White phosphorous used on Latpadaung protesters, say lawyers

Thursday, 31 January 2013 12:57 Mizzima NewsBurmese riot police used white phosphorous to disrupt a sit-in protest by monks and activists at the Latpadaung copper mine site on November 29, says a group of human rights lawyers. A Buddhist monk is treated for severe burns by a medic in Monywa. (PHOTO: Hein Htet/Mizzima) According to a report on Wednesday by Thomas Fuller in The New York Times,...

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The New Light of Myanmar Times?

Thursday, 31 January 2013 11:55 AFPThe New Light of Myanmar, the fiery mouthpiece of the former junta, is seeking a private partner as the country's reformist government loosens its grip on state media, an official said Wednesday. While details remain vague, the move raises the possibility that the government could cede at least some editorial control over the English-language daily, which for...

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Burmese authorities arrest French peace marcher

Thursday, 31 January 2013 12:03 Mizzima NewsBurmese authorities apprehended a French citizen on Wednesday morning as he walked alongside peace marchers from Kywebwe to Taungoo in Pegu Region. Reports to Mizzima indicate that the man was to be sent to Rangoon to be deported immediately. The man’s identity was not confirmed, and the French Embassy could not be contacted for comment.However, one...

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Burma’s parboiled rice trumps ordinary white rice

Thursday, 31 January 2013 11:49 Khin Myo Thwe Parboiled rice (Photo: Luigi Chiesa / Wikipedia) Parboiled rice—that is, rice that is partially boiled in its husk—is more lucrative to export than ordinary white rice, the Myanmar Rice Millers' Association said on Wednesday. “A ton of white rice and 1.3 tons of parboiled rice can be produced from milling 100 baskets of raw rice. Compared with ordinary...

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Rangoon’s first power summit concludes

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 17:51 Mizzima NewsThe 1st Official Myanmar Power Summit (MPS) concluded on Wednesday following three days of discussions about the future of Burma's power industry at the Sedona Hotel. Baluchaung (2) Hydropower Station located in Loikaw, Kayah State. Photo: Ministry of Electric Power No.(1) The conference was attended by more than 50 officials from the Ministry of...

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Race heats up for Burma telecoms licenses

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00 Mizzima News Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel has joined the competition to obtain one of two telecommunications licenses being granted to international companies by the Burmese government. (Photo: Bo Bo / Mizzima) Bharti is the world's fourth largest mobile phone operator in terms of number of subscribers, but to date has no operations in Southeast Asia. Also...

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Thai navy pushes 140 Rohingyas back to sea

Wednesday, 30 January 2013  THE BANGKOK POSTNearly 350 illegal Rohingya migrants were found crammed inside two vessels entering Thai waters in southern Ranong and Phuket provinces on Tuesday. A group of Rohingya women and children at Khao Lak shelter in southern Thailand (Photo: Steve Sandford/IRIN) In Ranong, a boat carrying about 140 Rohingya migrants was spotted floating about 5.5...

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Burma lifts 24-year ban on public gatherings

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 11:50 Mizzima NewsThe Burmese government has lifted a ban on public gatherings of more than five people, according to Burma’s state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper on Tuesday. About 50 people, led by members of Generation Wave, stage a protest to mark International Human Rights Day on the morning of Monday, December 10, by marching from City Hall in Rangoon and circumambulating...

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Thai 7-Elevens look to corner market

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00 Mizzima News CP All, Thailand's largest chain of convenience stores, said on Wednesday it intended opening 7-Eleven stores in Burma, Laos and Cambodia, according to a report by Reuters. 7-Eleven in Thailand. (Photo: if8 / Flickr) CP All, controlled by Thailand's wealthiest man, Dhanin Chearavanont of the Charoen Pokphand Group, aims to have 7,370 stores by...

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Press freedom ‘blossoming’ in Burma, says media watchdog

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 12:30 AFP Myanmar's [Burma’s] "paper revolution" has brought a sharp improvement in freedom of information in the former pariah state, bucking a general deterioration across much of Asia, a report said on Wednesday. Thanks to "dramatic changes", Myanmar rose to 151st out of 179 in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of 18 places, according to Reporters...

