US orders some diplomats to leave Myanmar as unrest grows

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is ordering non-essential U.S. diplomats and their families to leave Myanmar as a deadly government crackdown on demonstrators protesting last month’s coup intensifies. The department said Tuesday it would require those workers to depart the country in an upgrade of its previous instructions from February 14, which had allowed them to leave voluntarily. In a brief statement, the department also reiterated an earlier warning for Americans not to travel to Myanmar. The Southeast Asian nation has been wracked by violence since the military ousted a civilian-led government on February 1 and began to forcibly put down protests.