyauk Myaung, Sagaing Division, before an earthquake struck on Nov. 11, 2012.

The Associated Press reports from Yangon, Myanmar — A strong earthquake collapsed a bridge and damaged ancient Buddhist pagodas in northern Myanmar, and piecemeal reports from the underdeveloped mining region said mines collapsed and as many as 12 people were feared dead.

Myanmar's Vice President Sai Mauk Hkam visited the damaged sites Monday, while authorities resumed their search for four missing workers near the collapsed bridge over the Irrawaddy River in Kyaukmyaung.

Strong earthquake strikes central Myanmar

A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear after Sunday morning's magnitude-6.8 quake. Read the full story.

Soe Than Win / AFP - Getty Images

An injured woman sits in a chair outside Kyauk Myaung hospital, east of Shwebo on November 11, 2012. The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake struck in a rural area 72 miles north of Mandalay followed by a series of aftershocks, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

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Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

A Muslim woman collects water outside her village, which was partially burnt in recent violence, in Mrauk Oo, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2012.

Associated Press reports — Survivors of ethnic clashes in western Myanmar lashed out at the government Monday for failing to prevent violence between Muslims and Buddhists that has displaced more than 28,000 people over the last week.

The crisis, which first began in June, has raised international concern and posed one of the biggest challenges yet to Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein, who inherited power from a xenophobic military junta last year.

Getty Images

A Muslim woman collects pieces of metal from the rubble of a Muslim quarter of Pa Rein village that was burned in recent violence between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslim Rohingyas in Myauk Oo, Myanmar, Oct. 29.

Getty Images

A Muslim woman holds her child in a Muslim quarter of Pa Rein village, Myauk Oo, Myanmar, Oct. 29.

Related Articles:

• Myanmar revises down death toll in sectarian violence
• Muslim survivors of Myanmar’s sectarian violence relive ordeals
• Muslim Rohingyas under “vicious” attack in Myanmar: rights group

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