Myanmar’s military government announced an amnesty Friday night for more than 6,000 prisoners but did not mention whether any political detainees will be among those released. (more…)

Ahead of the United Nations Security Council’s closed session on Burma on Friday, the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said it disagreed with a joint-statement by UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari and Japan’s foreign minister on Thursday. (more…)

The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) today said that they were opposed to the Burmese military junta’s proposed general elections scheduled to be held in 2010. (more…)

Rangoon divisional court today upheld an appeal by blogger Nay Phone Latt and reduced his sentence by eight and a half years, according to his mother Aye Aye Than. (more…)

The prison sentence of labour rights activist Su Su Nway, who was jailed for 12 and a half years in November 2008, has been reduced by four years by Rangoon division court, according to her lawyer. (more…)

Myanmar’s fruit export to neighboring countries through border trade reached over 35 millionU.S. dollars in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2008-09 ending March, increasing by 11 million dollars compared with the same period of 2007-08, sources with the agricultural department said on Friday. (more…)

The United Nation’s World Food Program says food insecurity and malnutrition faced by Burma’s Muslim Rohingya people, remains a key reason for thousands of Rohingya fleeing the region each year. The WFP is calling on Burma’s military government to ease transport restrictions in the country to improve overall food security. (more…)

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has increased alarmingly in the past two years amid fears the region’s worsening economic crisis will encourage an even greater spurt in growth, the UN warns. (more…)

Thailand’s prime minister reaffirmed Friday the need for a “regional” solution to the fate of hundreds of Muslim boatpeople from Myanmar who have washed up in neighbouring nations in recent months. (more…)

Department of Special Investigation officials trying to smash the smuggling of Rohingya through Thailand to Malaysia hope to be able to seek arrest warrants for Thai traffickers in coming days. DSI staff are also questioning Rohingya who work as roti vendors in Bangkok for any clues about trafficking gangs. (more…)

France and Britain on Friday strongly criticized Myanmar’s military regime for failing to implement democratic reform and freeing political prisoners, even though that government has announced the amnesty for 6,000 prisoners. (more…)

The United Nations General Assembly president, Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, urged Burma’s military junta and pro-democracy opposition leaders on Thursday to immediately start substantive dialogue without any preconditions. (more…)

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S inaugural address made the world’s tyrants a proposition. “We will extend a hand,” Mr. Obama said, “if you are willing to unclench your fist.” It now appears that Burma could be one of the first test cases for this approach. For decades, a small group of military officers has ruled the multiethnic Southeast Asian nation, crushing all political opposition and exploiting vast natural resources for personal enrichment. Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of a free election in 1990 — and still the embodiment of the Burmese people’s democratic dreams — languishes under government-imposed house arrest. There are more than 2,000 political prisoners. In response, the United States has maintained economic sanctions against Burma since the late 1990s; Congress toughened them last year, with the strong support of then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). (more…)

Watching President Barack Obama’s inauguration from my hotel room in Yangon, in Myanmar, I doubted whether his promise of change was meant for Myanmar as well. (more…)

In its continuing efforts to provide aid to the victims of Burma’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, Not On Our Watch has awarded a combined (US)$500,000 to lifesaving and humanitarian programs reaching tens of thousands of at-risk Burmese. (more…)