Obama vows to lift Myanmar sanctions as Suu Kyi visits
President Barack Obama moved to restore trade benefits to Myanmar, saying broader sanctions would soon be scrapped as he hosted the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the White House Wednesday. Welcoming her for the first time since her historic election victory last year, Obama announced a series of steps to coax the rapidly transforming southeast Asian country -- also known as Burma -- from decades of economic isolation. In a letter to Congress, Obama also announced plans to reinstate preferential tariffs for Myanmar that were suspended more than two decades ago amid rights abuses by the ruling junta.