About 40 Burmese dissidents, including Buddhist monks, members of the 88 Generation Students group, a prominent labor activist and individual social activists were given prison sentences of up to 65 years by a court in Rangoon’s Insein Prison today, relatives reported. (more…)

A Maungdaw Township court in Arakan State sentenced a Muslim community leader to over 13 years, and another eight community leaders to 10 years in prison on November 5, 2008, said a lawyer from Maungdaw on the condition of anonymity. (more…)

Poet Saw Wai who was arrested early this year for writing a poem containing anti-junta leader message has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a court inside Insein jail, according to his lawyer. (more…)

The European Union’s stance that the Burmese military junta’s proposed general elections in 2010 would lack credibility unless it releases detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has been welcomed by the National League for Democracy on Tuesday. (more…)

Burma and Bangladesh continued their troop build up along the border though tension has come down in the Bay of Bengal over Burma’s attempt to explore oil and gas in the disputed maritime zone, said a source close to Nasaka (Border security force). (more…)

Burmese business tycoon Tay Za’s Htoo Trading Company has recently started logging timber in Karen rebel-held territory, according to a source close to a delegation of businessmen negotiating the deal in Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai- Burmese border. (more…)

Burma and North Korea have signed documents to eliminate visas for diplomats and government officials, a Burmese state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday. (more…)

Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein will attend the 2nd Summit on the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) slated for Thursday in New Delhi, India, said an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday. (more…)

Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein will attend the 2nd Summit on the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) slated for Thursday in New Delhi, India, said an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday. (more…)

The government condemned Tuesday jail sentences handed down in Myanmar on a group of activists arrested during anti-junta protests last year. (more…)

Burmese pro-democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Dr. Cynthia Maung of the Mae Taw clinic on the Thai-Burma border were awarded the 20th ‘Catalonia International Prize’ today by the government of Catalonia State, Spain. (more…)

President George W. Bush intends to nominate one of his former senior Asia advisers as special representative for the military-run country of Myanmar. (more…)

The family members of 39 Burmese dissidents have tears in their eyes today. Fourteen leading activists of the 88 Generation Students group, including five women, were given 65-year prison sentences in a court in Insein Prison. At the same time, 25 other activists, including five monks and women who took part in the September 2007 uprising, were sentenced to up to 26 years imprisonment. The well-known labor activist Su Su Nway was sentenced to 12 and half years. (more…)

Electing Barack Obama as president of the United States of America is a new history in the making. It not only gives a new hope to the Americans, but excitement is felt around the world. (more…)

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

The Council welcomed the Chair’s Statement adopted at the ASEM Summit in Beijing on 24 and 25 October 2008, calling for the lifting of restrictions placed on political parties and early release of those under detention and encouraging the government to engage all stakeholders in an inclusive political process and to cooperate more closely with the United Nations. The Council also called upon the Burma/Myanmar authorities to facilitate the issue of visas. (more…)

Aung San Suu Kyi made the world take notice of Burma’s struggle for democracy. But her failure to react to recent key crises means that many of her followers now question her ability to lead the fight against the military junta. (more…)

Daw Nu Nu Aye, one of the patrons and founders of democratic veterans, ex-member of All Burma Students Democratic Front and veteran of Burma’s air force, died in Thai border town Mae Sot, at the age of 70. (more…)