Activists and National League for Democracy members celebrating the 63rd birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today were beaten and arrested by pro-government militias. (more…)

Seven Burmese civilian volunteer aid workers, members of a team known as “The Group that Buries the Dead,” were arrested on June 14, following their efforts to bury victims of Cyclone Nargis. (more…)

In Burma supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi gave alms to monks as they marked the detained pro-democracy leader’s 63rd birthday. (more…)

Water birds in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta are under threat because much of their habitat was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis, a report said Thursday. (more…)

Amid worries that Burma’s food security could be at risk if farmers in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta don’t start planting rice soon, there are growing concerns that the country is also facing a shortage of another dietary staple: salt. (more…)

A 13-year-old student wearing a school blouse and a faded green longyi shyly approached the owner of the Yadana Pawnshop on Moe Kaung Street in eastern Dagon Myothit. (more…)

BUSINESSES in Myanmar are not famous for their public-spiritedness. But since last month’s cyclone, several well-known companies have helped the relief effort. Their role has been vital: the ruling junta has kept most foreign aid agencies on a tight leash. Fewer than 200 visas have been issued to United Nations emergency staff, who must then apply for short-term permits to leave Yangon, the main city. (more…)

Authorities have ordered Asian doctors in the cyclone-hit south home. The urgent need is for volunteers who bring basic care to far-flung villages, some aid workers say. (more…)

The young business tycoon Maung Weik is still believed to be under detention in allegedly connection with a drug trafficking case. Maung Weik (35) the Managing Director of ‘Maung Weik & Family Co. Ltd.’, was arrested on May 31. (more…)

The United States marked Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s June 19 birthday, noting that her continued imprisonment was a “deplorable situation” that must end. (more…)

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday condemned “ongoing systematic violations of human rights” in Myanmar. (more…)

Dear Aung San Suu Kyi,

We wish to use this opportunity, on the occasion of your birthday, to reaffirm our commitment to your lifelong struggle to achieve democracy and humanity in Burma. You have sacrificed your freedom for the freedom of others. You have shown exceptional courage and dedication to your people. (more…)

I woke up from a dream in the middle of the night. I was with my daughter, playing in a small garden. We were playing hide and seek. I was looking at her from behind a tree. She was so beautiful, with the prettiest smile on her face, looking for me happily. I couldn’t hide anymore. I wanted her to find me. I wanted to hold her in my arms and kiss her face gently. I started to show myself to her, but, suddenly I saw three men -with black coats and ugly faces – watching from the shadows near my daughter. I stepped back. I wanted to be found by my daughter, not by them. I still saw my daughter, still looking for me with her innocent smile. I didn’t want to hide anymore. I wanted her to find me, but these men would take me away and put me in hell. Then I woke up, with tears on my cheeks. (more…)

IN A FRAUGHT coincidence, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be chairing a United Nations Security Council session on violence against women in conflict situations today, on the 63d birthday of Burma’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. That devotee of nonviolence has been kept under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years by a military junta that has committed the vilest crimes against women. (more…)

Nearly a week ago, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued an appeal on behalf of U Ohn Than, who is imprisoned in Kanti in upper Burma. The 60-year-old was among the few who protested last August against the government’s unannounced dramatic increase in fuel prices, precipitating the historic monk-led revolt in September. (more…)

If Cyclone Nargis baptized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), as the organizations’s secretary-general, Surin Pitsuwan has claimed, the strong will and resilience of the Burmese people must be commended. (more…)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today told a delegation of six women from Burma that the international community should do more to address the problems in Burma. The meeting took place on Aung San Suu Kyi¹s 63rd birthday. The delegation called for more pressure to be placed on the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma. They also called for stronger targeted sanctions from the European Union, and a global arms embargo. Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn MP also attended the meeting, along with Glenys Kinnock MEP, and Ann Clwyd MP. (more…)