US orders departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar

WASHINGTON - The US State Department ordered the departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar, it said in a statement Tuesday, amid a crackdown on protesters that has killed hundreds since the country's military coup.

In mid-February, the State Department authorized a "voluntary departure of non-emergency US government employees and their family members," its office of the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that it had "updated that status to ordered departure." -- Agence France-Presse