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UWSA says it will host Kachin peace talks

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 12:36 PhanidaThe Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on Tuesday accepted an offer by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to host peace talks with the Burmese government’s Union-level Peacemaking Committee, UWSA spokesman Aung Myint said, adding that the Wa group would mediate the negotiations and had suggested holding a meeting in Panghsang in northern Shan State.He said that in response to the Wa army’s offer on January 24, the KIO had sent a letter saying that it accepts the UWSA proposal to meet with the government...

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Burma army clashes with Rohingyas, 1 person killed

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 11:17 Mizzima NewsOne person was shot dead by Burmese troops in a confrontation with Muslim villagers in the violence-hit western state of Rakhine, a government official said Tuesday. Security forces approach rioters as they burn remnants of a demolished house during 2012 Rohingya riots in Burma (Photo: Hmuu Zaw / Wikipedia) The incident happened on Monday in an...

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Still Life in Water—Burmese photographers snap up prizes

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 11:15 Mizzima News Burmese photographers have taken the top four prizes in a Southeast Asian photography competition based on the theme, “Water is Life: Too Much or Too Little, Every Drop Counts.” Sponsored by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in the Philippines, the winning entries were among 954 photographs...

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5 Rangoon - Laiza peace marchers charged

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 11:06 Mizzima News Burmese police have charged but not detained five members of a group of peace marchers who are currently walking from Rangoon to Kachin capital Laiza, according to a report in Myanmar Times. Peace activists set off from Rangoon on January 21 on a 1,300-km march to Laiza in Kachin State. (Photo: Bo Bo/ Mizzima) The five have reportedly been...

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Norwegian oil firm looks to Burmese waters

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 00:00 Mizzima News Norwegian firm Statoil is looking into the possibility of exploring for oil and gas in Burma, and several company delegations have already been there to consider the situation including one earlier this month, the Norway Post reported on January 29. A Statoil photo release Statoil is 67 percent owned by the Norwegian government, and has petroleum...

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Imports of Chinese gold raise Burma’s gold prices

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 00:00 Khin Myo Thwe A Rangoon gold merchant entices customers with her wares. (Photo: Bo Bo / Mizzima) The price of gold in Burma was higher than the international price last week, said a Rangoon gold merchant on Sunday. “Last week, the local price of gold was a lot higher than the global price due to pure gold from China coming into the country,” he said. “The global...

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Combating Cronyism

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 12:50 Mizzima News (Editorial) — The expressions "military crony” and “cronyism” have long been associated with Burma, much in the same way as the word “nepotism” might denote the extended family links of monarchies such as in Saudi Arabia, or the way “oligarchy” conjures images of modern Russia. Cronies, by definition, are close friends or those given partiality over...

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Suu Kyi arrives in Seoul to accept honorary doctorate

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:41 AFP Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in South Korea Monday for a four-day visit including meetings with politicians and a soap-opera star and the collection of a human rights award. Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi arrives on January 28 in Seoul where she will attend the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics and meet the first...

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Austrade to open Burma office

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:30 Mizzima News The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) announced on Tuesday that it would open an office in Rangoon shortly. “Recognizing and responding quickly to new opportunities in Asia's growth and emerging markets is central to putting the Asian Century White Paper into practice,” said Craig Emerson, the Trade and Competitiveness Minister. Australia...

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Burmese govt to sell cars to taxi drivers

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:25 Khin Myo ThweThe Ministry of Commerce has announced that it will launch a scheme to assist taxi drivers buying their own cars The Burmese government plans to sell taxi drivers their own cars at cheaper rates. (PHOTO: Hein Htet / Mizzima) “Taxis owned by the Ministry of Commerce will be sold at 60 percent of the market price through a hire-purchase system,” said...

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No more Rohingya boatpeople, says Thailand

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 00:00 AFP Thailand will turn away any more Rohingya boat people from neighbouring Myanmar [Burma] who try to land on its shores, a top official said Monday after an influx of refugees fleeing sectarian unrest. Rohingya boatpeople are denied entry to neighboring countries; in this case a boatload of Rohingya refugees are forced back to sea by Bangladesh border officials...

