Two political parties have been permitted to enter the next stage of registration for elections in Burma this year, while another 17 await approval. (more…)

A civil militia is being revamped by the Mindat Township Peace and Development Council since March to help the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) candidates to contest the forthcoming general elections in Burma. (more…)

The Mon cease-fire group, the New Mon State Party (NMSP), announced at a press conference on Friday evening that the party has rejected both the junta’s border guard force (BGF) and militia proposals. (more…)

Dhaka: Bangladesh authorities pushed back 37 Burmese citizens into Burma along the border on 20 April, after the people entered Bangladesh territory illegally, according to a report. (more…)

New Delhi — In a sign of the South Asian regional bloc’s growing clout, Australia and Myanmar will join the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as observers at the 16th SAARC summit in Bhutan next week. (more…)

Brussels – The EU hopes to send an “exploratory mission” to Myanmar to discuss with the military junta the country’s upcoming elections, despite controversial voting laws, a diplomatic source said Friday. (more…)

Paw Pa’s family had become accustomed to the yearly, harvest-time ritual: The violent and capricious Burmese military would roam the countryside, taking what they wanted and burning what they didn’t. Pa’s family would hide for months until the soldiers left, then they’d return to re-build and re-plant. (more…)

Washington — US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has urged “patriots” in the Burmese military to join pro-democracy advocates like Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic fighters to overthrow the military junta and restore democracy in Burma. (more…)

The idea of Burma as a nuclear power seems almost comical, but there is evidence from defectors that the ruling junta is interested in nuclear energy, and perhaps nuclear weapons. In the short-term however, the idea of an atomic arsenal in Rangoon is far-fetched. The more immediate challenge for Washington is dealing with an extremely repressive regime ruling over an extremely poor populace. The United States should promote more democratic governance and increased international engagement, which ultimately would reduce any incentive for Burma (also known as Myanmar) to consider atomic options. (more…)

Ms. Maryan Street, a New Zealand Senator has expressed her displeasure and has said today that she will try her utmost to stop her government providing scholarships to Burmese military government employees. (more…)

Thxa Soe’s music gives country’s youth a focus for dissatisfaction with the junta despite strict censorship (more…)

New Delhi – Human rights issues will be the focus of National League for Democracy (Youth) activities once the party ceases to exist as a legal entity, a party spokesman said yesterday. (more…)

New Delhi – Fissures in the National League for Democracy have deepened over the re-registration issue, with party Central Executive Committee member Khin Maung Swe leaning towards going it alone after the May 6 deadline for registration, when the group will cease to exist as a political entity. (more…)

Tens of thousands of people in areas affected by Cyclone Nargis face immediate water shortages almost two years after the cyclone, a UN official said on Thursday. (more…)

The Burmese military junta has arrested five people on suspicion of triggering the April 17 serial bomb blasts in the controversial Myitsone dam project site, which killed four and left more than 12 injured. (more…)

As the junta’s deadline for the Border Guard Force (BGF) plan passes on Thursday, the largest of Burma’s armed ethnic groups, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which has upward of 20,000 troops, met this week with its allies to discuss the potential threats they face in the near future, sources close to the groups told The Irrawaddy. (more…)

In what might lead to fresh fissures in the Kachin community, prominent peace mediators Rev. Dr. Saboi Jum and his younger brother Hkun Myat are seriously suggesting that the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) accepts the Border Guard Force proposed by junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe. (more…)

All day the boats chug back and forth across the sluggish Moei river below the Wang Pha clinic in western Thailand, carrying everything from timber and tea to migrants and malaria. (more…)

India’s state-owned National Hydro Power Company Limited (NHPC) will increase its investment in Burma to the tune of an extra $US5.6 billion as Burma aggressively expands its energy sector. (more…)

Burma is becoming a “subservient province of Beijing” and risks being lost to its bigger neighbour “for generations to come”, a US congressman has said.
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