Imploring Western governments and international organizations to increase their support for freedom of the press, a rights group says nine Burmese journalists remain incarcerated.
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The defence lawyer for a National League for Democracy member who was recently sentenced to life imprisonment has claimed that his client’s punishment is unlawful.
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The relationship between the Burmese government and international health NGOs (INGOs) is like a doctor and “a patient with a tumor,” a government health official told INGOs during a meeting in Naypyidaw.
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For the second time in two months, the wife of Burma’s military supremo has been absent from a state function to commemorate a national holiday, adding fuel to rumors that the aging first lady may be suffering serious health problems.
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Myanmar and South Korea are stepping up cooperation in the education and technical sectors, outlining more areas of such cooperation, official media reported Thursday.
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Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) was shot dead on Thursday afternoon at his home in Mae Sot, Thailand, according to KNU sources.
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Chittagong, Bangladesh: Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday said that the Rohingyas have been deprived of each and every right and have even become endangered as a race. The seminar on ‘Rohingya issue: national and international perspective’, organized by a research organization, Neeti Gobeshona Kendro, was held at the Chittagong University’s social science faculty’s conference room in the morning.
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Ethnic Shan communities across the globe join hands Sunday evening to reiterate their demand for the release of Hkun Htun Oo, the elected leader of the Burma’s Shan Nationalities League for Democracy amid a growing concern over his health.
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Thirty-one Burmese illegal migrants-including three children and 18 women-were arrested by Thai police on Feb 12 after smugglers transported them to Ranong Province in Thailand.
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Business sources in Rangoon have reported that Tay Za, head of the Htoo Trading Company and a prominent target of US sanctions, has recently traveled to Pusan, South Korea’s largest port, to purchase a freight ship and a tanker.
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Officials warned earlier this month that bird flu still posed a potential threat to Myanmar [Burma] despite the government’s successes in combating the disease so far.
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Beijing: China supports the efforts of the United Nations to help bring reconciliation to Myanmar, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, ahead of a visit by the U.N. special envoy.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday convened a meeting of his “Group of Friends” on Burma to discuss the situation arising out of the Burmese military government’s unilateral decision to hold a referendum on its draft constitution followed by general elections.
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About 15 million Burmese votes vanished like water in the desert when the military junta on Saturday announced a referendum on the constitution in May and a general election in 2010. On May 27, 1990, I cast my vote with about one-third of the country’s population. The majority voted for detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.
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It was an astute and unexpected gamble.

Last Saturday, Burmese state radio abruptly declared that it was “a suitable time to change from a military government to a democratic civilian administration”. (more…)

The September 2007 protests against Burma’s military regime gave the country’s opposition a major psychological boost and exposed the ruling generals to renewed international opprobrium for their indiscriminate crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. In a show of sympathy with the victims of the junta’s deadly actions, Western leaders voiced their condemnation, while the US government imposed new economic and political sanctions.
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Altsean-Burma (the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma), a regional human rights group, has condemned the Burmese regime’s announced referendum on its illegitimate draft constitution as a last-ditch attempt to stave off growing domestic and international pressure for genuine democratic reforms.
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Weeks after the House of Representatives voted 400 – 0 to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the leader of Burma’s democracy movement Aung San Suu Kyi, 75 US Senators have introduced an identical measure today in the US Senate.
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Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today expressed its “deep shock, sadness and outrage” at the assassination of the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Sha, in Thailand earlier today.
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Network Media Group will implement a three months internship program for women in Chiang Mai.
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