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India exhibition to boost ‘familiarisation’: ambassador
Stuart Deed (Myanmar Times) - 7 NovAFTER a seven year gap, India is this week again hosting an exhibition of the country’s best and brightest products, companies and services at the Tatmadaw Hall in Yangon’s Dagon...
India, Myanmar Must Conclude Banking Cooperation Deal
IANS (Siliconindia.com) - 7 NovNew Delhi: India and Myanmar should conclude an agreement on cooperation in banking and financial services to boost flow of two-way investment and trade, industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry...
FIFA lifts Myanmar World Cup ban
ESPN - 7 NovMyanmar have been allowed back into the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup after FIFA lifted its ban on appeal.Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, were removed from the competition after...
Fleeing Thai floods: Burmese migrant's story of extortion, threats
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – When flood waters threatened to engulf *Tun Win's home close to the Thai capital Bangkok, he decided it was time to escape and avoid the worst flooding...
DA demands answers on Burma ambassador
LIONEL FAULL & MARINA SIMPSON JOHANNESBURG (Mail & Guardian Online) - 7 NovThe Democratic Alliance has called on President Jacob Zuma to send the Burma ambassador to South Africa packing, after a Mail & Guardian investigation raised questions about diplomat Myint Naung's...
A bomb destroys a cargo boat on the Salween River
Tun Tun (Mizzima News) - 7 NovNew Delhi (Mizzima) – A cargo riverboat was damaged by a bomb blast in the Salween riverside village of Measalat in Hphapun District in Karen State on Sunday, according to...
Japanese used cars arrive in Burma: part of car-swap deal
Mizzima News - 7 NovRangoon (Mizzima) – The Panamanian-flagged container ship Ocean Blue carrying 110 used cars imported from Japan docked in Sule Port in Rangoon on Saturday. The imported cars are the first batch...
Private banks to reintroduce ATMs
THUREIN SOE (DVB) - 7 NovAs Burma’s economists go to work on rejuvenating the country’s moribund banking sector, residents of Rangoon may soon benefit from the reintroduction of automatic teller machines (ATMs) and banking cards.Kanbawza...
Irony of Burma's Flawed Election
BA KAUNG (The Irrawaddy) - 7 NovExactly one year ago on Monday, Burma held its first parliamentary elections in two decades which were marred by widespread vote rigging and boycotted by opposition groups led by Aung...
Professionals urge authorities to reinstate their licenses
Mit Thet (Mizzima News) - 7 NovRangoon (Mizzima) – Pro-democracy activists whose professional licenses have been revoked for their political activities and students who have been dismissed from school should have their licenses reinstated and students...
US, UN hopeful on Burma reform
AFP - 7 NovSenior US and UN officials said they were encouraged by nascent reforms in Burma, with Washington saying it will look at new incentives to spur change including the expansion of...
Vietnam, Burma Draw at SEA Games
THE IRRAWADDY - 7 NovVietnam and Burma played out a goalless draw at football on Saturday at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games currently being held in Indonesia from Nov. 11 to 22. The...
‘Red Spider’ tries to save Suu Kyi
Tun Tun (Mizzima News) - 7 NovNew Delhi (Mizzima News) – The plan was bold and hush-hush; Code named “Red spider,” the aim of the never-executed operation in 1991 was to free opposition leader Aung San...
Myanmar sees tentative changes one year after vote
Channel News Asia - 7 NovBANGKOK: One year on from an election condemned by the West as a farce, military-dominated Myanmar has surprised critics with a series of reformist moves allowing hope for change in...
Chinese Buddha sacred tooth relic conveyed to Myanmar for obeisance
Xinhua - 7 NovNAY PYI TAW, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Buddha sacred tooth relic was conveyed to Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw Sunday afternoon for 48-day public obeisance in...
Vietnam draws with Myanmar in AFC U19 qualifier
Thanh Nien Daily - 7 NovHosts Vietnam were held to a 2-2 draw by Myanmar in their second Group F match of the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championships at HCMC’s Thong Nhat Stadium...
Invest In Myanmar Now, Tun Mahathir Urges Malaysians
Bernama - 4 NovYANGON (MYANMAR), Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has urged Malaysians to invest in Myanmar now, saying if they do not do so now they...
Burmese gem emporium to be held in November cancelled
Mizzima News - 3 NovNew Delhi (Mizzima) – The annual Burmese Gem Emporium held each November has been cancelled, said an official from the Myanmar Gems Enterprise. This year, successful gem sales were held...
