A legal representative of Burma’s detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi handed in to the military government in Naypyidaw on Wednesday a formal appeal against the latest extension of her house arrest. (more…)

A soldier deserted recently from Burma’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 707, in Taikgyi Township, Rangoon Division, after murdering his commander-the latest sign of rising dissatisfaction among the lower-ranking members of the Burmese armed forces. (more…)

The price of low-quality rice at Bayintnaung rice market in Rangoon has dropped as sales are slow compared to other years, according to rice merchants. (more…)

General Tint Swe, the Arakan State Peace and Development Officer and the Transport Minister has formulated a new ‘protection plan’ to check damage from cyclones for all townships in the State. The plan comes into effect from the first week of October. It entails planting betel nut and coconut plants, according sources. (more…)

The Karen National Union (KNU) is slashing logging restrictions in territory it controls near Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burma border. The change in timber policy comes before the KNU is expected to retreat in the face of an expected offensive by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). (more…)

Nine trucks transporting Chinese manufactured goods were seized by the police in Momauk Towship, Kachin State on the Lwejie-Bamao trade route along the Sino-Burma border. The truck drivers had not paid customs duty. (more…)

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman Wednesday said Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to raise their bilateral trade volume to US$500 million in the next fiscal year. (more…)

Two presiding Buddhist monks of the Tagontai Monastery in Mandalay were arrested in Mansi (Manje) city in Bhamo District, Kachin State while they were delivering a number of solid-heroin blocks. Acting as carriers they collected the heroin from 105 Miles Border Trade Zone in Muse in northeast Shan State and were proceeding to Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, northern Burma, said a Mansi police source. (more…)

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday said the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) should do more to help move Burma’s military dictatorship toward democracy. (more…)

Tomás Ojea Quintana, the UN special reporteur on human rights in Burma, outlined “core human rights elements” that should be put in place before the 2010 general election, in a statement released on Wednesday. (more…)

Since the Saffron Revolution in September last year, regional National League for Democracy branches have been keeping a low profile, with many not even managing to hold regular meetings. (more…)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is clearly worried about his next trip to Burma. The reason: he doesn’t want to visit the generals and end up like his UN envoys-coming home without any tangible political progress. (more…)

Last September, peaceful demonstrations let the world know that the Burmese people have had enough of the crushing oppression of the military junta, yet, today, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, still languishes in a haze of terror and deprivation. (more…)