BANGKOK — State-run media in Myanmar said on Tuesday that 6,300 prisoners would be released in an amnesty and a new official human rights body urged the country’s president in an open letter to free what it called “prisoners of conscience,” a term for the political prisoners whose release has been a central demand of Western nations. (more…)

Burma and China have resolved a dispute over the recent suspension of the Chinese-backed Myitsone hydro-power dam project in Kachin State, according to a Burmese presidential adviser who said that Burma may have to compensate China for the move. (more…)

Chiang Mai – Three Chinese women were gang-raped last week by Burmese government troops in northern Kachin State, the Kachin News Group (KNG) reported on Monday. (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar authorities are considering amendments to election laws that could pave the way for Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party to re-enter national politics, news reports said Sunday. (more…)

Shwe Kyin – After losing a leg to a landmine 12 years ago, Zaw Lwin, 42, no longer ventures into the hilly forests of Shwe Kyin – an area that once sustained his livelihood. (more…)

New Delhi – The Thailand-based Shwe Gas Movement has called for the Burmese government to suspend another huge energy project, the Shwe natural gas project in Arakan State. “Exporting the huge natural gas reserves from the Shwe Gas fields off Burma’s western coast will perpetuate the chronic energy shortages domestically,” it said in a statement released on Friday. (more…)

Bangkok — The director of Myanmar’s state censorship board has said his own department should be abolished to allow greater press freedom in the Southeast Asian nation. (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar’s tourism industry has hit some snags in its efforts to attract international guests. (more…)

Nay Pyi Taw – Myanmar Academy of Medical Science has been formed for 12 years; and in reviewing its tasks, the executive committees and members have made concerted efforts for achieving success to some extent, said Union Minister for Health Dr Pe Thet Khin at the Annual General Meeting of the Myanmar Academy of Medical Science for 2010-2011 at the hall of the University of Nursing (Yangon) on Bogyoke Aung San Street yesterday morning. (more…)

Bangkok—A senior U.S. official described political overhauls under way in Myanmar as a “dramatic development” and pledged Washington would respond favorably to them, in the latest sign of thawing relations between the two countries. (more…)

President Thein Sein visits India this week against the backdrop of crucial developments that would impact on India-Myanmar relations. The visit takes place in a context which is significantly different from that of last year when his predecessor, Senior General Than Shwe, visited India. (more…)

Observers of Burma (Myanmar) say that political prisoners may be among those included in the Burmese government’s announcement of amnesty for more than 6,300 people. (more…)

Something odd and possibly encouraging is going on in Myanmar. Myanmar is the country that used to be Burma until the generals took over and decided it had to have a non-colonial name. Since then they’ve run it like a military prison, throwing dissenters in jail, stuffing their personal bank accounts and waving a middle finger at foreign critics. (more…)

Work on a controversial and costly dam in Northern Burma has been suspended. (more…)

Hong Kong — Where is Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s foreign policy? A neighboring country that has suffered years of isolation and plunder by the misruling junta may be signaling that it wants to come in from the cold. Japan, which could offer the greatest help, seems to be asleep to the opportunity. (more…)

Nay Pyi Taw – The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission submitted a request in open letter to President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein today. (more…)

London – International energy groups say recent signs of political change in autocratic Myanmar are unlikely to lead to a rapid expansion of their activities in the country, which holds valuable reserves of oil and gas. (more…)