VOA常速英语:缅甸政变,最高领导人遭军方扣押

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in an early morning raid. This is according to a spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy. The movement comes after days of escalating tensions between the civilian government and the powerful military. Tensions stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election that the army says was fraudulent. The spokesman told Reuters news agency by phone that Suu Kyi, the president of Myanmar and other leaders had been "taken" in the early hours of the morning. He called for the people of Myanmar "not to respond rashly" and exhorted them to, quote, "act according to the law." The spokesman said he too expects to be detained.

At least 12 people have died, including seven children, after two vessels sank close to a port on Colombia's Pacific coast. This is according to a naval official on Sunday. Officials are investigating the cause of the accident. The vessels sank on Saturday close to Tumaco, Colombia's second most-important Pacific port. The two vessels were filled with passengers when they set off from Tumaco toward San Jose del Guayabo, according to officials in the area. Local residents and fishermen are reported to have saved 36 of the passengers.

A bus carrying teachers back to their homes outside Havana, Cuba, crashed over the weekend leaving at least 10 dead and more than 20 injured including two children. On Saturday, the bus left Cuba's capital to Mayabeque province and careened off the highway, plunging off a bridge that crosses a dry ravine about 42 kilometers outside Havana. The teachers on board had been returning to their provinces after working in Havana. You can follow this story and all stories we're covering at our website VOAnews.com. This is VOA news.