covering burma and southeast asia
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

'My Wife Died From Police Abuse,' Says Husband

By THE IRRAWADDY
The distraught family of a woman who died after falling from a Rangoon police station window has laid blame firmly with her interrogating officers.

US Says Observer Conditions Don't Meet Int'l Standards

By LALIT K JHA
The US says it is sending election observers, but insists conditions do not meet international standards.

Rangoon on List for Big Weather Disasters

By SETH BORENSTEIN
Report claims global warming will bring such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations including Burma should prepare for unprecedented onslaught of deadly weather disasters.

More Than 100 Orangutans Lost in Indonesian Fires

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fires raging in an Indonesian swamp forest kill a third of the rare Sumatran orangutans living there and all may be lost this year.
North Korea Rocket Could Cause Casualties: US
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Debris from a rocket launch planned by North Korea next month could cause casualties, warns a senior US military official.
159 Observers to Monitor Burma Election
By SAW YAN NAING
The head of Burma's Election Commission announces that 159 international observers will have access to polling stations on Sunday.
Govt to Address Breaches of SSA-South Ceasefire: Aung Min
By LAWI WENG
A key government peace negotiator says he will discuss the Burmese army's continuing violations of a ceasefire with the Shan State Army-South with the president.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Burma Investors Pin Hopes on Seminal Sunday
By CHARLIE CAMPBELL
The clamor to enter Burma's emerging markets receives another boost with the announcement that the national currency will be floated on same day as by-elections.
Malaysia PM Leads 50-Strong Delegation to Burma
By PATRICK BOEHLER
Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak leads a delegation of more than 50 Malaysian ministers and businesspeople on a two-day visit to Burma.
US Congress to Assess Burma's Political Prisoner Issue
By LALIT K JHA
The status of political prisoners is likely to figure prominently in any consideration by the US Congress with regard to Burma, a congressional report says.
Rangoon Woman in Police Station Death Plunge
By THE IRRAWADDY
Fury grips Rangoon after an ethnic Shan woman fell to her death from the Police Bureau of Special Investigations office after three days of relentless interrogation.
SPORTS
Real Madrid, Chelsea Grab Wins in Champions League
By STEVE DOUGLAS, AP Sports Writer
Big-spending football giants Real Madrid and Chelsea both secured away wins in the UEFA Champions League.
The US says it is sending election observers, but insists conditions do not meet international standards.
BURMA SPOTLIGHT»
Burma sits on the threshold of a thriving tourism industry. But can it avoid the pitfalls that have plagued its neighbors?
Despite a raft of ceasefire agreements, on-and-off hostilities between Burmese government troops and ethnic rebels on the ground are threatening to undermine the delicate peace process.
American World War II veterans are still repaying “debts” to their Kachin comrades-in-arms in northern Burma as they might never have returned home without them.
Continuing violence between Burmese government troops and Kachin Independence Army in northern Burma has led hundreds of new recruits to join the ethnic rebel militia.
Amnesty Prison Art Show 2012 provides the viewing public with a remarkable collection of clandestine works made by ex-political prisoners during and after their incarceration.
Suu Kyi hits out at the Ministry of Mining for threatening to sue a Rangoon journal that published reports about government corruption.

OPINION

By SEAN TURNELL
Burma's energy exports could drive up the value of the kyat—and ruin ...
By THE IRRAWADDY
Two recent court cases reveal that Burma's judges are still beholden t ...
By TIN MAUNG HTOO
Amid reports of massive corruption in Burma's Ministry of Mines, a Can ...
By NEIL LAWRENCE
Will Aung San Suu Kyi measure up to her larger-than-life stature after ...
By KYAW ZWA MOE
Burmese officials should disclose their sources of wealth if they're s ...
By AUNG ZAW
As international businesses and donors clamor to move inside Burma it ...
Letter to The Editor

LATEST NEWS

Burma Rejects Australian Election Monitors
Burma has refused to accept two Australian politicians who had been nominated to observe by-elections on Sunday, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The two, federal Labor MP Janelle Saffin and Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann, had been selected to be part of the delegation of five. Saffin said the refusal casts doubt over the whole election process. “Things like this just add to it not being seen as free and fair," she said, adding that it was “not free and fair anyway in terms of the legal framework.”
Published on Thursday, Mar,29,2012
Central Bank Confirms Kyat Float
Burma's central bank said on Wednesday that it will go ahead with plans to float the national currency, the kyat, from April 1, in its first public statement on moves to reform the country's exchange rate regime. The announcement was made at the bottom of page eight of the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper. The bank said it would publish a reference exchange rate each day. A senior government energy official said Burma was moving to a unified exchange rate in place of the official and black market rates that co-exist now.
Published on Thursday, Mar,29,2012
Burma Meets Less than Half of its Natural Gas Demand
With most of its natural gas going to Thailand, Burma is able to supply less than half the amount the country needs domestically, according to a government official. The country produces around 1.47 billion cubic feet of gas per day and exports 1.2 billion to Thailand. The 270 million cubic feet kept at home met only 48 percent of domestic demand, said Zaw Aung, director of planning for the state-run Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise, at an oil conference. In January, Oil Minister Than Htay promised to keep gas production at home after fulfilling commitments to China and Thailand.
Published on Thursday, Mar,29,2012
Tibetan Exile Who Set Self on Fire in India Dies
A Tibetan exile who set himself on fire in India to protest a visit by China’s president died on Wednesday, while hundreds of other activists were being detained. Jamphel Yeshi, 27, set himself on fire at a demonstration in New Delhi on Monday. He ran screaming past other protesters and the media before falling to the ground. He was burned over nearly all of his body and was unable to recover. The Tibetan Youth Congress said a grand funeral “deserving of a martyr” is planned for Yeshi in the Tibetan exiled community’s headquarters of Dharamsala, in northern India.—AP
Published on Thursday, Mar,29,2012
200 French Troops Leave Afghanistan
Two hundred French troops said goodbye to the war in Afghanistan on Wednesday as part of France's accelerated pullout from the country. In January, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a faster-track exit for France, breaking from previous plans to go along with to the US-led coalition's plan to withdraw combat forces by the end of 2014. Sarkozy said France would speed up its withdrawal timetable, pulling out 1,000—400 more than its previous target—of its current 3,600 soldiers by year-end and withdraw all combat forces by the end of 2013.—AP
Published on Thursday, Mar,29,2012
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