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Burma's opposition party,National League for Democracy (NLD) claims Aung San Suu Kyi has won a seat in parliament after voters took to the polls in the country's by-elections.
The 66-year-old former political prisoner spent 15 years under house arrest as punishment for opposing the country's military regime.

Her release in late 2010 saw thousands of people take to the streets in Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city and former capital, in a spontaneous celebration. Today Ms Suu Kyi visited several polling stations in Kawhmu - the constituency in which she is running. Dressed in red - the colour of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) - and wearing flowers in her hair, the Nobel peace prize winner chatted with voters. Kawhmu is a poverty-stricken farming area just an hour outside Rangoon. Many local people live in flimsy bamboo huts and scrape a living growing rice and beans. In the village of Wah Thin Kha voters began queuing shortly after dawn. "I love her because she's so brave," said one voter, Aye Fu Hlaing Another, Saw Hein Min Zan, said: "I voted for Aung San Suu Kyi because I trust her. I hope she can help fix problems like healthcare and education." The NLD has 44 candidates running in a total of 45 seats being contested. Read more

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