Danang, Vietnam — Southeast Asian leaders warned Wednesday of a widening gap between the booming region’s richest and poorest nations that could threaten its ambitious drive for an EU-style single market. (more…)

The government on Tuesday decided to bar war crimes suspects and others allegedly involved in militancy or terrorism from performing hajj [pilgrimage] while the number of aspirant pilgrims has risen to 94,000 from Bangladesh this year. (more…)

“Looks like another cyclone has hit us,” is the catchphrase currently doing the rounds in Naypyidaw. Although only meant as a metaphor for the recent shake-up in government personnel, the hushed whispers in the corridors of the capital’s ministries are only half in jest. For this time the reshuffle has torn through the heart of the military government, and many major players are now unsure where their futures lie. (more…)

Burma Campaign UK is holding a demonstration at the Canadian Embassy calling on the Canadian government to publicly support a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. (more…)

Yangon — Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi wants the Myanmar people to keep a close watch on upcoming elections and speak out if the vote is not free and fair, her lawyer said Tuesday. (more…)

In a major shake-up within the Burmese military leadership, several high-ranking senior officers have reportedly resigned in order to join the junta’s proxy political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). (more…)

The Myanmar government is planning to move some of the Yangon region administrative offices from a combined building in the downtown area to the former parliament house in the city built during the tenure of the previous Ne Win government, local media reported Tuesday. (more…)

New Delhi – State-owned oil companies Indian Oil and Oil India are in talks with the Essar group to pick up 20% stake each in a gas block in Myanmar that is estimated to have even bigger reserves than Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 fields. (more…)

Despite an independent assessment of a $100 million United Nations Development Program aid effort in Burma that calls it “disappointing” and suggests that major portions be discontinued, the director of UNDP intends to keep it alive with as-yet unspecified fixes. (more…)

Last week, the U.S. indicated it would back a special United Nations investigation into allegations that the Burmese junta has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. While it might seem obvious to most observers that the junta has committed these crimes and more, an effective Commission of Inquiry (COI) would be an important step toward justice for the junta’s victims and a potential game-changer for Burma’s disastrous internal politics. (more…)

Human Rights Council – Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate

A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status. (more…)

Bangkok – Myanmar’s government has announced democratic elections will be held on November 7 and Western pundits are busy speculating whether the polls will lead to a new, more open era in the troubled country’s modern history. A far more important and potentially sinister plan is unfolding as the country’s military rulers seek to consolidate a vision of empire that affords them a permanent grip on the country and its many nationalities. (more…)

Chiang Mai, Thailand: The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) strongly condemns the destruction of another Christian cross in Chin State on the orders of Burma’s military regime.  CHRO has learned that the 23-foot high concrete Christian cross in the Mindat Township area, southern Chin State, was forcibly destroyed on 24 July by direct order of the authorities, including the District and Township level Peace and Development Council, the District Religious Affairs Department, and a Mindat abbot from the Hill Region Buddhist Mission. (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar’s prime minister has urged people to vote for “good, smart, patriotic people” in the general election on November 7, media reports said Monday. (more…)

YANGON, Myanmar — A veteran politician contesting Myanmar’s upcoming elections said Sunday the political party backed by the ruling military junta will easily win the most seats because challengers face financial and other handicaps. (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar’s pro-democracy parties are set to field candidates in only around half of the constituencies in November’s election, due to the limited time and resources available for preparation, political sources said Sunday. (more…)

Burma’s military junta has suspended visas on arrival for tourists from September. (more…)

The ruling Burmese military junta has scheduled another deadline on the Border Guard Force (BGF) issue for two of Burma’s ethnic ceasefire groups: the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) aka Mongla group at its latest meeting on 20 August, according to sources from the Sino-Burma border. (more…)

Myanmar has completed the first draft on report about the country’s human rights status to prepare for submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council in February 2011, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday. (more…)

New Delhi – Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their reporting the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, National Democratic Front party leader Khin Maung Swe said. (more…)