Clashes Lead to Blackout in Kachin Capital
SAI ZOM HSENG (The Irrawaddy) - 3 NovMyitkyina, one of the few cities in Burma that has had a reliable supply of electricity in recent years, is now suffering from the same sort of shortages that afflict...
Gold digging takes toll on Irrawaddy river
DVB - 3 NovEnvironmental damage caused by intensive gold digging along the Irrawaddy river has triggered health problems among locals in the Kachin state town ofBhamo, where authorities have allowed the practice to...
Burma's Internet, Newly Opened, Slows to a Crawl
SAI ZOM HSENG (The Irrawaddy) - 3 NovInternet access in Burma, a country that until recently blocked websites deemed to be a threat to state security, is now suffering another setback in the form of a technical...
IMF to work with Burma in revising currency exchange policy
Aye Lea (Mizzima News) - 3 NovChiang Mai (Mizzima) – A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is prepared to cooperate with Burmese authorities as they revamp the country’s currency exchange policy.The announcement came at...
Burma’s Opium Addiction
Mong Palatino (The Deplomat) - 2 NovOpium cultivation is on the increase in the Palaung communities in the northern Shan State of Burma. This fact was revealed in a study published last month by the Palaung...
Actress Htet Htet Moe Oo ends testimony on assaulting reporter charge
Mizzima News - 2 NovRangoon (Mizzima) – A hearing in a criminal assault case against Burmese academy-award winning actress Htet Htet Moe Oo was held in Yankin Township Court on Tuesday. She has been...
IMF Concludes Mission to Burma
BA KAUNG (The Irrawaddy) - 2 NovAn International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation concluded a visit to Naypyidaw on Wednesday but has not yet determined whether the Burmese government will accept currency conditions regarding changing its monetary...
ENC chairman urges UN’s Nambiar to address ethnic issues in Burma
Thomas Maung Shwe (Mizzima News) - 2 Nov(Mizzima) – Speaking at a press conference in Thailand on Tuesday, the secretary-general of the Ethnic Nationalities Council, Dr. Sui Khar, urged the UN Burma envoy Vijay Nambiar to address...
Thailand Floods: Straw that Broke the Broker's Back
SIMON ROUGHNEEN (The Irrawaddy) - 2 NovBANGKOK—“They are using the opportunity to exploit workers,” says Aung, slamming Thai immigration officials and Burmese brokers for extorting Burmese migrants fleeing Thailand's worst flooding for half-a-century. “I have never...
Global bid to end tiger trade launched
AFP - 2 NovInterpol on Wednesday launched a new campaign to coordinate the global fight against tiger poaching, warning that failure to protect the endangered cats would have economic and social repercussions.The international...
Lower House bill challenges Union Assembly Speaker’s actions
Myo Thant (Mizzima News) - 2 NovChiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese Lower House on Tuesday passed a bill to prevent Union Assembly Speaker Khin Aung Myint from sending bills approved by the Parliament to the...
Burma seeks help with green technologies
AFP - 2 NovBurma urged developed nations on Tuesday to share their green technologies, in the military-backed government’s latest effort to reach out to the global community.“Being a developing country, we need technological...
Lower House Rejects Speaker’s Bill
WAI MOE (The Irrawaddy) - 2 NovOn the 44th day of the second parliamentary session in Naypyidaw, the Lower House ruled against a bill passed on Friday in the combined houses of Parliament that all laws...
Exiled Thee Lay Thee dance troupe members to return to Burma
Tun Tun (Mizzima News) - 2 NovNew Delhi (Mizzima) – Comedians Kyel Thee and Pan Thee, and the dancer Mya Sabai Ngone, members of the Thee Lay Thee Colourful Dance Troupe, will return to Burma on...
Myanmar reassures China after dam blocked, sailors killed
Reuters - 30 Oct(Reuters) - A senior Myanmar government minister assured China on Sunday of his country's friendship and cooperation with Beijing, state news agency Xinhua reported, ties having been strained by the...
Indonesia hints at support for Myanmar ASEAN chair
AFP - 30 OctYANGON — Indonesia's foreign minister welcomed signs of political reform in Myanmar during a visit aimed at assessing the military-dominated nation's bid to chair the ASEAN regional bloc."I get the...
10,000 Burmese workers go home to escape floods
Bangkok Post - 30 OctMore than 10,000 Burmese migrant workers in Bangkok and surrounding provinces hit by flooding returned to their country yesterday, provincial police said.More than 50 rented buses and 100 vans carrying...
