Missing Myanmar plane landed safely in Laos - airline  

   BANGKOK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - A Myanmar Airways Fokker F-
27 turboprop aircraft reported missing on Monday with 39 
passengers on board landed safely in Laos, an official of 
Myanmar Airways said on Tuesday.
   "The passengers and plane are OK. They landed at a Lao 
airport -- that's what we can say," said the official, 
contacted in Yangon, the Myanmar capital, by telephone from 
Bangkok.
   "The aircraft made a fine landing at an old airfield in 
Laos, but I cannot remember the name of the town," he said. 
"I think the plane can fly back to Yangon tomorrow."
   Flight UB635 had been on a regular two-hour domestic 
flight from Yangon to the eastern border town of Tachilek 
on Monday but had been unable to land there due to bad 
weather, Myanmar's Ministry of Information said on Monday.
   The airline official said all those aboard were Myanmar 
citizens. An official of Myanmar Airways in Bangkok said 
earlier that most of the passengers were Myanmar military 
personnel.
   In January, at least seven people were killed when a 
Myanmar Airways F-27 carrying about 40 people on a domestic 
flight crashed near Thandwe, about 320 km (200 miles) 
northwest of Yangon.
   

Japan to examine migratory birds with SE Asian nations

   TOKYO, Aug. 25 (Kyodo) -- Japan plans to launch a five-
year project in  cooperation with five Southeast Asian 
countries to examine the habitats  and migration patterns 
of migratory birds, Environment Agency officials  said 
Tuesday.
   The agency plans to launch the project starting next 
fiscal year and  will request 50 million yen in its fiscal 
1999 budget for the project.
   The agency plans to dispatch wild bird specialists to 
Thailand, the  Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, 
where Japan, through official  development assistance, has 
supported wild bird protection on an  experimental basis.
   Specialists from the Wild Bird Society of Japan and 
other wild bird  researchers will conduct research on the 
number of waterfowl such as  snipes and plovers inhabiting 
the wetlands of the countries concerned,  pollution and the 
effects of development on the birds' habitat,  Environment 
Agency officials said.
   Developing an understanding of the birds' habitat has 
been a pressing  issue in Asia, because the birds cross 
national boundaries during their  migrations and actions 
taken by nations individually are ineffective in  providing 
protection for the birds.
   Other Asian countries, citing a lack of know-how and 
funding, have been  calling for Japan's support.