A volcano erupted in Sai Chung Island east of Kyawk Phyu town in Burma’s western Arakan state last Saturday. Villagers have fled their village local villagers said. (more…)

Today is the first day of Karen year 2747, a historical recognition of the first Karen migration to the Kawthoolei State of eastern Burma. As they celebrate New Year in communities across the world, expatriate Karens would do well to keep their home-based brethren in mind; those who live in fear daily from the threat of the Burmese forces in Karen State, say several Karen organization leaders. (more…)

Detained ethnic Shan leaders are being denied medical treatment from outside for serious health problems, according to the Shan National League for Democracy. (more…)

The Burmese State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has put additional restrictions on the state scholarship program, making it more difficult for government staff to study abroad, according to a decree obtained by The Irrawaddy. (more…)

Kyaing Kyaing, the wife of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is still believed to be ill and failed to accompany her husband to the state dinner on the 60th anniversary of Burma’s independence from British rule. (more…)

Residents of Taunggok township, Arakan state, are collecting signatures for a petition to the International Labour Organisation to draw attention to forced guard duties imposed on them by authorities. (more…)

Burma’s military leaders lived up to their reputation as repressive rulers on the day this country celebrated 60 years of independence from British rule. This erstwhile capital’s main road was closed for two hours on the morning of Jan. 4. (more…)

“I pray for the well-being of the people of Shan State and Burma as well as the country’s rulers,” Krubar Boonchoom Nyanasangvaro told thousands of his devout worshipers coming from Burma, Yunnan, Laos and Thailand in Maesai on 4 January, a day before his 43rd birthday. (more…)

CHENNAI: India has agreed to rebuild the Sitwe port in Myanmar at a cost of $120 million. It will be a ‘Build, Transfer, and Use’ (BTU) project, the first of its kind, and will be financed by a grant by the government of India to its neighbour. Users will be charged for services to be offered by the port once it is redeveloped and handed over to Myanmar. A final agreement on the project is likely to be signed during a high level visit from Myanmar in April this year. (more…)

A rare species of fish, known as ‘Ngaman Phalaung’, belonging to the shark family are being smuggled out by businessmen in collaboration with local authorities in Burma’s western Arakan state. The Burmese Ministry of Fishery has put the fish in the protected species category. (more…)

Singapore’s elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew has criticized Burma’s military junta, saying decisions such as the building of a new capital from scratch were irrational, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday. (more…)

Burma may have disappeared from the headlines it made for a few weeks with the killing of thousands of monks during the peace demonstrations this summer, but things haven’t got better. (more…)

ungry to fight after two years in the jungles of Thailand, Si Thu marched back to Burma with the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front in 1990. With six months’ schooling from medical students, he became one of three paramedics in a regiment of 30, who had been trained by sympathizers in the Burmese military. (more…)

Three months have passed since the world called on Burma’s dictators, Gens. Than Shwe and Maung Aye, to end their brutal crackdown on tens of thousands of peaceful monks and other demonstrators and begin a genuine dialogue with Burma’s democratic and ethnic minority leaders — with the goal of a transition to democracy. The time has come for them to act. (more…)