Myanmar strives to revitalize traditional arts
Feng Yingqiu (Xinhua) - 27 OctYANGON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Myanmar Traditional Cultural Performing Arts Competitions has just ended in Nay Pyi Taw with award presentation by the state to successful performers in...
Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register
Myo Thant (Mizzima News) - 27 OctChiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma's Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw on Thursday approved a draft law that amends three points of the Political Parties Registration Law including cancellation of...
‘Fear renders us dumb and passive’: Sue Kyi in U.S. speech
Mizzima News - 27 Oct(Mizzima) – Denouncing violence and encouraging understanding and respect, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi told a U.S. university audience, “There can be no peace without democracy, and no...
Fighting halted in northern Shan State
Ko Wild (Mizzima News) - 27 OctChiang Mai (Mizzima) – Fighting has been halted in the control area of Shan State Army (North) / Shan State Progressive Party (SSA/SSPP) for more than one month, Major Sai...
Myitsone Workers Return to China, but Beijing Still Hoping for Restart
BA KAUNG (The Irrawaddy) - 27 OctNearly a month after Burma's President Thein Sein announced the suspension of the controversial Myitsone dam project in Kachin State, Chinese workers have begun returning to China, even as Beijing...
Rangoon police disperse farmers’ protest
AFP - 27 OctPolice in Burma on Thursday broke up a demonstration of around 100 farmers protesting against the confiscation of their land, detaining three people, officials said.Led by a human rights lawyer,...
Govt Push for Peace Talks with KNU, SSA-South
LAWI WENG (The Irrawaddy) - 27 OctTwo of Burma's main ethnic rebel groups, the Shan State Army-South (SSA–South) and the Karen National Union (KNU), are preparing to hold separate peace negotiations with a government delegation in...
Hunger strike underway in Insein prison
AYE NAI (DVB) - 27 OctFifteen political prisoners in Rangoon’s Insein jail have gone on hunger strike to protest a decision not to overturn a ruling that bars the majority of prisoners from the right...
Amendments to Political Party Law Approved
WAI MOE (The Irrawaddy) - 27 OctBurma's Lower House of Parliament passed an amendment to the Political Party Registration law on Thursday, a move that could see Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD)...
Two ethnic armed groups support ‘Second Panglong Conference’
Zwe Khant (Mizzima News) - 26 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and the Chin National Front (CNF) welcome the idea of convening a “21st Century Panglong Conference” representing all ethnic parties and...
Shan MP Accused of Being Opium Kingpin
KO HTWE (The Irrawaddy) - 26 OctOpium production and drug addiction have dramatically increased in the Namkham area of northern Shan State since the election of a local warlord in last year's general election, according to...
Thai Immigration Officials Exploit Flood Victims
KO HTWE (The Irrawaddy) - 26 OctHundreds of Burmese migrant workers fleeing a flood disaster in Bangkok have been detained or forced to pay bribes to Thai immigration officials in Mae Sot or on their way...
Opium production doubles in northern Shan State: PWO
Phanida (Mizzima News) - 26 OctChiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Thailand-based Palaung Women Organization (PWO) says three drug kingpins have doubled opium production in a region in Shan State.The PWO pointed a finger three people...
One person killed in taxi explosion in Rangoon
Mizzima News - 26 OctRangoon (Mizzima) – One person was killed and two people were injured in an explosion following a gas leak involving a taxi in Nagmoeyeik Ward, Thingangyun Township, in Rangoon on...
Myanmar to hold grand religious function to mark 2600th anniversary Shwedagon Pagoda
Xinhua - 25 OctYANGON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is making preparation to hold grand religious function to mark the 2600th anniversary of the world's famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the official daily...
Dalai Lama invites Suu Kyi to attend meeting in the Czech Republic
Ko Pauk (Mizzima News) - 25 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been invited by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan religious leader, to attend a conference in the Czech...
Viet Nam lose to Myanmar in regional champs
Viet Nam News - 25 OctHA NOI – Viet Nam, the defending SEA Games champions, lost 1-2 to Myanmar yesterday in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship in Laos.Viet Nam failed to...
Suu Kyi Notes Progress in Myanmar, Urges More Change
Wall Street Journal - 25 OctYANGON, Myanmar—Dissident Aung San Suu Kyi said a series of reforms under way in Myanmar represents the biggest opening in the repressive Southeast Asian country since the 1980s, but also...