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8 Burmese charged with trafficking in Malaysia

Monday, 28 January 2013 15:59 Mizzima NewsEight Burmese nationals have been charged at a court in Kuala Lumpur with trafficking 474 people from Burma to Malaysia, said a report in the News Straits Times on Sunday.The 474, all of whom are thought to be Rohingyas, had no valid travel documents and were brought into the country at the island of Langkawi in the Andaman Sea on December 30.The victims are believed to have been shipped in to work as laborers in Malaysia, said the report.Full story: http://www.nst.com.my/latest/myanmar-nationals-char...

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Naypyitaw rejects US criticism, use of word ‘Burma’

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:30 Mizzima News Burma’s Foreign Ministry released a statement over the weekend via the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper criticizing the US reaction to the conflict in Kachin State.Last Thursday, the US Embassy in Rangoon issued a statement saying that they were “deeply concerned” about the continued fighting following the Burmese government's call for a ceasefire on...

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Wan Bao says it will take legal action if Latpadaung copper mine project suspended

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:50 Saw Zin Nyi The Wan Bao Company will have to resort to legal action if the Latpadaung copper mine project is suspended, the firm’s Rangoon-based administrative manager Myint Thein said. A decision is pending on whether work should continue on the Latpadaung copper mine in Monywa, Sagaing Division. (Photo: Hein Htet / Mizzima) The company would examine the...

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China denies equipping Wa army

Monday, 28 January 2013 00:00 Mizzima News The Chinese Embassy in Rangoon has rejected recent media reports that it was involved in supplying weapons, including armored vehicles, to the Wa guerrillas in northern Burma. Citing a December report in Jane's Intelligence Review, several international news outlets, including Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Voice of America (VOA), reported last week that despite calling for as ceasefire in the conflict between Burma’s government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern...

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World Bank to clear Burma’s debt

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:35 Mizzima News The World Bank announced on Sunday that it would partner with the Asian Development Bank to clear Burma's old debts. In the deal signed with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a loan will be provided to cover Burma's outstanding debt of US $900 million. World Bank headquarters, Washington DC. (Photo: World Bank) “Myanmar has come a...

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Thailand will shelter Rohingyas for 6 months

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:23 THE BANGKOK POST Thailand will shelter the Rohingya for six months and seek talks with Myanmar and other countries to settle the fate of the illegal migrants, Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said on Friday. The decision was reached in talks between the Foreign Ministry and other security agencies amid growing calls for Thailand not to turn the migrants away after they have entered the kingdom. The final say still rests with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has to endorse the plan...

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Burmese bank to go public in 2015

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:16 Khin Myo Thwe A representative from the Asia Development Green Bank (AGD Bank) has confirmed that it will go public in 2015. “The Central Bank has allowed AGD Bank to form a public company. It has applied to the companies’ registration department and once the company gets permission to form a public company, foreign experts will be assigned to evaluate the company’s...

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Suu Kyi remains ‘fond’ of Burmese army

Monday, 28 January 2013 12:01 AFPBurma's opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi remains "fond" of her country's army despite claims that it has recruited child soldiers and used rape as a weapon, she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was herself held under house arrest by the military for most of the last two decades, told the BBC radio show "Desert Island Discs" she...

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Suu Kyi hopeful Burma’s military will support constitutional changes

Monday, 28 January 2013 10:03 AFP Burmese opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has voiced confidence that the country's powerful military will support changes to the constitution that would allow her to become president. Burma's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at a luncheon at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday, January 26, 2013. (Photo:Pillars of Peace Hawaii) The...

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‘Embrace ASEAN’ says Thai Ambassador

Monday, 28 January 2013 09:53 The Bangkok Post Changes which beckon under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 should be embraced rather than feared, Thailand's ambassador to Myanmar [Burma] says. Pisanu Suvanajata said Thais have to reset their minds, especially toward Myanmar, which is conducting a wave of reforms and could become a strong partner under freer trade. ASEAN leaders...

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