Two youth wing members of the National League for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition party, were arrested by authorities in Taungkok town, Arakan state in western Burma. They had staged a fleeting protest demanding restoration of democracy in Burma. (more…)

The intervention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) seems to be the only hope for the family members of six labour rights activists, who have been sentenced to long term imprisonment, by the authorities.
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Relatives of activists detained in Insein prison were turned away yesterday due to stricter regulations on family visits requiring them to bring original copies of their household lists.
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On January 15, at 9:00 am, a Burma official issued a statement banning on Chinese vehicles from stopping overnight in Muse, at the Sino-Burma border in Northern Shan State.
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The junta blames insurgents and shadowy foreigners for several blasts, but analysts suspect the military itself (more…)

Chiang Mai – Thailand-based Burmese activists are concerned over their campaign for Burma after the newly elected Thai government comes to power. (more…)

Forty-three Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in Burma, were arrested while trying to slip into Thailand yesterday morning. (more…)

The gems trade in Burma has slumped dramatically due to the sanctions imposed by the United States in December, according to gems and jade traders inside Burma and along the border areas. (more…)

Due to the continued increase in global fuel prices, the Burmese military government has “liberalized” trade by permitting the private sector to import fuel. Burmese economists dismiss the move as ineffective for Burmese consumers. (more…)

Burma is producing the best pharmaceuticals in all Southeast Asia, according to Minister of Industry-1 Aung Thaung. (more…)

Surin Pitsuwan, the new ASEAN secretary-general, is an academic and a diplomat, but it may be for his skills as a politician that he was chosen to lead the regional grouping’s permanent secretariat. The Ph.D. from Harvard and former foreign minister of Thailand was elected to parliament nine times in the last 20-odd years. Now, as ASEAN’s fourth secretary-general, he has the opportunity to lead the association into a new era of community-building. (more…)

China, one of the Burma’s few friends, urged the ruling generals on Tuesday to allow UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari back soon to promote a genuine dialogue between the junta and opposition. (more…)

China on Tuesday rejected U.S. demands for stepped-up pressure on Myanmar, whose governing junta has been accused of spurning real dialogue with the pro-democracy opposition. (more…)

Myanmar is going “downhill on all fronts,” a senior US diplomat said during a visit to Vietnam Monday, urging regional neighbours to pressure the junta running the country formerly called Burma.
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Who remembers her now? Actually, she was well-known about four months ago. But today few seem to remember her. Four months is a long time in today’s fast-moving world.
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When asked why he does not protest more strongly against his father’s role in the killing of civilians, Omar bin Laden said that it is up to religious clerics close to his father, Osama bin Laden, to tell him to change his tactics in the name of Islam. However, Omar added that even if that unlikely scenario were to occur, al-Qaeda still would not cease in operating as it does.
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