Sittwe, Myanmar— Heavy rain brought an uneasy calm in western Myanmar on Wednesday after five days of sectarian strife, though residents were too fearful to sleep and faced food shortages. (more…)

Sittwe, Myanmar — A top UN envoy arrived in strife-torn western Myanmar on Wednesday as security forces grappled with sectarian violence that has left dozens dead and hundreds of homes burned down. (more…)

Influential Buddhist and Muslim leaders in Burma have called for an end to the on-going violence in western Burma’s Arakan state. (more…)

The Bangladeshi authorities have been condemned for refusing to allow hundreds of stateless Muslims to escape from ethnic violence that has gripped western Burma for the past two weeks. The crisis is a challenge for Burma’s president Thein Sein, who has promised to work towards democracy and national reconciliation. (more…)

Burma is expediting a program to wipe out forced labor before a 2015 deadline, according to Labor Minister Aung Kyi. (more…)

Washington — The United States on Wednesday voiced concern that Bangladesh was turning away Muslims fleeing religious violence in Myanmar and urged the Dhaka government not to send them back. (more…)

Burma is set to see a dramatic rise in the amount of international aid it receives, after a group representing several Western governments and multilateral agencies pledged on Tuesday to provide hundreds of millions of dollars for projects in the country.
At a meeting with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, the Peace Donor Support Group (PDSG)—representing the governments of Norway, the UK and Australia, as well as the European Union, the United Nations and the World Bank—offered a total of nearly US $500 million to support peace-building and other projects. (more…)

Sectarian violence in the western region of Burma that shares a long border with Bangladesh has now claimed at least 25 lives since Friday. President Thein Sein has declared an emergency in Arakan State, where a feud between ethnic Arakan Buddhists against stateless Rohingya Muslims has spiraled into full-blown communal violence. The looting, arson, and mob clashes are spreading fast. (more…)

Europeans are understandably excited about the visit this week of Aung San Suu Kyi, freedom fighter and democracy hero. Only she won’t be showing up. In her place will come Aung San Suu Kyi, parliamentarian and (reasonably) loyal member of the opposition. It is an altogether more difficult role for the Lady to pull off. (more…)

ABOLISHING media censorship is a prerequisite for countries transforming from systems of centralised, authoritarian governance to more liberal and inclusive democratic societies. Myanmar is no exception.
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These are optimistic days, full of promise for Myanmar’s rebirth. Diplomats, investors, donors and aid workers disembark en masse in Yangon International Airport while Daw Aung Sung Suu Kyi makes her first diplomatic tour of Europe.
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Shwe Mann, the former general who now serves as the speaker of Burma’s Lower House of Parliament, said that the country’s legislature is thriving and that it, as an elected body, wields more power than the military-backed council led by President Thein Sein. (more…)