Stock exchange eyed for 2015
JOSEPH ALLCHIN (DVB) - 25 OctBurma’s government has committed to developing a viable stock exchange in the country by 2015, and will start selling shares in state-owned enterprises next year.Burma currently has a securities exchange...
Burma flooding deaths top 200
THAN WIN HTUT (DVB) - 25 OctOfficials in the flood-hit town of Pakokku in Burma say 215 people have been confirmed dead, but locals there warn the eventual figure could reach 300 once missing persons are...
Suu Kyi’s portraits sell big to U.S. buyers, embassy
Tun Tun (Mizzima News) - 25 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – In a National League for Democracy art exhibit intended to raise funds for charity work and promoting political activities, eight paintings have sold through Monday, most...
Mitchell, U.S. special representative to Burma, returns again
Ko Pauk (Mizzima News) - 25 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – The U.S. Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, Ambassador Derek Mitchell, arrived in Rangoon on Monday on a two-day official visit.Observers say he may be...
Quintana: Burma’s government failing to solve ethnic issues
Thomas Maung Shwe (Mizzima News) - 20 OctChiang Mai (Mizzima) – The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has called for concrete action from the Burmese government in dealing with human rights abuses in the...
More government troops deployed around Laiza
Phanida (Mizzima News) - 20 OctChiang Mai (Mizzima) - The Kachin Independence Organization has reported a build up of Burmese government troops around their headquarters in Laiza, in northern Kachin State.KIO spokesman La Nang told...
Burma detainee swap does not include refugees: Malaysia
Ko Pauk (Mizzima News) - 20 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese political refugees will not be included in a detainee swap deal between Burma and Malaysia.The Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters...
Burmese minister says historic gov’t buildings might make nice hotels
Tun Tun (Mizzima News) - 20 OctNew Delhi (Mizzima) – British-era buildings as hotels? Khin Shwe, the chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Board (MTB), says Burma needs more hotels and old Colonial-era government buildings might make...
Arrests highlight Burma-China gun trade
FRANCIS WADE (DVB) - 20 OctChinese police have busted a ring of gun smugglers they claim have been running weapons into Tibet and the southwestern region from northern Burma for at least two years, sparking...
Burma to drop ban on satellite TV
SHWE AUNG (DVB) - 20 OctLicences for satellite television receivers are likely to be issued again in Burma following a six-year ban claimed at the time by observers to be an attempt to control the...
UN envoy wary of reform talk
AFP - 20 OctSerious human rights violations persist in Burma despite a mass amnesty for more than 6,300 prisoners including some political opponents, the UN rights envoy to the country said Wednesday.“Despite these...
And Now the Ethnic Crisis
SAW YAN NAING (The Irrawaddy) - 20 OctFollowing moves by Naypyidaw to enact democratic reforms, several leading figures and organizations in the international community have called for Burma to resolve issues concerned with its ethnic minorities, especially...
Burmese Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo Visits China
WAI MOE (The Irrawaddy) - 20 OctBurma’s First Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo arrived in China on Thursday to attend the 8th China-Asean Expo in Nanning, in the highest-level visit to China by a senior...
Myanmar sailors caught with fake licenses
Wang Yufeng (Global Times) - 17 OctNearly 20 sailors from Myanmar have been caught using false licenses at Waigaoqiao port in the past year for tax evasion purposes, an offense for which they were each fined...
MYANMAR: Improving maternal and childcare in the east
IRIN News - 17 OctIn conflict-afflicted eastern Myanmar, until recently obstetric care was often crude, unsterile and dangerous for both mother and child, health experts say.
Malaysia, Myanmar Eye Swapping Immigration Detainees
Bernama - 17 OctMalaysia and Myanmar are mulling over the possibility of implementing an exchange programme for immigration detainees, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
Three DVB journalists freed from jail
JOSEPH ALLCHIN (DVB) - 17 OctThree video journalists working for the Democratic Voice of Burma were among the 6,539 prisoners released in an amnesty last week.
Bouts of illness worry Min Ko Naing’s family
NAW NOREEN (DVB) - 17 OctThe sister of jailed student leader Min Ko Naing says that the influential activist has been on medication for more than two months in his cell in Lashio prison but...
Arakanese join Karen rebel ambush
NAW NOREEN (DVB) - 17 OctTroops from the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) based out of the western Burmese state are said to have been involved in an ambush on two Burmese army columns last week...
