Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent two and a half hours with four NLD leaders at a government guest house in Rangoon on Friday afternoon, according to a party spokesperson. It was first time she has been allowed to meet with any of her colleagues in three years.
(more…)

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Friday that she is “very optimistic” about the U.N.-promoted effort to start talks between the military government and pro-democracy forces, but appeared resigned to remaining under house arrest.
(more…)

Students in Botahtaung township, Rangoon, staged a short-lived protest yesterday before being dispersed by government security forces, according to an eyewitness.
(more…)

The Burmese military junta seems to be stepping up efforts to further tame armed ethnic groups in northern parts of the country. Major General Ye Myint, chief of the Burmese Military Affairs Security (MAS), has met with leaders of seven ethnic armed groups based along the Sino-Burmese border since October, sources said.
(more…)

A poet who has already been punished by the Burmese government for publishing politically sensitive material is to face another trial for the same offence.
(more…)

More than 50 Karenni villagers who were accused of assisting soldiers of the Karenni National Progressive Party during a skirmish between the Burmese army and the KNPP were arrested and are currently being detained by Burmese authorities, according to a villager in Karenni State.
(more…)

Eight Chin women and thirteen children were recently arrested and are now being unlawfully detained by Malaysian authorities, according to a Chin rights group.
(more…)

Burma Junta’s cash is safe in Singapore
(more…)

The ASEAN bloc should engage in more action and less talk to help bring about democratic change in military-ruled Myanmar, the region’s legislators and non-government groups said Friday.
(more…)

The United States on Thursday asked the international community to step up pressure on Myanmar’s ruling military generals after they appear to have rebuffed a UN push for genuine national reconciliation.
(more…)

A major United Nations study on the impact of conflict on education finds students, teachers and schools under concerted and deliberate attack and calls for urgent measures to protect the academic future of children living in war zones. (more…)

Two weeks ago, I wrote a commentary suggesting a need to hear from detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Now it is welcome news that Suu Kyi has released a message through UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
(more…)

It’s always hard to know what military dictators really think. So it’s worth examining closely a recent public statement by one of Burma’s leaders on the occasion of United Nations Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s visit to the country. There is some interesting information between the lines.
(more…)

Wounds pass through the generations
The 88 generation never got a rest
The 96 generation never got a rest (more…)

While hundreds of persons remain detained or are missing in the aftermath of the uprising that gripped Burma in September, and new sporadic protests emerge, its national newspapers have consisted of the usual phalanx of army officers forcing their largesse onto Buddhist monks and attending an all-important performing arts festival.
(more…)

Following is the text of the statement by Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released Thursday by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
(more…)