Burma’s national human rights commission (MNHRC) has accused the army of committing serious abuses against civilians in Kachin state, in the wake of a five-day mission of inquiry to the conflict-torn region. (more…)

National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi was approved by Burma’s Parliament on Tuesday to chair the newly formed Committee for Rule of Law and Stability, according to sources in her party. (more…)

The Karen National Union (KNU) will hold a third round of official peace talks with the Burmese government in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State, on Aug. 27 which will focus on a “code of conduct” for the ceasefire currently in place. (more…)

Burmese lawmakers in the Lower House last week took over the drafting of a higher education bill while also chiding the Ministry of Education for not allowing universities freedom to govern their own affairs. (more…)

Around 150,000 Burmese refugees and migrants now living in Thailand will be given government aid to voluntarily return to their country, officials of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Resettlement said. (more…)

After the initial hype of a “last frontier” economic boom for Burma in the wake of recent dramatic reforms, nervous Western companies appear to be hesitating to invest. (more…)

The United Nations refugee agency today urged Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can continue to provide assistance to unregistered people who have fled the violence in neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state, after reports emerged of Government authorities banning them from carrying out their activities. (more…)

PARIS  – France called Monday for Myanmar authorities to protect civilians of all ethnic groups “without discrimination” after reports of renewed deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. (more…)

Mo Farah is a British athletics hero. Last Saturday, he stood holding the Union Jack flag, while the British national anthem was sung and he received a gold medal for Great Britain after winning the 10,000 metres race in the Olympic Games. As he ran, Mo was cheered on by British crowds, and when he won, the crowds went wild with patriotic pride and delight. (more…)

Myanmar is no stranger to criticism from Western nations and human-rights groups, some of whom still approach the once-reclusive nation with caution despite major economic and social reforms there over the past year. But as the plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority captures global attention, the country is now getting flak from a new quarter – the Muslim world. (more…)

On 6 August, some most important news journals – such as The Messenger, The Nation and so forth – in Burma blackened their cover pages as a sign of protest in order to show the current rising discontentment with long-lasting limits on the ‘Freedom of Press’. (more…)

Business delegations, state visits and investors are descending on the former pariah state searching for new opportunities in Myanmar’s blue ocean of industries. However, experts consistently caution that the country’s basic infrastructure is simply insufficient to absorb foreign direct investment. (more…)

Nationwide ceasefires and achieving permanent peace were discussed during a meeting between Burmese President Thein Sein and leaders from 14 different political parties in Naypyidaw on Saturday. (more…)

A new meeting between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and government peace team has been postponed until both sides can agree on a suitable location. (more…)

Myanmar’s government has agreed to lift suspensions on two weekly journals within two weeks, their editors said on Monday, just days after rare protests by journalists in two cities to demand more press freedom. (more…)

As plans are expected to move ahead more rapidly on the Dawei deep-sea port and economic zone, villagers in Ka Loat Hta are dissatisfied with the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) relocation plans for their village, a site for a proposed hydropower dam project. (more…)

YANGON — Renewed violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya has left three people dead in Myanmar, a government official said on Monday, amid growing international concern about the sectarian unrest. (more…)

ABOUT 5000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of flooding in Kayin State’s Hpa-an township, state media and a fire brigade official said last week, after the Thanlwin River exceeded its danger level by more than one metre. (more…)

Peace negotiators claim that birth certificate will soon be provided to the Thailand-born children of Burmese migrants after a second successful meeting with Dr. Cynthia Maung at Mae Tao Clinic, in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, on Sunday. (more…)

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan met Burma’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Seoul on Friday to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, resources, infrastructure and development, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. (more…)