Police officers on duty at Rangoon Insein Ywama Police Station have been detaining people on suspicion alone and torturing them, according to local residents.
(more…)

A university student from Myingyan, Mandalay Division in central Burma, was assaulted with sticks and machetes by the henchmen of district authority chairman for no obvious reason, on 18 July.
(more…)

Burma will offer its population the chance to study social work at the post-graduate level for the first time next month, the Rangoon office of the UN Children’s Fund has announced. (more…)

The Burmese military authorities have warned people that it would award the death sentence to anyone who speaks about the drawbacks of Jathropa plantations in Chin state.
(more…)

The ceasefire group Kachin Independence Organization has ordered a community development group to drop from its publication two articles criticizing the management of natural resources in Kachin State. (more…)

State-run The New Light of Myanmar reported on Wednesday the surrender of 18-year-old Johnny Htoo, the leader of an armed opposition group called God’s Army.
(more…)

Embattled China would like armed groups along its border lending their eyes and ears to it in its war against drugs coming from Burma, according to a senior law enforcement officer in Ruili, opposite Burma’s Muse.
(more…)

The decision to allow the import of teak logs from Burma through Chiang Rai has brought cries of alarm from conservationists. They warn that allowing the resumption of Burmese teak imports will only lead to an increase in illegal logging in Thai forests.
(more…)

Asean stepped up its public condemnation of the Burmese military regime at its annual foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, while admitting that the only path to reform may lie outside the bloc.
(more…)

Myanmar has shown no indications it wants to lead ASEAN next year despite being entitled to under an alphabetical rotation system, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Wednesday.
(more…)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Wednesday there are not many options left for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help defend Myanmar facing international pressures on the democratic process.
(more…)

Thailand’s candidate to be the next UN Secretary General said Wednesday he would push for democratic reforms in military-ruled Myanmar if elected.
(more…)

Text of report by Jaishree Balasubramanian by Indian news agency PTI
India, which has been urged to use its influence to bring democratic reforms in Myanmar [Burma], Wednesday [26 July] said one specific country cannot be isolated and chided for not following democratic norms as there are others in the category.
(more…)

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Wednesday that he would visit military-ruled Myanmar sometime next month but would not try to meet with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
(more…)

The EU said on Wednesday it will allow Burma’s foreign minister to fly to Finland for a summit of Asian and European leaders, despite an EU ban on giving visas to the military-ruled country’s top officials.
(more…)

The Senate on Wednesday voted to extend sanctions on Myanmar for three years in a move that came as the ruling junta faced growing pressure to reform from fellow Southeast Asian states. (more…)