The Burmese military government has reportedly reached a provisional agreement with the United Wa State Army (UWSA) over the ethnic cease-fire militia’s role as a border guard force, according to several sources. (more…)

New Delhi – Prominent Burmese opposition leaders say the junta’s planned 2010 elections cannot be inclusive and broad-based unless the 2008 Constitution is first revised. (more…)

The Burmese-born US citizen currently detained in a Rangoon prison has appeared in court on charges of fraud after allegedly using false identification to enter the country. (more…)

Dhaka – The government yesterday has taken a number of steps to stop influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar into Bangladesh. (more…)

More than 10 simultaneous blasts hit Burma’s northeastern Shan state last week, the site of heavy fighting earlier this year between government troops and an ethnic army. (more…)

Yangon — Myanmar has put off the opening of the resident office of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) in China’s Nanning, which was originally scheduled for this month on the occasion of the 6th China-ASEAN expo, sources with the UMFCCI said on Monday. (more…)

HUA HIN, Thailand – Asian leaders barely mentioned Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a weekend summit, making a mockery of the region’s grand claims for its new rights body, analysts said. (more…)

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein has told Asian leaders the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi can contribute to national reconciliation. (more…)

Cha-am, Thailand – The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday welcomed a new US policy of engagement with Myanmar, saying it was the right approach to dealing with a member of its club considered a pariah by many Western nations. (more…)

While I was sitting in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Burma on a beautiful fall day last week, a Burmese-born American citizen who happens to live 30 minutes from Capitol Hill was languishing in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison. The Burmese courts have charged this American, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, with fraud and forgery, though the ruling regime’s official mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, has also accused him of terrorist activities. Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s defense counsel has said that his client was physically tortured during his detention and denied any allegations that he was plotting to incite unrest. Last week, his trial began. (more…)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations inaugurated its human-rights commission Friday. Like its United Nations equivalent, it’s a toothless body, but it can still do damage to the cause it’s supposed to serve. (more…)

New Delhi – In the past couple of years, India has taken a lot of international heat for its close engagement with Myanmar’s ruling junta when the US and EU were slamming on sanctions, essentially driving Myanmar into even greater isolation. (more…)

Myanmar has great faith in important role played by United Nations in promoting social justice, economic progress and better standards of living of citizens of the world (more…)