Friday, March 30th, 2007


At the end of August the US embassy will move to its new premises in Yangon, a massive building on the edge of Inya Lake that just happens to be walking distance from the compound of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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The KNU/KNLA Peace Council, a splinter Karen rebel group led by Brig-Gen Htay Maung, said it has not surrendered to the Burmese Army but has changed its strategy by first striking a peace deal.
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A teashop owner from Kyaukse township in Mandalay Division has been arrested for writing and distributing a booklet of Valentines Day poems last month.
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Manila: The number of people in Asia infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS could more than double to 20 million over the next five years without a better government response and more funding, officials warned Friday.
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Deciphering Burma’s highly unrealistic economic data is problematic but beneath all the phony numbers, after years of almost non-existent growth, the economy is finally picking up.
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The United Nations independent expert Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (Burma) has appealed to the Army rulers to release the distinguished poet and journalist U Win Tin who is the country’s longest serving political prisoner, having been jailed for nearly 18 years and all other political prisoners.
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Ben Macintyre on Burma’s bizarre but predictable architectural vision
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Earlier this week, Burmese authorities closed a key border crossing on the Moei river in Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak province.
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Whenever I go to Mae Sot I see gradual and slow changes. But on my latest visit, after an absence of almost eight months, I saw evidence of rapid growth.
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March 29: Ottawa: The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) welcomes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s (CPPIB) decision to sign on to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).  The CFOB also strongly urges on Ivanhoe Mines to join the EITI and disclose matters related to the environment on its operations in Burma.
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