New York — Myanmar’s pro-democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi urged the world Wednesday not to take its eye off her country as it enters what she said were the first small steps to freedom. (more…)

Aung San Suu Kyi and Rangoon Division government’s security and border affairs minister colonel Tin Win (R) watch the Asean Football Federation U-19 Championship soccer match between Burma and Laos at Thuwunna stadium in Rangoon September 14, 2011. (more…)

Monks were reportedly among a group of civilians used as human shields by the Burmese army during an operation to deliver supplies to frontline troops in Shan state on Sunday last week. (more…)

In a recent series of addresses to servicemen, Burma’s Minister for Defense Lt-Gen Hla Min reiterated time and again that the country’s armed forces or Tatmadaw was made up of volunteers and that suggestions by foreign media that the army recruited children and underage soldiers was “fabricated and exaggerated.” He accused armed ethnic groups of being the only guilty party with regard to the forced recruitment of minors. (more…)

Amidst growing tension between the Burmese public and government related to the controversial Myitsone Dam construction project, which is moving ahead despite the possibility of an enormous social and environmental impact, the focus of public anger is apparently shifting towards China. (more…)

Yangon – Resistance is growing to a hydroelectric dam being built at the beginning of the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State, with several campaigns to halt construction under way. (more…)

Chiang Mai – The Global Justice Center has called on the Asean heads of state not to recognize Burma and block the country from taking the Asean chair in 2014. (more…)

September – A Vietnamese diplomat has spoken highly of Myanmar’s important developments in terms of socio-economics and politics in recent years. (more…)

The 32nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-32) agreed to accept the Parliament of Myanmar (Burma) as a full AIPA member, Vietnam News Agency said on Tuesday. (more…)

Vienna – Myanmar is in no position to consider developing nuclear arms, a senior diplomat from the military-ruled country told the U.N. atomic agency on Wednesday, rejecting any such suspicions in the West. (more…)

New York – Talk about practicing what you preach: a smitten Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared “love” Wednesday for Burmese democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi. (more…)

What do modern Burma and Hong Kong have in common? Leaving aside a history of British rule, not much. Hong Kong is a fabulously, if unevenly, rich city of migrants that looks outwards for opportunities. Burma, or Myanmar, is a poor, agrarian country that shut itself away for decades under an eccentric socialist dictator who was obsessed with number nine. As a result, Hong Kong’s per capita GDP was $31,500 in 2010, according to the IMF (the U.S.’s was $47,300). Burma’s was $702. Strike one to capitalism. Yet Burma and Hong Kong are both strategic crossroads in Southeast Asia by dint of their history and geography, and their proximity to China and India. The rise of these two Asian powers may spur intense rivalry as well as cooperation in regions like Southeast Asia. (more…)

Being in Burma can feel like someone pressed the pause button on life. (more…)