Some retired generals and senior officers in Burma have created a storm in Burma’s literary circles by publishing their autobiographies, which are being read with interest inside and outside the country. The books shed light on the inner thoughts of the reclusive military veterans and the famous battles they waged against Burmese communists, the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) and ethnic rebels. (more…)

You are cordially invited to join the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) 10th Anniversary Celebration on March 28, 2009. We would like to thank all our friends for your support over the past decade and for standing with us until today. Your support has strengthened our work for women’s rights and promoted justice for women in our struggle for social and political change in Burma. (more…)

Mr. Piero Fassino, paid a three day visit to Bangkok where he met Thai Government representatives and relevant partners and stakeholders. (more…)

One person was killed and two others injured in a suspected bomb blast in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon Thursday, on the eve of the country’s annual military parade, official sources said. (more…)

A senior U.S. diplomat met with the Burmese foreign minister in the ruling junta’s jungle capital yesterday, possibly signaling a softening in the tense relations between the two countries. (more…)

Monks in upper Burma have launched a petition calling for an end to an official ban on so-called “dharma lectures” featuring the Buddha’s teachings, according to sources in Mandalay and Magwe divisions. (more…)

Retired police official U Mrat Tun was arrested by Burmese military intelligence last week while he was on his way to Buthidaung from the border town on Maungdaw, due to suspicion that he had links to an exiled media group in Bangladesh, said his friend. (more…)

Li Changchun, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with Than Shwe, chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), here on Thursday, during which they exchanged views on developing good-neighborly and friendly ties between China and Myanmar. (more…)

The number of GSM mobile phones in Myanmar hit 375,800 in 2008 up from 211,812 in 2007, according to the latest official progress-indicating figures published in state- run press Thursday. (more…)

Migrant workers with work permit cards of Thailand have been called upon to submit their Burmese national verification forms, in order to receive travel documents from Burmese authorities to work legally in Thailand, according to Nang Hern Kham, of Shan Radio Program and Education Media in Chiangmai. (more…)

A high-level US official told the Committee Representing People of Parliament (CRPP) on Wednesday that some existing economic sanctions may be withdrawn while other targeted sanctions may remain in place. (more…)

A doctor from a leading medical fund has claimed that an over-emphasis on HIV/AIDS in Burma has ignored the threat posed by tuberculosis. (more…)

A total of 1,103.5 acres (446.57 hectares) of poppy plantations were destroyed in Namhkam and Kutkai townships of Shan State (North), Pinlaung, Phekhon, Hsihseng, Nyanugshwe, Loilem, Namhsam and Mongpan townships of Shan State (South), Kengtung and Metmang townships of Shan State (East) and Waingmaw, Tanai and Putao townships of Kachin State from 7 to 13 March. (more…)

Despite years in detention and forced isolation, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi still has the power to encourage her followers and enrage Burma’s military rulers. (more…)

As Hegel said, “The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.” One thing for sure, is that we Burmese have not learned from the proud history of our military. The founder of our military, Bogyoke Aung San, stated in unambiguous terms that the Burmese army (Tatmadaw) had not been founded for one man or one party, but rather for the whole country. He rejected the view of those military personnel who harbored the opinion that only they were capable of patriotism. (more…)

The core problem of the ethnic conflict in Burma is the successive military regimes, including the present State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) insistence of its failed and inhumane policy of Burmanisation and political-power monopoly, at all cost. (more…)

A senior US official paid a rare visit to military-ruled Myanmar for talks on improving relations, officials and state media said Wednesday, a further sign of a new approach from Washington. (more…)

The political wing of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), has said that the current junta-dictated political process is not a democratic one, according to its statement released today. (more…)

The National League for Democracy’s Central Executive Committee has called on the junta to let them meet with party Vice-Chairman Tin Oo and General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi. (more…)

Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein has stressed the importance of people’s cooperation with full understanding in the government’s all national development efforts as well as maintenance of peace, stability, security and national solidarity. (more…)