Chiang Mai – Eligible voters for the coming by-election in Hpakant constituency in Kachin State for a Lower House seat now represent about one-third of the number of eligible voters in the constituency in 2010 election. (more…)

Hundreds of Palaung locals in northern Shan state have been conscripted by rebel militias after fighting broke out between armed ethnic groups and government forces, reports from the region claim. (more…)

Yangon — If roaring sales of his Aung San Suu Kyi T-shirts are a yardstick, then businessman Swe Yie thinks Myanmar’s tentative steps to democracy are on the right track. (more…)

A softly spoken TV presenter with a mop of honey-colored hair welcomes the audience, before reading a news story about a transgender day of remembrance in front of a crude brightly colored background. Don’t let the low-budget appearance belie the significance of this broadcast. The show is a monthly program, broadcast on the internet since November last year, about LGBT rights in Burma, a country where any kind of political self-expression was brutally repressed until very recently. (more…)

Yangon – Foreigners will no longer need a local partner to set up businesses in Myanmar and may be granted a five-year tax holiday from the start of commercial operations, according to the draft of a new investment law obtained by Reuters. (more…)

At least six leading garment manufacturers plan to set up plants in Burma in the second half of the year after the country has made clear moves towards democracy and flexibility in its investment laws. (more…)

Bangkok – In a move expected to deepen political reform, the quasi-civilian government in Myanmar (also known as Burma) is permitting the distribution of leaflets that will help thousands of people in the country’s ethnic enclaves learn to resist forced labour. (more…)

Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, a former general who ranked third in the junta that ruled Burma until last year, appears to be chafing under the administration of President Thein Sein. In February, the two publicly disagreed over the pace of reforms, raising questions about whether Thein Sein—who was only the sixth most powerful of the former ruling generals—is capable of remaining in charge of Burma’s tricky transition to a less autocratic form of governance. (more…)

As the word democracy spreads across Burma, it’s time to look at how ordinary Burmese understand democracy and what sort of expectations they have. (more…)

In the hilltop Shwedagon Pagoda, whose gold-covered stupas gleam far across Rangoon, are countless statues and images of the Buddha, sitting, standing, reclining in timeless fashion. (more…)

Here is the text of U.S. special envoy to Burma Ambassador Derek Mitchell’s press conference at the U.S. Embassy on Thursday, March 15, 2012, as transcribed by the embassy. (more…)