Yangon — Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will hold another round of talks with the new army-backed government, her spokesman said on Thursday, following signs of a thaw in relations. (more…)

New Delhi – If the government continues to make progressive political changes, the National League for Democracy (NLD) will consider registering as an official political party, according to NLD lawyer Nyan Win. (more…)

A bill that will enshrine into law tight restrictions on the ability of Burmese to hold political demonstrations is to be discussed in parliament after being submitted this week by the home affairs minister. (more…)

Hundreds of people are believed to have been hit by an outbreak of dysentery and influenza in Mandalay city in central Burma as hospitals struggle to cope with the burden. (more…)

NAY PYI TAW — A ceremony to sign MoU between the department of Health under the Ministry of Health and INGOs took place at the ministry here yesterday noon. Director-General of the health department Dr Tun Naing Oo delivered a speech, and signed the MoU with INGOs—Care Myanmar, CESVI, Malteser International, World Vision (Myanmar), AMI, Merlin Organizations. — MNA

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has no schedule to meet Nobel laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi when she pays a courtesy call on Burma next Wednesday, a government official said yesterday. (more…)

Washington — Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin held rare talks Thursday in Washington with senior US State Department officials as the United States welcomed signs of political change in Myanmar. (more…)

The Global Justice Center, an international human rights legal organization, has issued a strong condemnation of the latest report on Burma by the International Crisis Group (ICG), which was titled “Myanmar: Major Reform Underway.” (more…)

Tay Za is the outside face of capitalism in a strange land. But who and what does he represent? (more…)

THERE is mounting excitement about developments in Myanmar, after a summer of carefully choreographed meetings between the country’s normally shy, quasi-military rulers and…well, just about everyone else. Western diplomats and special envoys, American politicians (Republicans at that), UN folk: all have been allowed in and out to have face-to-face talks with Myanmar’s new ministers in order to assess whether the much vaunted political transformation there is real this time, or just another chimera. Just as significantly, government ministers and the new president, Thein Sein, have held unprecedented meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi, that icon of democracy and leader of the unofficial opposition—the generals even let her publish an article in a Burmese newspaper, the first time that’s happened for 23 years. For her part, she has said that the president wants to “achieve real positive change”. (more…)

BANGKOK – An emerging rapprochement between Myanmar President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has set a new tone over the country’s historically military dominated political landscape. The two met on August 19 and details now emerging from that closed-door encounter indicate that major concessions could be in the cards in the weeks ahead. (more…)

With the recent admission that Burma does not have the resources to contemplate pursuing nuclear weapons, the government has made an important step towards rejoining the world community. It should take this opportunity to sign the international agreements it has praised and join the club of responsible nations. Failing to do so could provide something of an acid test regarding allegations levelled against its military ambitions. (more…)

Burma Lawyers’ Council has released a new briefing paper, “Revealing Burma’s System of Impunity:  A Briefer for the Commission of Inquiry Campaign,” analyzing the inability of the domestic judicial system to ensure accountability for atrocities committed in Burma.  (more…)

New Delhi – The 32nd General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) held in Phnom Penh promoted Burma from an observer status to a full AIPA member. Fourteen Burmese MPs including seven MPs from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party attended the one-week conference that ended on Saturday. (more…)