![]() | | FDI Could Worsen Burma’s Ethnic Strife, Forest Loss: Report | The rise in foreign investment in Burma’s resource-rich border regions risks exacerbating ethnic conflicts and environmental destruction, a new report warns. Read More | | |
| ICT Ecosystem to be Implemented, Says Minister | Burma’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has great ambitions for the coming year, but critics say they aren’t realistic. Read More | | |
| Rebels, Army Meet to Stem Violence in Northern Shan State | The Shan State Army North and Burma’s military fought escalating skirmishes in the past days, but rebels said an emergency meeting had stemmed the violence. Read More | | |
| Billion-dollar Military Budget Irks MPS | Burmese opposition lawmakers take issue with plans to give the country’s armed forces more than US $1 billion in funding in the coming fiscal year. Read More | | |
| Thailand Losing out to China in Battle of the Burma Ports | The Dawei deep-sea port may be scuppered not because of lukewarm interest by Japanese investors but because of Burmese and Chinese business interests. Read More | | |
| Burma’s Media Scene is Booming | After decades of draconian restrictions, Burma’s government has unleashed dramatic changes in the way the country’s media operates. Read More | | |
| Rights Group Seeks Asean’s Help on Lao Activist | The credibility of Asean’s commitment to human rights protection is in question as its silence on the disappearance of a prominent Lao activist continues. Read More | | |
| Chinese Dare Officials to Swim in Polluted Rivers | Frustrated with ever-worsening pollution in China’s rivers, Chinese citizens offer large sums of cash to officials willing to take a dip in their filthy waters. Read More | | |
| US Seeks to Tackle Trade Secret Theft by China, Others | China’s rampant theft of US trade secrets prompts the White House to vow to protect American businesses and economic security more aggressively. Read More | | |
| Spy Agencies Scrounge for Details on North Korean Nuclear Test | The failure to find traces of telltale nuclear-related particles from North Korea’s Feb. 12 nuclear bomb test leaves basic questions about the device’s design unresolved. Read More | | |
Burma Must Give Rohingyas Citizenship: Nobel Laureates | Two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have condemned Burma’s treatment of the Muslim Rohingya in Arakan State and they call for full citizenship for the group. In a joint op-ed in the Huffington Post on Wednesday, Jose Ramos-Horta, the former president of Timor Leste, and Muhammad Yunus, founder of microfinance institution Grameen Bank, wrote that Burma’s [...] Read More | | | | |
Burma Has ‘No Rohingya’ Group: Minister | Deputy Minister of Immigration and Population Kyaw Kyaw Win told the Lower House on Wednesday that Burma knows “no Rohingya” ethnic group, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reports. The minister said the name for the Muslim community in Arakan State was “a newly coined word.” He responded to questions from Arakanese parliamentarians, who [...] Read More | | | | |
Japan Names Nippon Chairman ‘Special Envoy’ in Burma | Japan’s government made Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa “Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for National Reconciliation in Myanmar,” the foundation said on Wednesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Sasakawa “will work to facilitate the process of reconciliation between Myanmar’s government and ethnic minorities,” according to the foundation. Burma’s government has welcomed the [...] Read More | | | | |
Prime Minister’s Kin to Run in Cambodian Elections | A son and son-in-law of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will run for parliament in a July general election that is expected to renew the long-ruling leader’s mandate for power, a spokesman for his party said Wednesday. Cheam Yeap, a top member of Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, said party leaders decided last week to [...] Read More | | | | |
China Officials Tighten Belts under New Leader | China’s suppliers of shark fin, abalone, pricey liquor and other luxury items have been taking a beating since new leader Xi Jinping ordered officials to cut out lavish living. The Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that business for high-end caterers in Beijing has plunged 35 percent since Xi’s order two months ago. Xi, who [...] Read More | | | | |
Komodo Dragon Attacks Tourist Guide | A park official says a Komodo dragon has attacked a tour guide on a remote island in eastern Indonesia. Komodo National Park official Heru Rudiharto said on Wednesday a 2.5-meter-long (8.2-foot-long) lizard suddenly appeared and attacked Abdul Rachman who was guiding four Indonesian tourists near its nest. Rachman failed to defend himself with a stick [...] Read More | | | | |
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