Landmark talks between the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) and government peace negotiators ended this afternoon with the promise to engage in a political dialogue after 60 years of civil war in Burma. (more…)

The Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) and government peace negotiators kicked off another round of informal talks in Thailand yesterday as skirmishes broke out with another armed Shan group in northeastern Burma. (more…)

Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the 1990 elections’ largest winning party in Shan State, denied this morning that it had been campaigning for opposition to the planned negotiation between the 11 armed movement alliance and the Union Peacemaking Work Committee formed by Naypyitaw tomorrow. (more…)

Burma’s Ministry of Immigration and Population has begun to investigate the status of immigrants in Mandalay city in preparation for taking further action, according to Deputy Minister Kyaw Kyaw Win. (more…)

A prominent 88 generation student leader Min Ko Naing expressed his views in Norway’s Oslo recently that the 2015 general election is not the ultimate goal for democratic force but merely a milestone. (more…)

The United States-Myanmar Trade and Investment conference will be held at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) here next Monday aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investment between the two countries, according to the UMFCCI on Wednesday. (more…)

Asia Green Development Bank, one of Myanmar’s largest privately owned banks, received approval on Monday from the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration to become a public company, the officials said. (more…)

Real estate agents in Dawei have said that land prices in Tanintharyi Region are soaring due to increased interest following the implementation of the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ). (more…)

The Myanmar Automobile Association announced that last week that the price of motor vehicles in Yangon has increased significantly. (more…)

The threat of possible blackouts in Bangkok and some southern areas remains even as Myanmar has agreed to help the government through its high-demand power woes in April. (more…)

Malaysian police have detained 102 Myanmar nationals who tried to enter the country by boat on the island of Penang in the country’s northwest, according to Malaysian daily The Star. (more…)

The Japanese government have named Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa as its special representative to work on ethnic reconciliation in Myanmar. (more…)

Sri Lankan media is reporting on Wednesday that the 32 Myanmar nationals rescued by the Sri Lankan navy on Saturday are refusing to return to their home country. (more…)

China considered using a drone strike in a mountainous region of Southeast Asia to kill a Myanmar drug lord wanted in the killings of 13 Chinese sailors, but decided instead to capture him alive, according to an influential state-run newspaper. (more…)

Standing on a rooftop in Myanmar’s largest city, you can see China all around you. Although Yangon lays hundreds of kilometers from the Chinese border, the handful of high-rises cropping up around town appear to have been built quickly and cheaply using concrete and metal, a hallmark of Chinese-style development. (more…)

Let’s be honest. Burma isn’t the first country that comes to mind when one talks about open government. Yet despite its ongoing challenges, Burma has made huge strides towards reform and openness in the past few years. That’s why, as lead chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the international movement for transparency and openness, Britain is supporting Burma on its path towards OGP membership. (more…)

The international community acts as if development and engagement alone can secure a democratic future for Burma.  The United Nations and donor countries, with staggering rapidity, are investing considerable amounts of international and bilateral aid in Burma, including for “rule of law” projects designed to jettison Burma into the 21st century global legal community.  However, this well-intended engagement, touting ideals of democracy and the rule of law, is built on a fallacy, which neither serves the people of Burma nor advances the global security sought by the international community. (more…)