Myanmar’s military junta angrily dismissed two recent U.S. government reports critical of its human rights record and counter-narcotics efforts as unfounded and politically motivated, state media reported Thursday. (more…)

Authorities in Myanmar have warned people to be on alert after two small bombs exploded in the commercial hub Yangon, causing minor damage but no injuries, junta-run media reported Thursday. (more…)

The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the main mass organization of the Burmese military junta, is reportedly very close to announcing the formation of a pro-junta political party for the 2010 general election. (more…)

Political prisoners, including 88 generation student member Htay Kywe, have been locked in isolation cells and barred from seeing family members at Buthidaung jail in Arakan state, west Burma. (more…)

Imprisoned National League for Democracy member U Tin Yu has been charged, along with nine other people, for obstructing officials in Insein prison court after shouting slogans in the courtroom. (more…)

Two Thai groups are making protests by blocking border crossings near Mae Sot, Thailand, across from Myawaddy, Karen State. One group is protesting what they feel to be unfair competition from Burmese transport trucks. The other is complaining about late payments for agricultural purchases. (more…)

A social organization in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram has demanded an apology from the Chin community living in the state over a report published by Human Rights Watch. (more…)

The United States Ambassador to Thailand has urged the Thai government to not forcibly repatriate Rohingya boat people to Burma without guarantees of their safety. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority who live in Burma. (more…)

U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay is urging Myanmar’s neighbors to take in Muslim boat people fleeing the predominantly Buddhist country and offer them protection in line with international standards. (more…)

The Australian foreign minister has said his country will give a further $1.5m to help displaced people from the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma. (more…)

Secretary of State Clinton should not go wobbly on the junta. In the midst of her recent Asia trip, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that the United States is reviewing its policy toward Burma. As the Obama administration assesses its options, it would be wise to remember it is dealing with one of the world’s most brutal tyrannies, which has held power for decades through terror and totalitarian control. Fear and force are the two things that the ruling junta most understands-and are the only two factors that have ever succeeded in altering its behavior over the years. Any policy review must be mindful of that history. (more…)

These are tough times for the people of Burma. They have endured decades of economic mismanagement, low living standards and brutal political oppression under an incompetent and negligent military junta that shows no signs of relinquishing its grip on power. Indeed, as the country approaches elections in 2010, the regime has cracked down on its opponents, imposing prison terms of 65 years on relief workers, comedians, writers, intellectuals, monks and others. (more…)

A week or so from now the representative of the United Nations to Burma on human rights will present his annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. It should make interesting reading. (more…)

President Nasheed has said that he would make the Maldives a safe haven for writers from Myanmar [Burma] and opposition journalists from other countries. The president made the statement during his meeting with the special rapporteur on opinion and freedom of expression Mr Frank La Rue today. (more…)