Mandalay divisional court yesterday summarily rejected the appeal of six Mandalay National League for Democracy members including organising committee member Win Mya Mya, said their lawyer Myint Thwin. (more…)

Seven political detainees, including popular hip-hop star Zayar Thaw, were transported to prisons in remote areas around Burma on Wednesday, said sources in Rangoon. (more…)

The Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline burst near Lamine village, northern Ye Township, in the early morning of November 25th, say local sources, although the gas did not ignite. (more…)

The Burmese army in Arakan State has confiscated farmland from Arakanese farmers for army projects without compensation since 1988, but authorities are now collecting paddy from farmers that are located near base headquarters, said one farmer. (more…)

The border trade between Bangladesh and Burma has returned to normal with Burmese cargo boats entering Bangladesh’s Teknaf Port after trade stopped for a month due to tension over a maritime boundary dispute. (more…)

Foreign investment in Myanmar hit 15 billion U.S. dollars in 422 projects up to September this year, the local weekly 7-Day News journal reported Wednesday. (more…)

Myanmar authorities will slash the cost of owning a mobile phone but increase call charges ten-fold, a weekly journal said Wednesday. (more…)

Over 1,000 patients have been found to be HIV positive in 2008 in the biggest hospital in Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) controlled Laiza, the largest ethnic Kachin ceasefire group in Burma’s northern Kachin state, said KIO sources. Both KIO servicemen and the people can avail medical services at the hospital. (more…)

A meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers will now be held in Jakarta later this month following recent political turmoil in Thailand, an Indonesian official said on Wednesday. (more…)

Chinese and Burmese senior military officials on Saturday agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in various fields including military ties, a move observers said is meant to ensure the Burmese junta international support. (more…)

Migrant workers who are struggling in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are facing many difficulties especially money hardship due to the global financial crisis. (more…)

Famous comedian and film director Zargarnar and blogger Nay Phone Latt from Burma, both sentenced to lengthy prison terms, by the junta have been nominated for the Reporters Without Frontiers “Cyber-Dissident or Blogger” Award by the Paris-based media watchdog group. (more…)

Rich with uranium and desperate for control, the Burmese junta may find a nuclear option attractive. Over the past year, Southeast Asia’s diplomatic community has tried to sort fact from fiction in a stream of unconfirmed reports from Burma, the region’s most isolated and secretive country. Burma’s fledgling nuclear program with Russian assistance and its mysterious connections with North Korea raise concern in the region about its purpose. (more…)

Many Burmese refugees who have newly arrived in Australia say they are being denied full welfare assistance by Centrelink, the Australian government support agency, despite government legislative programs which guarantee assistance for refugees. (more…)

Today, Freedom Now and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights released a letter from 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from more than 50 nations to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to personally travel to Burma before the end of the year to secure the release of the military junta’s 2,100 political prisoners. Last month, more than 215 activists, National League for Democracy party members, Cylone Nargis relief workers, journalists, monks, and even some of their lawyers were each given draconian sentences of up to 68-years in prison. (more…)

SECRETARY-GENERAL NOT TO VISIT MYANMAR WITHOUT SUBSTANTIVE PROGRESS BY GOVERNMENT

Asked about a letter from more than 100 Heads of State or Government about Myanmar, the Spokeswoman confirmed that the Secretary-General received that letter. The Secretary-General also received a phone call this morning from former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of Norway, the coordinator of that initiative, Montas added. They discussed the letter, which asks the Secretary-General to visit Myanmar and to urge the release of all political prisoners by the end of this year. (more…)

Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

We write this letter to applaud your public consideration of traveling to Burma, also known as Myanmar, before the end of the year. We encourage this trip because it would illustrate for the world whether or not the Burmese military regime is serious about making changes called for by the United Nations Security Council and your good offices. (more…)