World focus on Burma (30 December 2008)
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Burma Arrests 9 Pro-Democracy Protesters
Voice of America –
By VOA News Witnesses say Burmese authorities arrested nine members of an opposition political group Tuesday, as they held a protest in Rangoon calling for …
BURMA:: New Thai Policies Not Junta-Friendly
Inter Press Service, Italy –
But a new foreign policy chapter between Thailand and Burma, or Myanmar as the junta renamed the country, emerged in 2001. It came with the electoral …
Don’t Panic List Time!
Columbia City Paper, SC –
Burma’s military junta – When Category 4 Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma in May, the goons who run Burma like their plantation were not only unprepared, …
The Best and the Worst of 2008: The World
Century Foundation, NY –
Burma cyclone heightens country’s misery and isolation. Myanmar’s rigid military rulers, whose violent suppression of Buddhist monks’ protests in September …
Busy Year For Natural Disasters
RedOrbit, TX –
China’s Sichuan province was struck with both an earthquake which left nearly 70000 dead and cyclone Nargis which struck Burma killing an estimated 130000. …
Nine arrested in rare protest in Rangoon
Mizzima.com, India –
Nyan Win said, the NLD regularly conducts meetings on Tuesday to discuss current and contemporary politics of Burma. Today’s discussions were led by party …
Julie Benz To Host US Campaign For Burma Dinner
Look To The Stars, UK –
The organization is dedicated to empowering grassroots activists around the world to bring about an end to the military dictatorship in Burma.
Burma activists arrested at march
BBC News, UK –
Nine activists have been arrested in Burma’s main city, Rangoon, during a march calling for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. …
Nine NLD youth members arrested
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway –
Dec 30, 2008 (DVB)–Nine National League for Democracy youth members were arrested at around 3pm today as they took part in a peaceful march following a talk …
Restrictions stepped up against Win Tin
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway –
He recently visited the families of political prisoners and has also been working to heal rifts between NLD leaders and youth members.
Burma’s Bleak Prospect in 2009
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
By WAI MOE All parties in Burma can expect 2009 to be a busier year than the one now ending as the country heads for a general election in 2010, …
Africa: Press Freedom Round-Up 2008
AllAfrica.com, Washington –
In Burma (17 arrests), outspoken journalists and bloggers were jailed in a crackdown by the military government. “The figures may be lower than last year’s …
Hope Floats in the Burmese Town Near Thailand’s Border
Jakarta Globe, Indonesia –
Yet, there’s nothing like this in Myawaddy, Burma, the poor town opposite Mae Sot, Thailand. The towns lie across the Moei River, a sluggish brown border …
Nine NLD Members Arrested in Rangoon
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
Meanwhile, Burmese military authorities have transferred political prisoners, including student leaders, members of the 88 Generation Students and NLD …
Poor Maternal Health Care Widespread In Eastern Burma
Medical News Today (press release), UK –
Frequency and types of human rights violations varied across the project sites in Eastern Burma. In the Karen region, more than 10% of household were forced …
Agreement between Myanmar and China: Beijing secures gas supplies …
AsiaNews.it, Italy –
Humanitarian organizations consider the agreement as the latest concession to the Burmese military dictatorship: none of the countries involved in its rich …
Press Gazette, UK –
Thirty-one media arrests were reported in Iraq, 17 in Burma and 38 in China, which hosted the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. The press freedom …
Activists calling for release of Suu Kyi arrested
The Associated Press –
It was not immediately clear where the NLD members were taken. NLD spokesman Nyan Win said he heard that female party member Htet Htet Oo Wei was among …
Press Freedom Round-up 2008 / Better figures despite a hostile …
Organisation de la Presse Africaine (Communiqué de presse), Switzerland –
In Burma (17 arrests), outspoken journalists and bloggers were jailed in a crackdown by the military government. “The figures may be lower than last year’s …
New Year’s Event Spotlights Sexual Orientation Issues
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
By VIOLET CHO RANONG — Burmese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) migrant worker activists in Ranong used the New Year to organize a festival …
Myanmar authorities arrest nine protestors
Earthtimes (press release), UK –
The NLD won the 1990 general election, while Suu Kyi was under detention, but has been denied the right to rule by Myanmar’s junta for the past 18 years.
9 Myanmar activists held
Straits Times, Singapore –
There was no immediate confirmation from the NLD. Myanmar’s military rulers have kept 63-year-old Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest …
Political prisoner dies of tuberculosis
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway –
… middle school in Mandalay, was arrested under section 5(j) of the Emergency Provision Act in December 2003 and was sentenced to seven years in prison. …
UN General Assembly isn’t the right forum for dealing with Burma …
China Post, Taiwan –
The resolution called for the release of over 2100 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. (country’s new) constitution resulted in the de facto …
Americans found allies in Burma villagers
Los Angeles Times, CA –
By A Times Staff Writer Reporting from Myitkyina, Myanmar — Long before war brought Evelio Grillo and his comrades to Burma, they had allies ready to …
Burma’s Stilwell Road: A backbreaking WWII project is revived
Los Angeles Times, CA –
They gave their lives to build a 1079-mile road across northern Burma (now Myanmar) to reinforce Allied troops, a project derided by British Prime Minister …
A more dangerous world as 2008 ends
San Antonio Express, TX –
The ruling junta in Burma turned the natural disaster of Cyclone Nargis into a manmade tragedy. Congo, Zimbabwe and Somalia spiraled further into …
MONKS & AMISH
MorungExpress, India –
In Burma the monks who are not in detention by repressive militaryrulers who call the country Myanmar, have returned to their pagodas. …
Insurers’ disaster losses up 50% in 2008
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia –
The year’s deadliest disaster was Cyclone Nargis, which devastated coastal areas in Burma in early May, killing nearly 85000 people. …
NBC Field Notes
MSNBC –
In 1948, Burma (now called Myanmar) became independent of British rule. In 1951, during the Korean War, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces recaptured …
China To Build Strategic Oil Reserves (SNP)
24/7 Wall St., NY –
That means expanding opportunities in Myanmar (Burma) and Sudan, both countries that have difficulty attracting investment because of their repressive human …
2008 was bad year for disasters
Radio New Zealand, New Zealand –
Cyclone Nargis killed more than 135000 people in Burma in May. An earthquake in the Sichuan province of China on 12 May left 70000 dead, 18000 missing and …
‘Major year for natural disaster’
BBC News, UK –
Cyclone Nargis in Burma killed an estimated 130000 people and devastated much of the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region, while the earthquake which struck …
The good news for the new year is as follows. –
Otago Daily Times, New Zealand –
April: Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest and assumes her rightful place as the democratic head of the government of Burma. …
Natural disasters ‘kill 220000 in 2008’
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia –
Most devastating was Cyclone Nargis, which battered Burma in May to kill more than 135000 people, and the earthquake that shook China’s Sichuan province the …
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