The United States criticized China’s human rights record Thursday, raising concerns about restrictions that Beijing has imposed on citizens who question its policies. (more…)

Geneva – The United Nations human rights investigator for Myanmar called on Thursday for an international inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the ruling junta. (more…)

United Nations – UN chief Ban Ki-moon overnight renewed his appeal to Myanmar rulers to let detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi take part in upcoming polls after new election laws disqualified her. (more…)

Washington – The Obama administration on Wednesday slammed election laws imposed by the Myanmar junta as a “mockery” of democracy as the new US policy of engagement with the military-run state suffered a blow. (more…)

Washington — The United States hit out Wednesday at Myanmar’s military junta for excluding political prisoners from taking part in upcoming elections, saying the polls were now “devoid of credibility.” (more…)

Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has launched a worldwide petition for democracy in Burma, which also calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of the election due sometime in 2010. (more…)

United Nation – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he sent a letter to Myanmar’s junta chief to voice concern about the credibility of this year’s nationwide election, the country’s first in 20 years. (more…)

Washington — When Aye Chan attends the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, it will be for his role as a director – not of a movie but of the exiled Burmese news agency that is the subject of one of this year’s Best Documentary nominees. (more…)

New York – Rutha was pregnant when she was forced to serve as a porter at a military camp in Myanmar. There, she was raped nightly and her father killed when he refused to allow soldiers to take his 22-year-old daughter. (more…)

The Obama administration, concerned that Burma is expanding its military relationship with North Korea, has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade Burma’s junta to stop buying North Korean military technology, U.S. officials said. (more…)

A young Karen woman has been included in the list of this year’s recipients of the Young Global Leader award. (more…)

The documentary “Burma VJ” is in the running for an Oscar for best feature-documentary at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards show which will be broadcast worldwide on Sunday night in the United States. (more…)

MONTREAL — The Canadian government said Friday it was “deeply disappointed” that Myanmar’s Supreme Court had rejected an appeal by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her extended house arrest. (more…)

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today said he was “appalled and saddened” that Burma’s highest court had turned down opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest bid for freedom. (more…)

Though some media critics scoff at the idea of using college students and citizen journalists (like CNN’s iReporters) to produce “real” news, user-created content is increasingly becoming a critical part of news gathering — especially from remote and restricted areas of the world. Just last week, the anonymous videographer who first published footage of the shooting death of Neda Agha-Soltan during the 2009 Iranian election won the prestigious Polk Award for further illuminating the reality of what was happening behind the scenes in Iran. The video uploader — and the team that helped spread the clip — were the first anonymous citizens to receive one of journalism’s highest honors. (more…)

The Washington-based organization Freedom Now has asked the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to investigate the case of the Burmese-American Nyi Nyi Aung, who was sentenced by a Rangoon court last week to three years imprisonment. (more…)

Feb. 12 is Red Hand Day. There are some 250,000 child soldiers according to the UN fighting in armed conflicts. The junta and rebel armies in Myanmar, also known as Burma, are notorious for recruiting child soldiers. (more…)

Geneva – The United Nations human rights investigator for Myanmar called on the ruling junta on Thursday to let him meet pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his third visit to the country next week. (more…)

WASHINGTON — A senior lawmaker called Wednesday for the United States to consider toughening sanctions on Myanmar for its jailing of an American citizen whose fiancee appealed for his freedom. (more…)

MILITARY contacts with the Rangoon junta including joint naval exercises involving Australian and Burmese warships did not compromise the government’s strong diplomatic stand against Burma’s thuggish military regime, Senate Estimates was told yesterday. (more…)