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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Junta poised to hold power until parliaments convened
Friday, 29 October 2010 03:18 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma’s ruling military junta will hold on to power until the country’s various parliaments are convened after the election, the Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Htay Oo told local and foreign press on Wednesday.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party secretary was speaking to reporters at the party’s first press conference ahead of nationwide parliamentary elections on November 7, held at its headquarters in Bahan Township, Rangoon.
The controversial 2008 constitution declared...
Protesters target Air Bagan for boycott over junta links
Friday, 29 October 2010 16:46 Thea Forbes
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A group of westerners launched a boycott against Air Bagan in northern Thailand yesterday over its tycoon owner’s close connections to the ruling Burmese military junta.
Nine protesters gathered outside of the office of the largest private airline in Burma in Chiang Mai, Thailand to register their opposition to junta cronies, such as the carrier’s owner, billionaire Tay Za.
“Our boycott against Air Bagan is about informing travellers to Burma to look for alternatives to travelling...
Karenni troops launch attack on Burmese Army outpost
Friday, 29 October 2010 23:55 Sai Wan Mai
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Karenni troops launched a full armed assault on a Burmese Army outpost in Loikaw Township, Karenni State last week, according to a report on a Karenni party website. Four junta troops and one Karenni were killed.
Karenni Army troops (above) train for battle. An outpost of the 247 Infantry Battalion of the Burmese Army, based at Daw Tamugyi village, was raided at dawn on October 16 by Karenni troops. Photo: Sai Wan Mai
The outpost of the 247 Infantry Battalion of the Burmese Army...
Suu Kyi legal team expects her release before election
Friday, 29 October 2010 22:16 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks set for release before nationwide elections to be held in a matter of days, according to one of her lawyers outside Burma’s top court in Naypyidaw, where the special appeal against her house arrest began today.
“I believe that Aung San Suu Kyi will be free before the election,” Nyan Win, one of three lawyers representing her, told Mizzima.
Khin Htay Kywe and Kyi Win joined Nyan Win as assistant counsel before the Special Appellate Bench of...
Win Tin slates UN head’s rights report omissions
Friday, 29 October 2010 18:13 Thomas Maung Shwe
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – NLD co-founder and former political prisoner Win Tin expressed extreme disappointment that UN chief’s report to the UN General Assembly on Burma’s human rights situation failed to seriously address violations against ethnic minorities, he told Mizzima recently.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s report was presented to the general assembly last month but was only made public a month later. It was supposed to cover the situation of human rights in Burma for the period from...
Former Mon party members yield arms
Friday, 29 October 2010 01:51 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A Mon group comprising former New Mon State Party members relinquished their arms and ammunition to junta troops on Tuesday, a state-run newspaper reported.
The Mon Peace Group led by Naing Shaung, and an unknown number of followers, surrendered their weapons to Southeastern Command chief Brigadier General Tun Nay Lin, with the stated goal of competing in Burma’s first national elections in 20 years on November 7, the New Light of Myanmar reported.
Naing Shaung, in his 70s, was an...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
NLD senior leader joins call for ‘true Burmese union’
Thursday, 28 October 2010 01:12 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Senior National League for Democracy party leader, Win Tin, joined calls supporting the idea a second Panglong conference as a solution for Burmese ethnic peoples to win back the right of self-determination lost for 60 years, he said.
Zomi National Congress (ZNC) issued a statement on Sunday on its 22nd anniversary since founding, in Kalaymyo, Sagaing Division, which called for convening a second Panglong conference. The declaration was signed by NLD leaders, ethnic leaders and veteran...
Mandalay mosquito-coil fire leaves 34 families homeless
Thursday, 28 October 2010 21:20 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Fire that ignited when a mosquito repellent coil tipped over has razed 22 houses this afternoon in the Aungmyaytharsan Township of Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay, fire officials say.
The fire spread from a house in Amelyoe Ward after starting at around 3:45 p.m., razing the other homes and displacing 120 people. Firemen brought it under control at about 4:15 p.m.
