U Khin Yi elected as new speaker of Myanmar's lower house

U Khin Yi, a member of parliament from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was elected as the new Speaker of Myanmar's Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) in a parliament session held in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, according to state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television.

U Khin Yi was elected during the first session of Myanmar's third Pyithu Hluttaw. U Khin Yi, chairman of the USDP, became a member of parliament after winning the general election for the Zeyathiri township constituency.

The election follows a three-phase general voting process, with the first phase held on Dec 28, 2025, across 102 townships, the second on Jan 11, 2026 in 100 townships, and the final phase on Jan 25, 2026 in 61 townships.

According to the data released by the Union Election Commission on Jan 29, 2026 the USDP secured a majority of seats in the Union Parliament, including non-elected military seats.

Myanmar's Union Parliament consists of two houses: the Pyithu Hluttaw with 440 seats and the Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house) with 224 seats, totaling 664 seats including those reserved for the military.

The newly convened Union Parliament is set to elect a new president of Myanmar. The incoming president will then form the country's new Union Government.

U Khin Yi elected as new speaker of Myanmar's lower house

Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) could release additional oil stocks into the market "as and if needed", despite the current coordinated release of reserves already agreed upon, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Monday.

In a video statement, Birol said that government and industry stocks held under government obligation would still amount to more than 1.4 billion barrels after the current release.

He said that the ongoing release, once completed, will reduce member countries' reserves by only about 20 percent.

The 32 member countries on March 11 unanimously agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market in response to disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

"The volume of oil supply now offline is already higher than the supply loss during the oil shock of 1973, and higher than any of the major disruptions we have witnessed since then," Birol said, stressing that restoring normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains critical to stabilizing oil markets.

IEA members could release more oil stocks into market "as and if needed": IEA chief