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/ 10 February 2008
Burma’s military junta unveiled a timetable for the country’s first elections in two decades, but it was unclear on Sunday if detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to stand. The surprise weekend announcement of a constitutional referendum in May to set the stage for elections in 2010 appeared to catch her party off guard.
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/ 9 February 2008
Burma’s military government will hold a referendum on a new constitution in May this year followed by multiparty elections in 2010, the first in two decades, state television announced on Saturday. ”We have achieved success in economic, social and other sectors and in restoring peace and stability,” the junta announced.
Military-run Burma put on a show of defiance on Friday on the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain amid global pressure for reform following the junta’s bloody crackdown on dissent. Soldiers raised the national flag at precisely 4.28am local time — the exact moment of freedom from Britain.
The Burma junta reduced security in Yangon sharply on Sunday, apparently confident it would face no further mass protests against military rule, but the streets remained unusually quiet and arrests continued. The few people on the streets said they were still fearful and the internet remained cut off.
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/ 29 September 2007
United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari flew to Burma on Saturday carrying worldwide hopes he can persuade its ruling generals to use negotiations instead of guns to end mass protests against 45 years of military rule. ”He’s the best hope we have. He is trusted on both sides,” Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
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/ 28 September 2007
Burmese troops pounded dissenters on Friday by swiftly breaking up street gatherings, occupying key Buddhist monasteries and cutting public internet access. The moves raised concerns that a crackdown on civilians that has killed at least 10 people was set to intensify.
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/ 28 September 2007
Fuelled by ”revulsion” at Burma’s violent crackdown on popular protests against military rule, South-east Asia rounded on the generals on Friday and critics planned demonstrations at embassies across the region. Burma state media said nine people were killed when soldiers fired on crowds in Yangon on Thursday.
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/ 27 September 2007
Troops cleared protesters from the streets of central Yangon on Thursday, giving them 10 minutes to leave or be shot as the Burma junta intensified a two-day crackdown on the largest uprising in 20 years. At least nine people were killed, state television said, on a day when far fewer protesters took to the streets after soldiers raided monasteries in the middle of the night.
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/ 27 September 2007
Burma riot police charged a crowd of more than 1 000 protesters after they pelted soldiers with rocks and water bottles in central Yangon on Thursday and at least one person collapsed as shots were fired, witnesses said. One man was on the ground, unconscious, but it was not clear whether he was alive or dead.
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/ 27 September 2007
Burma’s generals launched pre-dawn raids on rebellious monasteries on Thursday in their crackdown on the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years, defying desperate international calls for restraint. It was unusually quiet on the streets of Yangon, where troops killed an estimated 3 000 people in the ruthless suppression of a 1988 uprising.
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/ 26 September 2007
Troops fired shots over the heads of a large crowd in central Yangon on Wednesday, sending people scurrying for cover as a crackdown intensified against the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years. Security forces also fired tear gas at columns of monks trying to push their way past barricades sealing off the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma’s holiest shrine.
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/ 26 September 2007
Troops and riot police took up positions outside at least six big activist monasteries in Yangon on Wednesday as Burma’s junta tried to prevent monks leading new protest marches against military rule. There was no immediate word from the monks on whether they would risk their first major confrontation with the junta.
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/ 25 September 2007
Hundreds of monks marched towards central Yangon on Tuesday in defiance of a threat by Burma’s ruling generals to send soldiers in to end the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years. About 2 000 monks and ordinary people marched out of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the former Burma’s holiest shrine and the symbolic heart of a growing campaign against 45 years of unbroken military rule.
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/ 24 September 2007
Tens of thousands of people joined streams of Buddhist monks on marches through Burma’s capital on Monday in the biggest demonstration against the ruling generals since they crushed student-led protests nearly 20 years ago. ”People locked arms around the monks. They were clapping and cheering,” a witness said.
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/ 21 September 2007
At least 3 000 people led by Buddhist monks marched along flooded streets in Yangon on Friday, piling pressure on Burma’s ruling junta in the most sustained challenge to its rule in nearly 20 years. About 1 500 cinnamon-robed monks marched barefoot through the city on Friday, attracting an equal number of followers.
Ethnic rebel guerrillas in military-ruled Burma (Myanmar) have killed 27 people in two attacks on passenger buses in the past week, among the heaviest civilian casualties in decades of unrest, state media reported on Monday. ”Terrorist insurgents are trying to undermine national stability,” the official New Light of Myanmar said.
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/ 23 February 2007
A normally bustling Yangon market was eerily quiet on Friday — a day after a group of protesters held a rare demonstration there against Burma’s military-run government over economic hardships. ”People are cautious after the protest yesterday [Thursday]. That’s why we are seeing few people today,” said a taxi driver.
A tropical cyclone packing winds up to 240kph battered Burma on Saturday, ripping roofs off dozens of buildings near the country’s biggest city, knocking out electricity and forcing tourists to flee coastal flooding, officials said. There were scattered reports of injuries and deaths, but the government refused to provide any details.
Myanmar on Tuesday called for international help to tackle bird flu after the country confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry. "We are still trying to control it. We need help not only with the technical procedures, but also with equipment," said the country’s top veterinary official Than Hla.
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/ 28 November 2005
Myanmar’s military junta has extended pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest by six months, a Home Ministry official said on Monday. ”She was officially informed on the evening of Sunday, November 27,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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/ 8 November 2005
The decision by Myanmar’s military rulers to move the administrative capital to a secret mountain compound was as sudden as it was inexplicable, leaving observers wondering on Tuesday why the already reclusive junta is pushing itself deeper into isolation.
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/ 28 September 2005
An enigmatic smile appears on his wrinkled face and his faded eyes shine brightly as his fingers caress the ivory keys of the one musical instrument he truly loves, his piano. The melodious music which comes out grabs the attention of those nearby.
Myanmar’s Supreme Court has begun hearing the junta’s case against former premier and military intelligence boss Khin Nyunt, who was sacked in October and accused of corruption, legal sources said this week. ”His legal proceedings in the Supreme Court have started,” one lawyer following the case said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.
Military-ruled Myanmar has imposed a blackout on the news of casualties from the recent bomb blasts after official reports of 11 dead, but evidence mounted on Monday that the toll is substantially higher. Senior Thai officials in Bangkok on Monday said 21 people, all Myanmar nationals, were killed in the blasts.
A lactating woman in Myanmar has volunteered to breastfeed a pair of endangered Bengal tiger cubs recently born at a Yangon zoo and separated from their aggressive mother, <i>The Myanmar Times</i> reported.
Myanmar’s military government on Monday accused the United States and its allies of ”blind and prejudiced meddling” in the country’s internal affairs.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday the junta had refused to allow it to see detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but had agreed to visits with all other opposition members rounded up after violent clashes last month.
A United Nations (UN) special envoy arrived in Myanmar on Friday to demand the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, reported to have been injured in a clash that prompted her detention and a crackdown on her party.
Myanmar’s generals insist that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is safe and unhurt following a bloody clash involving her supporters, but they won’t reveal where she’s being detained or how long she’ll be held — despite concerns raised by world leaders and the United Nations.
European Union delegates here to assess Myanmar’s political reform process were due to meet on Tuesday with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a top junta member, officials said.