“The fire was started by a mosquito-repellent coil in the bedroom of the house. At that time, there...
Basic needs missing in Giri’s wake amid cut power, phones
Thursday, 28 October 2010 18:43 Khaing Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Food and water shortages, power cuts and severed phone lines are affecting thousands of homes and businesses in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State in the wake of Cyclone Giri, which hit Burma’s west coast last week.
“At least 71,000 people have lost their homes and an estimated 177,000 have been affected by the cyclone that hit late on Friday, leaving survivors in urgent need of food and water,” Reuters AlertNet humanitarian news service reported yesterday, citing aid agencies.
The...
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Political prisoners hold little hope of release before polls
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 22:53 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese elections next month cannot be presumed free and fair unless the military junta releases all political prisoners prior to November elections and allows them to participate, a range of Burma analysts, pro-democracy advocates and the UN have said.
As the military continues to jail many political prisoners, their role in shaping the future political scene in Burma is fading almost completely. Junta’s electoral laws bar prisoners from the vote.
In the world’s largest democracy,...
Corruption runs rampant in Burmese public sphere
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 17:34 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma continues to languish near the bottom of international rankings regarding corruption in the public sphere, according to the latest findings of a global civil society organisation.
Compiled by Transparency International, the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, released yesterday, catalogues 178 countries on the perceived level of corruption existing in the public sector. Burma finished in a tie with Afghanistan for 176th on the chart, besting only the troubled East African...
Burma protesters confront UN leader in Bangkok
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 01:46 Thomas Maung Shwe
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Several dozen refugees and migrant workers from Burma defied threats of arrest and deportation to confront UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during his brief visit to the Thai capital yesterday.
The Burma exiles were angered by what they termed the secretary general’s lack of action on Burma and the United Nations’ perceived lack of interest in refugees and migrant workers living in Thailand.
The protesters gathered at the UN’s regional complex in Bangkok, next to a larger...
Student-youth alliance back second Panglong declaration
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 19:55 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Burmese pro-democracy underground students and young people lent their support today to calls by the Zomi National Congress for convening a second Panglong conference.
The ZNC held its 22nd founding day ceremony on Sunday in Kalaymyo, Sagaing Division and issued its Kalay Declaration calling for the convening of a second Panglong conference for restoration of national reconciliation and establishing an inclusive federal union.
Burma Democratic Front secretary Pan Thu San, representing...
Junta accused of slowing, cutting Net ahead of polls
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 01:07 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burmese internet users on the Bagan Net provider are having their connections cut regularly and when working, they slow to a crawl, according to cybercafé owners and surfers.
With little more than a week until election day, Burma’s Bagan Net internet service from Myanmar Teleport had been very poor for the past three days, they said, adding that they had no warning of impending difficulties.
“Bagan Net told us nothing … . The internet connection has been cut frequently but we...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Businessmen voters remain undecided
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 00:29 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) - The following is the fifth in a series featuring opinions from a cross-section of Burmese society on the nation’s political climate and the upcoming national elections. Reporters chose the subjects at random, however for this instalment, Mizzima spoke only to businessmen.
With 12 days until election day, four of the five businessmen from as many townships in three divisions said they remained undecided about their votes.
Hotelier, Maymyo (Pyinoolwin) Township, Mandalay Division
“I...
Junta losing political war against the KIO?
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 09:03 Nyo Ohn Myint
Chiang Mai (Thailand) – The recent pressure being levelled against the Kachin Independence Organisation by the Burmese junta follows a period of relatively smooth relations. Unlike some other armed ethnic groups, KIO leaders have continually sought to avoid confrontation with the Burmese military since accepting a ceasefire deal in 1994.
Meanwhile, Kachin leaders have groomed a new generation of KIO and civil society young people to continue the goals of the Kachin in a future Burma, envisioning the...
