Shan rebels, who clashed with government troops in eastern Burma over the weekend, have warned the army to respect the terms of their ceasefire agreement or risk derailing the peace process. (more…)

Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition Monday said it plans to hold its first ever national conference next month, in the latest sign of the party’s mainstream role after decades of repression under Burma’s former junta. (more…)

A rape of a disabled 12-year-old girl in Rangoon’s South Dagon townships on Christmas Day has outraged local aid organizations and on Tuesday they called for a severe punishment for the perpetrator. The groups also used the occasion to highlight the need for a disability rights law in Burma that would support and better protect the country’s disabled. (more…)

For the first time in six decades, representatives of the Karen National Union (KNU) will attend Karen New Year’s celebrations in Rangoon, according to a senior member of the ethnic armed group. (more…)

The Ethnic Human Rights Network issued a public statement calling on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party, the National Liberation Party, to take a stand against the abuses being committed in Kachin State by the Burma military. (more…)

Villagers in the east of Dawei, Southern Burma are protesting the building of a dam that will destroy their villages and force them to be relocated. (more…)

Villagers in the Thandaung area were frightened by a Burma Army helicopter that repeatedly flew over their homes last week – the area is under the Karen National Union’s Taungoo District and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army 2nd Brigade. (more…)

The next step on the way to the long-awaited peace conference is to discuss and reach an agreement on its framework and a meeting between the two sides for the said purpose is most likely to take place in Thailand, according to Nai Hong Sar, General Secretary of the 11 armed movement alliance, United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). (more…)

Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) destroyed a mosque in Maungdaw Township, according to a religious leader who spoke on condition of anonymity. (more…)

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) currently has more than 30 prisoners of war, or POWs, that it wants to return safely to the Burmese army, said 88 Generation Students leader Mya Aye who visited the Kachin army’s headquarters in Laiza last week. (more…)

Four representatives of the 88 Generation Students group met with Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros on Tuesday morning at the Chatrium Hotel where they discussed foreign investment and the need for transparency in business. (more…)

Thousands of Burmese migrants face unemployment after new minimum wage requirements imposed by the Thai government earlier this month forced several factories and workshops to close down. (more…)

Cross-border trading—which accounts for 85% of Burma-Thailand total bilateral trade—increased by 25% last year, according to an official from the Burmese Ministry of Commerce. (more…)

The Burmese government plans to establish a jade and gemstone center in the capital Naypyidaw, where it hopes traders and investors will open stores and processing industries for the precious stones, a government official said on Monday. (more…)

The ongoing air strikes lobbed by Myanmar’s military at resistance forces along the Chinese border is drawing predictable condemnation. (more…)