The US Senate passed the Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2007 [HR 3890 materials] Wednesday, a bill that would impose new economic sanctions and travel restrictions on leaders from Myanmar [JURIST news archive]. The bill is intended to push the military government to restore democratic rule. US Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), one of the sponsors of the Senate version of the sanctions bill, praised the passage of the legislation [press release], which he described: (more…)

The generals who run Burma don’t like it when the joke’s on them, but political satire and humor are alive in military-ruled Burma. (more…)

The police force in Rangoon and Pakokku are undergoing anti-riot and crowd control training to crack down on future uprisings. The riot police battalion from Syriam was found taking anti-riot training in the football field near Rangoon Eastern University Thihadipa stadium located in Tarwa, the Rangoon suburbs, a student from this university said. (more…)

Posters have appeared exhorting Buddhist monks to once again take to the streets on Burma ‘s Independence Day. In what appears to be an effort to renew the ‘Saffron Revolution’ posters were seen pasted in Pakhokku town in central Burma, sources said. (more…)

A 76-year-old monk who was detained for one month following the September protests was rearrested ten days after his release and held in a psychiatric hospital. (more…)

Five soldiers from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were reportedly shot dead by government troops after the DKBA refused to attack a Karen National Union stronghold. (more…)

Some opposition leaders in exile are said to be planning to form a new exile government or to reform the current exiled government, the National Coalition Government Union of Burma (NCGUB), according to exiled opposition sources. (more…)

The largest and most up-to-date pharmaceutical factory was set up in Myanmar’s northern city of Pyin Oo Lwin, starting to produce 162 kinds of medicines, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Friday. (more…)

The largest information technology center, or cyber city, in Burma opened in mid-December. However, the project has been criticized as of little benefit to the people of Burma. (more…)

Human rights and environmental activists have criticized Australian owned Twinza Oil’s decision to invest US $30 million to conduct exploratory tests in Burma’s offshore Yetagun East Block in the Gulf of Martaban. (more…)

Tun Maung, a 36-year-old sergeant with the Burmese Tatmadaw’s No 391 Light Infantry Battalion, in Hmwe Be, on the outskirts of Rangoon, hobbles through the gates of the base, leaning on a bamboo stick. He’s a sick man-infected, like many other Burmese soldiers, with the HIV virus. (more…)

Local authorities seized a Toyota Hilux light truck transporting 50 rifles and ammunition last Friday when it was travelling along Ching Shwe Haw- Theinni ( Hsenwi) Road in northern Shan Sate. (more…)

Thailand will grant citizenship to 353,000 people, mostly hill tribesmen living in the country’s north bordering Myanmar and Laos, coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said on Friday. (more…)

The European Commission’s decision to allocate another 18 million Euros (USD 26 million) on Thursday is welcome but it has to be ensured that the aid reaches the needy and not the ruling generals, an ethnic leader said. (more…)

We celebrated Human Rights Day on December 10, and in a year’s time we will be commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. (more…)

Recent weeks have been frustrating for Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s democracy icon. Hope of starting political dialogue with the regime’s supremo, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is now dim. (more…)

The Burmese regime, led by Than Shwe, continues cracking down on democracy activists for peacefully expressing their political beliefs, arresting at least six more members of the 88 Generation Students this week, including Khin Moe Aye, Kyaw Soe, Zaw Min, Htun Htun Win, Min Min Soe, and Myo Yan Naung Thein. (more…)