Myanmar on Sunday confirmed that it had made peace with a splinter group of Karen rebels.  Government spokesman Ye Htut told The Associated Press in an e-mail statement that Saw Nay Soe Mya, the son of a late Karen leader, his 71 followers and 88 of their family members turned themselves in to authorities in Htokawko village on Monday. They will be allowed to keep their weapons, he said. Nay Soe Mya could not be reached, and it was impossible to independently verify the report. (more…)

A SENIOR figure in Myanmar’s military regime has accused foreign media of spreading lies to undermine national unity, a state-controlled newspaper said on Sunday. (more…)

The Township Peace and Development Council of Falam Township, Chin state has cut salaries of government employees as contribution for the Burmese traditional festival ‘Thingyan’ also known as the water festival held from April 13 to 16 April every year. (more…)

Bangladesh Rifles, the Bangladesh border security force, pushed six Burmese citizens back across the border to Burma at the Teknaf border point soon after arresting them with smuggled goods aboard two engine boats, said one official. (more…)

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono says the Burmese government has invited Indonesian companies to invest in developing that country’s oil palm and rubber plantations, although business players at home say they will have to first see for themselves whether conditions in Burma are favorable. (more…)

Burmese military junta authorities have started inspecting food and soft drinks in Burma, to check whether they are tainted with a chemical dye, which is dangerous for health of the people. (more…)

Myanmar will take nationwide census on patients infected with tuberculosis (TB) starting this month, sources with the Health Ministry said Sunday. (more…)

The United Nations has urged the international community to focus increased aid to Burma on cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta as monsoon season threatens the delicate recovery process in the region. (more…)

US Congress supporters of Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded to keep sanctions on the military regime as a key senator said efforts to isolate the junta had failed. (more…)

The United States should take a new approach of engagement with military-run Myanmar with an aim of lifting sanctions, a key senator said Friday. (more…)

Myanmar is scheduled to go the polls next year for the first time in 20 years, but although plans of the elections were laid out nearly six years ago there is little public information about what to expect. (more…)

When I visited Thailand in February, my colleagues, exile Burmese activists there, asked me the following: How will the United States change its policy on Burma? When I was in Japan last month, many people, including some Japanese MPs, asked the same question. When I call my friends inside Burma, they too ask how will President Barack Obama change America’s Burma policy? All await the U.S. policy review on Burma with concern, frustration and expectation. (more…)

Should the SPDC respect human rights and move towards changes in the interest of the country and all the people, the sanctions which have been in place in protest against the SPDC’s violations of human rights, would be removed. (more…)

Burma’s democratic and ethnic forces successfully held the 12th Strategic Consultation Meeting from April 2 to 4 in a liberated area. 58 participants of major political alliances and parties joined the meeting and discussed to achieve common positions and strategies to tackle current political challenges. (more…)