UN Special Rapporteur for Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana will travel to Burma today (Reuters)
The UN’s special rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in Rangoon this afternoon to assess claims made by the government that it has embarked on a reform programme to bring to an end decades of human rights abuses against Burmese.
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David Cameron has hailed Burmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi as a “figure of brilliance” who should steer the West’s response to the opening up of Burma.

The Prime Minister was speaking after EU leaders in Brussels vowed to ease EU “restrictive measures” following her release after seven years of house arrest in November 2010.
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Partisan squabbling has hobbled the business of government in Washington, but on one foreign policy issue at least, Democrats and Republicans appear willing to set aside their differences and get things done. It is Burma. (more…)

The future of a UN inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Burmese regime has been thrown into doubt after a number of one-time supporters of a probe, including Britain and the US, appear to have retreated in the wake of reforms made by the new government. (more…)

Ma Noreen Phillip Myan Mon Yee has ?a big picture in my mind?. (more…)

Director Jeanne Hallacy said former political prisoner and activist Ko Bo Kyi inspired her to make “Into the Current.” (more…)

New Delhi — Myanmar’s foreign minister said Wednesday that the transition to democracy in the once-authoritarian southeast Asian country will be gradual and systematic. (more…)

United Nations – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday praised the government of Myanmar for its democratic reforms and said he planned to visit the Southeast Asian nation soon. (more…)

Washington – The United States is looking at easing sanctions on Myanmar, but needs to see more democratic progress including a smooth April by-election before it can start unwinding decades of overlapping economic and political bans on the country, U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday. (more…)

Washington – US President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed democratic reforms in Myanmar as offering “new hope” as he recommitted the United States to a lasting presence in the Asia-Pacific region. (more…)

Brussels – The European Union agreed on Monday to suspend visa bans on the president of Myanmar and other senior officials, following reforms that have included the release of hundreds of political prisoners. (more…)

Yangon – A Myanmar punk-rock band’s efforts to raise funds via a California-based website has run afoul of US sanctions, a report said Sunday. (more…)

Bangkok—The U.S. shouldn’t rush to lift sanctions against Myanmar until it sees the results of a parliamentary by-election planned for early April, U.S. Sen. John McCain said on the eve of a trip to the long-isolated nation on Sunday. (more…)

Hanoi – U.S. sanctions on Myanmar could begin to come down if by-elections scheduled for April 1 in the former British colony are fair and open, U.S. Senator John McCain said on Thursday.

After half a century of authoritarian rule Myanmar has taken a series of dramatic steps in recent months to open up, the latest of which was the release last week of some 300 political prisoners. (more…)

Brussels: The European Union is mulling whether to begin lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as February to encourage signs of reform after decades of outright military rule, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.

Aid for the southeast Asian nation is also under consideration, as well as a visit soon by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, her spokesman Michael Mann told AFP. (more…)

The Senate’s top Republican offered rare praise Tuesday for the former general leading Myanmar, but stopped short of saying he’d support easing sanctions.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told The Associated Press after visiting Myanmar he would take his cue on lifting sanctions from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He said a key test would be free and fair conduct of April 1 elections. (more…)

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has introduced legislation sanctioning Myanmar each year since 2003, met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon and praised the country’s government for reform measures, which have included reducing restrictions on the Internet, allowing trade unions and legalizing the main opposition party. (more…)

Burmese political prisoners Kyaw Min Yu, center, also known as Ko Jimmy, and his wife Nilar Thein, left, holding their child, celebrate upon their arrival at the Rangoon airport following their release from detention on Jan. 13, 2012
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French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé concluded his visit to Burma on Monday saying that France would triple its development assistance to Burma and work toward a step-by-step lifting of international sanctions.

Juppé’s visit was the first ever by a French foreign minister to Burma and a first ministerial visit since 1988.

He made his comments on a round-up conversation with the French press delegation that followed him on his trip which took him first to Japan then to Burma. (more…)

Myanmar has pulled off a double whammy: A peace deal agreed Thursday with its longest-running insurgency group; and the release Friday of hundreds of political prisoners. Both were unthinkable a year ago, when the old military regime was in power and exiled critics were dismissing a new parliament as a farce. (more…)