For 42-year-old Than Than and her husband, making ends meet has never been harder. (more…)

Minister for Health Dr Kyaw Myint received Director Ms Sue Wardell and party of the Department for International Development Affairs of the UK at his office, here, yesterday morning. (more…)

The Philippines will ratify the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) charter later this year, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday, reversing an earlier reluctance to endorse the regional bloc’s constitution. (more…)

Arab Insurance group (ARIG) has announced pulling out of Burma’s insurance market after campaigners pointed out that its presence in the market helps the military rulers of the country profit, Burma Campaign UK said. (more…)

The United Nations has long been an enabler of Burma’s tyrannical leaders. Last week it reached a new low. (more…)

In the UN’s continued paralysis about Myanmar, on Wednesday Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson refused to confirm or deny that his envoy Ibrahim Gambari had taken steps to ensure that his ham-handed loudspeaker outreach would not simply subject Aung San Suu Kyi to further house arrest. From the transcript of Wednesday’s UN noon briefing. (more…)

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari left Burma on Aug. 23 after failing to secure meetings with senior military leaders or detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Optimism has been waning for the start of talks between the lady and the generals after the junta forced the adoption of a new Constitution through a referendum in May. (more…)

Once again, the news from Burma rings with echoes of despair.  The latest mission from the international community has ended in embarrassment — not for the despotic generals who rule Burma (renamed Myanmar by its illegitimate regime) — but for the United Nations and its ineffectual efforts. It seems no one who matters wants to waste any more time meeting with the U.N. envoy. Now, unconfirmed reports say the iconic leader of the pro-democracy opposition, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, may have started a hunger strike. Once again, Burma stands like a conscience-searing mirage on the Asian horizon, reminding us of our failure to help the most desperate. (more…)

Two young monks arrested at their Rangoon monastery on Saturday are being held at Insein interrogation center, according to colleagues. (more…)

Famine deaths are still being reported from a region of Burma’s northwestern Chin State, where inhabitants of 45 villages are being forced to forage for food in the jungle because their rice stocks have been lost to a plague of rats. (more…)

Relief efforts by the Free Burma Rangers to help cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta are under threat due to funding shortages, according to an FBR official speaking on condition of anonymity. (more…)

Farmers in cyclone-hit Bogalay township in Irrawaddy division have said that local authorities are threatening to confiscate their land if they do not grow any rice this year. (more…)

Sale of fish has dropped considerably in Rangoon given the soaring prices following the flooding of ponds and rivers in Irrawaddy and Pegu last week. (more…)

Eleven Burmese nationals are languishing in prison after finishing their term in Ragamati jail, in Bangladesh because the Burmese junta did not receive them. They are called “released prisoners” in Bangladesh, according to a person who was released recently. (more…)

Burmese Foreign Minister U Nyan Win is expected to attend the foreign minister level Bimstec meeting to be held in New Delhi, India, on Friday, 29 August, said a report. (more…)

Military-run Myanmar announced Wednesday it would hold a mid-year auction of precious gems in Yangon, despite economic sanctions banning their international trade. (more…)

A Cambodian Parliamentarian on Wednesday called on the Secretary Generals of the United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations to fulfill their promise on Burma by initiating a new approach to finding a political solution for the country. (more…)

Influential international and regional leaders should act immediately to help detained Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi get her message out to the world, according to a leading rights group. (more…)

Indonesia considered that the UN mission in Myanmar carried out by its special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has not failed yet, supporting the envoy to continue its mission with the support of the Focus Group, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. (more…)

The secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament has defended Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for not meeting United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his recent visit to Burma. (more…)