Yangon – In a quiet room in an aging office block of Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, a worker scribbles on a whiteboard beneath a row of out-of-sync clocks, updating prices in what could be the world’s smallest stock market. (more…)

The current political situation in Burma makes the formation of labour, farmers’ and student unions untenable, and future efforts at organizing will be tightly monitored by the government, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan told MPs yesterday. (more…)

The United States will continue its assistance to refugees from Burma, both for those who wanted to resettle in the US or to return home, US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney said yesterday. (more…)

Washington — Ahead of a crucial meeting with Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in New York, a top Obama administration official said on Wednesday that indications are that winds of change are clearly blowing through Burma, but their extent is not known yet. (more…)

London – Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi has won this year’s Chatham House prize for her contribution to the improvement of international relations, the British think-tank said Friday. (more…)

An influential think-tank has urged Western nations to acknowledge and support what it calls the major changes taking place in Burma. (more…)

“Please don’t delay the ethnic issues in Burma. The wound of our country will worsen. It should be resolved through dialogue at the earliest time,” opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in an interview on Tuesday, the International Day of Democracy. (more…)

IF SYMBOLS mean something, the past month has represented a change of sorts – for the better – in Myanmar’s political landscape. Last month, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (more…)

Zaw Min, the minister for Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power-1 (MEP-1), recently stood in front of the press and—in a manner disdainful to critics—declared that the highly controversial Myitsone Dam project would go full speed ahead and nothing would stop its completion. So who is this man who so easily stood up and dismissed the fact that the Myitsone Dam is certain to have an adverse affect on the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Burmese citizens? (more…)

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…)