Turmoil at the Burmese embassy continued this week when first secretary Soe Aung announced he was seeking political asylum in the United States, becoming the second U.S.-based embassy staffer to defect in less than two weeks.
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Four recent rape cases that occurred on the same day this month in a conflict zone in Shan State demonstrate that Burma’s military continues to use sexual violence against women as a weapon in its offensives in ethnic areas, according to human rights groups. (more…)

The International Labor Organization (ILO) in Rangoon said on Wednesday it has received an increased number of complaints in 2011 of the Burmese military recruiting underage children. (more…)

A two-day meeting of Kachin delegates in Laiza, in Burma’s northern Kachin State, concluded with the rejection of a ceasefire without political negotiation with the untrusted Burmese government, according to sources who were in attendance. (more…)

New Delhi– Two Burmese government military aircraft on Wednesday dropped bombs onto a joint force of Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) and Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), according to Major Sai Lao Hseng, the spokesman of the SSA-S. The information could not be confirmed by outside sources. (more…)

A man facing charges of severely torturing a child in Irrawaddy Division’s Henzada town has been sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday after a local court found him guilty of causing serious injury and unlawful detention of the child. (more…)

Teknaf, Bangladesh: The security police of Nayapara Official Refugee Camp arrested a registered refugee on July 12 who went outside the camp for his personal purpose, said Kala Mea, a refugee from the camp. (more…)

Naypyidaw—All construction projects in Naypyidaw except for military projects and projects for ministers and vice-ministers have been temporarily suspended for three months because of government plans to reduce the budget, according to sources in the Burmese capital. (more…)

With its rough scrub fringed by gently lapping waves, Burma’s Maungmagan beach looks an unlikely candidate to become one of south-east Asia’s single biggest investment destinations. (more…)

Yangon – Proceeds from the sale of jade, gems and pearls at the latest emporium in Myanmar this month were far lower than expected at 1.1 billion euro ($1.57 billion), an official from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday. (more…)

Jakarta – Top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to consider international opinion when they decide on whether to allow Myanmar to chair the regional bloc by 2014.
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Several ethnic leaders reported to EU officials about the ongoing conflicts in eastern Burma at a July 9 meeting in Bangkok at which they also called for the EU to broker political dialogue between Burma’s government and its ethnic groups.
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Burma’s Constitutional Court can protect some civilians from the dangers of the court-martial system, if it is brave enough. But for others, there is currently no legal protection from military impunity. (more…)

China Power Investment Corporation is forging ahead with its controversial Myitsone dam in northern Burma despite its own assessment calling for the project to be cancelled. (more…)

The Burma Army is clearly authorizing rape as a terror tactic in its offensive against the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), according to information documented by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF). (more…)

Writer and National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Win Tin, who has been banned from writing and publishing books for 33 years, will see his books in print again soon. Win Tin was imprisoned for more than 19 years from 1989 to 2008. Mizzima reporter Myo Thant interviewed him on his books, the lifting of the publishing ban, his views on censorship and other issues. (more…)