India and Burma argue over border insurgent issues
Ko Pauk (Mizzima News) - 17 OctThe Burmese government has asked India to provide satellite imagery of anti-Indian insurgent military camps in order to wage military operations, and India has said that it had no truck...
Burmese Army Mounts Multi-front Offensive Against KIA
BA KAUNG (The Irrawaddy) - 17 OctDeadly armed clashes between Burmese government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued in Kachin and Shan states on Monday, according to KIA officials who said they believe the...
Ethnic Parties Back Suu Kyi to Contest Election
KO HTWE (The Irrawaddy) - 17 OctThe Nationalities Brotherhood which represents five ethnic parties has urged pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to form a legitimate political party to contest the 2015 general election.
Women Behind Bars
THE IRRAWADDY - 17 Oct“I felt relieved, but I was pained with remorse,” said San San Tin of her release from prison last week. “I cannot rest for thinking about my colleagues who are...
Dam on Hold, but Workers, Equipment Remain
LAWI WENG (The Irrawaddy) - 17 OctMore than two weeks have passed since Burmese President Thein Sein announced the suspension of the controversial Myitsone hydroelectric dam project in Kachin State, but according to sources in the...
State Media Hails Close Ties with India and China
WAI MOE (The Irrawaddy) - 17 OctFollowing President Thein Sein's visit to India, Burma’s state media has hailed the significance of the Indo-Burmese relationship while still recognizing China as the nation’s closest ally by saying “whosoever...
Kachin NGO questions Myitsone Dam suspension
Thea Forbes (Mizzima News) - 17 OctThere is “no evidence on the ground that the [Myitsone] dam project has indeed been suspended,” the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) said in a statement released on Friday.
Released political prisoner gathered information about Depayin Massacre
Mizzima News - 17 OctBurmese writer Hla Soe talks to Mizzima about political prisoners, human rights violations, child soldiers, and his work surrounding the Depayin Massacre. He was arrested while he was gathering details...
Released KNU prisoner regrets defecting to gov’t under ‘arms for peace’
Ko Wild (Mizzima News) - 17 OctSaw Tar Be, who was freed under last week’s amnesty, defected from the KNU to the government under the “arms for peace” program, only to face an 8-year prison sentence....
Political prisoner amnesty not enough: Win Tin
Myo Thant (Mizzima News) - 17 OctBurma’s short-lived release of political prisoners falls short of a serious effort toward national reconciliation, says Win Tin, a senior National League for Democracy (NLD) leader.
India burnishes its Myanmar ties
Sudha Ramachandran (Asia Times) - 17 OctSpace for an enhanced Indian role in Myanmar appears to be opening up with Myanmar's new government taking tentative steps towards democratization of the country. Not only will this enable...
Tata Motors in talks with Myanmar to set up bus-assembly line
Economic Times - 15 OctTata Motors is in discussions with Myanmar government for setting up a bus-assembly line apart from supply of passenger vehicles to the neighbouring country.
Myanmar foreign minister to visit Japan - Kyodo
Reuters - 15 OctMyanmar's foreign minister will visit Japan next week in another sign that one of the world's most isolated states is beginning to open up after it freed hundreds of political...
India and Burma expand trade ties and sign gas deals
BBC News - 15 OctIndia and Burma have agreed a series of measures to boost trade and co-operation during Burmese President Thein Sein's state visit to Delhi.
India opens US$ 500 mil credit line for Burmese infrastructure, irrigation projects
Ko Pauk (Mizzima News) - 15 OctThe Indian government announced a US $ 500 million credit line for developmental projects and agreed to expand security cooperation with Burma. At the conclusion of Burmese President Thein Sein’s...
Two Burmese officers being tried for assault and battery on a private
Kyaw Kha (Mizzima News) - 15 OctTwo low-ranking army officers from Defence Industry No. 17 (DI 17) are being tried in a court martial for assaulting and beating a private, after his mother wrote a letter...
Japan looks for friends in Naypyidaw
JOSEPH ALLCHIN (DVB) - 15 OctBurmese Foreign Minister Maung Lwin will travel to Tokyo later this month for bilateral meetings with the Japanese government, with business likely to feature high on the agenda as Japan...
Burma to up Thailand migrant assistance
JOSEPH ALLCHIN (DVB) - 15 OctBurma will greatly increase its assistance to migrants working in Thailand, following three days of talks in Bangkok between a delegation of Burmese officials and Thailand’s labour minister, Phadoemchai Sasomsap.