Burma’s press censorship board has punished a Rangoon-based journal for violating the country’s draconian media laws—apparently for publishing an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi and putting a large photograph of the pro-democracy leader on its front page. (more…)

On Tuesday the People’s Parliament discussed amending the election law for the house, with a National Democratic Force (NDF) MP objecting to the inclusion of stipulations that MPs convicted of laws such as the Unlawful Association and other acts viewed as political, could face the punishment of being permanently banned.
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A Wikileak cable has revealed that an Burmese employee with the NGO, Save the Children (STC), was suspended without pay after they found out he had been trafficking young males, including minors, to be conscripted into the United Wa State Army (UWSA). (more…)

There may be a new government in Burma, but it is army is still using force recruiting children into its army according to a child soldier who recently deserted to the Karen National Union. (more…)

Chiang Mai– A former child soldier who spent seven years on death row has been freed with the help of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Phyo Sithu, now 21 years old, was sentenced to death in a case involving the shooting death of three soldiers including a junior officer. (more…)

Chiang Mai – A person who says “Burma” instead of “Myanmar” should not be appointed to the country’s peace committee, a former colonel who is a Union Solidarity and Development Party MP told Burmese lawmakers in the Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday. (more…)

Twelve of the 19 suspects who were arrested on charges of associating with the Taliban and other Islamic militant groups have been convicted and sentenced to various jail terms in Maungdaw, a border town in western Burma’s Arakan State, said a lawyer of the court and police. (more…)

“”The Burmese government clearly does not care for the human rights of its citizens… China is willing to turn a blind eye to those abuses because of the economic pay off.” Ian Storey, Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar will export about 3,000 tons of rice to the Philippines produced from southwestern Ayeyawaddy region under FOB (Free-on-board) system in a bid to expand its rice market to the international, trading circle said today. (more…)

The UN chief has welcomed pledges of reform by Burma’s army-backed government, but said in a report released Wednesday the detention of political prisoners undermines confidence in the regime. (more…)

Washington: The new US pointman on Myanmar will depart Wednesday on his first trip to the country since taking up the post, for talks with its military-backed government, the State Department has announced. (more…)

The Burmese government media announced Tuesday it has established a National Human Rights Commission to look into human rights violations (more…)

Chiang Mai – The isolated light-brown spots can be seen even on Google Earth. They are indicative of big, new buildings that have been carved out of densely forested jungle areas across the Myanmar heartland, with some dots seen in the hills east of the central city of Mandalay. (more…)

Aung San Suu Kyi could be forgiven for looking at the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and wondering if she could spark the same sort of upheaval in her own homeland, a country dominated by a military regime for the past four decades. After all, the Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate retains incomparable popular support, a point that all of her public appearances since her release from house arrest last November have served to underscore. Her recent trips outside Rangoon have consistently drawn large crowds: In July, when she appeared at the historic site of Bagan, hundreds of ordinary Burmese came out simply for the chance to see and touch a living political hero. (more…)

When it comes to Burma, Germany is under the spotlight for the wrong reasons. August 8 is normally marked by exiled Burmese with demonstrations to commemorate the democratic uprising of 1988. But this year instead of protesting in front of Burmese embassies, they gathered in front of German embassies in seven international locations. (more…)