Property worth US$3m lost in Laiza market blaze
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 08:51 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Incenses sticks are suspected in causing a fire at a market early yesterday morning in the Kachin stronghold of Laiza near the Sino-Burmese border. The blaze left about three billion kyat (about US$3 million) in damage, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) said.
One hundred and six shops at Market No. 1 that sell clothes, cosmetics, drugs, kitchen appliances and gold, nine houses and the Ward Two Peace and Development Council Office, were gutted in the blaze, KIO said.
“According...
Death toll in oil pipeline fire reaches at least 50: witness
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 22:23 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - An oil fire that started on Sunday as villagers in central Burma skimmed fuel from a leaking pipeline is under control, villagers and police have said. At least 15 people died and up to 100 were injured in the initial blast, hospital staff and police added,
One villager today however said that as many as 50 had died, and that the blaze was only extinguished this morning.
A leaking section of the oil pipeline reportedly exploded when an unsuspecting villager neared locals collecting...
Monday, October 25, 2010
Elections and the role of ‘private’ publishers
Monday, 25 October 2010 20:55 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Local and international media have Burma under a microscope as the 2010 general elections draw near, with constant news, analyses, articles and interviews. But amid the country’s notoriously heavy censorship, the local independent media have been able to exercise relative fairness in reporting ahead of the November 7 election, the first nationwide polls for 20 years, according to some private news journal editors.
Even so, the state censorship has restricted news faulting the military-backed...
Oil pipeline blast in Magway kills at least 13
Monday, 25 October 2010 21:50
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A leaking oil pipeline exploded yesterday killing at least 13 people in Magway Division, central Burma, according to villagers and wire reports.
Witnesses said the explosion had occurred as a large crowd of poor villagers gathered around the leak to collect oil at a site near Nyaunghla village in Pakokku District.
Local officials reached for contact said that at least 13 people had died in the explosion. Villagers however told Mizzima the real death toll was much higher.
Agence France-Presse,...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Gender discrimination in authoritarian Burma
Saturday, 23 October 2010 15:07 Mizzima News
With women’s rights on the decline in Burma, Mizzima reporter The The interviewed Thin Thin Aung from the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) in the run-up to the 2010 general election.
Q: The WLB has outlined various discriminations against women and gender inequality in Burma. So, which rights are being violated and how is violence against women being committed? What are the reasons for these violations?
A: Many women in Burma are suffering from oppression, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual...
Cyclone damage spurs calls for aid as 3,000 homes suffer
Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:07 Mizzima News
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Cyclone Giri has carved a swathe of damage across dozens of townships in its path after it crossed the west coast of Burma yesterday, residents said, adding their calls for urgent relief aid and expertise.
The Category Four storm made landfall between the port of Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, at around 5 p.m. yesterday, with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) per hour, the state weather bureau reported last night.
Telephone contact with the area was interrupted...
Giri winds build in Arakan, ‘contact lost with residents’
Saturday, 23 October 2010 01:03 Thein Zaw, Khaing Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Cyclone Giri hit the western coast of Burma near Kyaukphyu, Arakan State at 5 p.m. yesterday, with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) per hour, the state weather bureau reported last night.
At 12:30 a.m. Burma time (6pm GMT), British analysts Tropical Storm Risk, at University College London, placed Giri over the western coast of Burma between Kyaukphyu and Sittwe, and said its winds had increased to a sustained 144 mph. Their storm tracker data puts already...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Amartya Sen speaks to complexities of change in Burma
Friday, 22 October 2010 13:27 Joseph Ball
(Mizzima) – In a quip-laden keynote address, Indian award-winning economist Amartya Sen recently put forth his analysis of the present state of Burmese society and the means by which change can come to the blighted Southeast Asian country.
The Harvard Professor of Indian origin who spent the early years of his childhood in Burma was speaking on Wednesday in Washington D.C. at a conference entitled, “A Return to Civilian Rule? The Prospects for Democracy and Rights in Burma After the Election.”
With...
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