The Burmese government should release political prisoners, particularly democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, open up the political process, and take “concrete steps” to address other areas of global concern, a top United Nations political officer said on Tuesday after a meeting with the Security Council.
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Thailand must not do anything to harm the growing international resolve against the Burmese junta
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During the 1970s and 1980s, Latin America endured the scourge of dictatorship and yet US policy makers were slow to acknowledge the tragedy unfolding before their eyes because Washington was locked in a Cold War showdown with the USSR.
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United Nations: Burma’s military rulers have forced the International Committee of the Red Cross to shut down its five rural field offices, crippling the agency’s ability to distribute aid to thousands of needy Burmese civilians, according to U.N. and Red Cross officials.
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The Burmese junta’s ban of most in-country activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday has drawn harsh criticism.

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Formal celebrations marking tomorrow’s 91st birthday of Burma’s most revered female literary figure, Ludu Daw Amar, have been cancelled by her family because of security fears.
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Yangon: Myanmar will grant both foreign and local entrepreneurs to be engaged in ICT business in a cyber city project being implemented in the country’s northern part, the Voice weekly reported in this week’s issue.
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The United Nations has opened the first of the proposed seven legal assistance centres for tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar living in neighbouring Thailand with the aim to provide justice to the victims of violence that plague the border camps.
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Yangon: China has agreed to grant Myanmar a low-interest loan and partial debt relief as part of a series of agreements the two countries signed, state-run media reported Friday.
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To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women yesterday, the WLB issued a statement calling for a United Nations’ Security Council resolution to bring to an immediate end what it referred to as a nationwide campaign of violence against women by the Burmese military.
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United Nations: The United States plans to introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution in the near future to press Myanmar’s military government to change policies that constitute a threat to international peace and security.
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Burma’s leading opposition party, the National League for Democracy, and the 88 Generation Students group called on the UN Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a binding resolution on Burma.
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Glowing with gratitude, a family that struggled to survive now strives to succeed in a new country.
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Burma’s military regime has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to close its five offices in Mandalay, Moulmein, Pa-an, Taunggyi and Kengtung. The move by the regime was a big and heartless blow, not only to the ICRC’s humanitarian assistance efforts but also to vulnerable people who desperately need help.
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November 23: Burma’s wretched jails hold more than 1,100 political prisoners and, for six years, the International Committee of the Red Cross provided these opponents of the ruling junta with a measure of comfort bringing doctors, soap, books and blankets and even repairing the water and sewerage systems. Confidential talks with inmates also helped the ICRC push authorities to improve conditions.
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The Burmese government has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to close five field offices, effectively preventing it from offering humanitarian services to civilians in border areas. The junta also said ICRC visits to detainees would not be allowed.
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November 23: Yangon: For a window into how people think in this closed and cloistered Asian society, consider these eclectic interests in American culture, found on the bulletin board and library shelves at the American Center here.
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November 23: Senior Gen Than Shwe has issued an order to consider Thailand as the nearest enemy, according to sources close to the War Office. We learned that the instruction was issued at the third quarterly meeting held at Kyetpye [new capital] in September.
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Yangon: The MRTV-4, a paid channel jointly implemented by the Myanmar [Burma] Radio and Television Department (MRTV) and the private-run Forever Group, will be aired free of charge starting mid-December and covering the areas around Yangon on a pilot basis, the local Flower News journal reported Monday.
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November 24: Chiang Mai: The stories of horror arrive every day, from refugees and aid groups.
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