World focus on Burma (13 February 2009)

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Deputy’s house arrest extended
The Press Association –
Human rights groups say Burma now holds more than 2100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1200 before mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.

Burma – The Other Side
Canada Free Press, Canada –
Following the cyclone Nargis in May 2008, Dr. Chan volunteered much of his time taking small donations from people world-wide, many from the USA and the UK …

NLD leader Tin Oo’s house arrest extended
Mizzima.com, India –
by Mizzima News New Delhi – Burma’s military rulers have secretly ext

ended the term of house arrest of the Vice- Chairman of the opposition party, …

UN human rights expert to visit Myanmar
UN News Centre –
13 February 2009 – The independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar will begin a six-day visit beginning tomorrow to assess …

UN rights expert to visit Burma
ABC Online, Australia –
A United Nations independent expert on human rights will be in Burma from Saturday (local time) on a six-day visit to assess human rights conditions on the …

UN: Nations Show True Colors at Rights Review
Human Rights Watch (press release) –
Some of the world’s most notorious human rights violators – including Zimbabwe, Burma, Uzbekistan and Sudan – were the most effusive in praising human …

NLD marks Union Day
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway –
Feb 13, 2009 (DVB)–National League for Democracy members in Rangoon, Mandalay and Magwe divisions and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, held celebrations yesterday to …

Deputy opposition leader gets another year of detention in Myanmar
Monsters and Critics.com –
Both opposition leaders were detained for leading a political campaign in central Myanmar, also called Burma, that was ended by a violent attack on their …

Burma Extends Detention of NLD Leader
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
By   AP and THE IRRAWADDY Burma’s military government on Friday extended the house arrest of Tin Oo, the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy …

Burma’s Rice Exports Soar, While Millions Remain Malnourished
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –

Speaking early last December, Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein said that Burmese rice exports could reach as high as three million tons in 2009. “Myanmar is to …

Mahn Sha’s Spirit Lives On
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –

Most agreed that the death of Mahn Sha was a huge loss for the Burmese democracy movement as no one in the KNU leadership could substitute for him. …

Ethnic politicians host Union Day dinner in Rangoon
Mizzima.com, India –
… (Mizzima) – Veteran ethnic politicians on Thursday hosted a Union Day dinner in Rangoon in commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of Union Day of Burma. …

Military Spending – You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours
Desicritics.org, India –
Nepal, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh are largely harmless. Sri Lanka is dealing with LTTE but other than few skirmishes in the south, India remains …

Envoy calls refugees ‘ugly as ogres’
The Age, Australia –
(They are as ugly as ogres),” he was said to have written. The Rohingya are stateless and face persecution from Burma’s military junta.

Deputy opposition leader gets another year of detention in Myanmar
Monsters and Critics.com –
Both opposition leaders were detained for leading a political campaign in central Myanmar, also called Burma, that was ended by a violent attack on their …

Myanmar extends detention of opposition leader
The Associated Press –

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Friday extended the house arrest of the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, …

The UN Has Failed Burma Again
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
The most sensitive issue, of course, is the UN’s demands for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Ironically, however, it is …

Mizzima’s correspondent released
Mizzima.com, India –
Although he had completed his jail term, the West Bengal government, however, did not deport him to Burma, where he would face a distinct threat of …

Two elected MPs jailed for 15 years
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway –
Nyi Pu is the elected representative for Gwa township and an Arakan National League for Democracy organising committee member, while Dr Tin Min Htut is an …

Skin Color and Prejudice Endangers Rohingya
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand –
Thousands of Rohingyas have fled their homes in Burma and Bangladesh to Thailand and Malaysia in recent years. In 2008 alone, reports estimated 4880 …

List of World Press Photo winners
The Associated Press –
Olivier Laban Mattei, France, Agence France-Presse, Myanmar (Burma) cyclone aftermath, May. PEOPLE IN THE NEWS SINGLES — 1. Chiba Yasuyoshi, Japan, Agence …

Seamy border casino town closed down
Business-News (Pressemitteilung), Switzerland –
More than 5000 Chinese citizens left Maijayang yesterday after the Chinese and Myanmar governments cracked down on casinos in the border city. …

Weekly Business Roundup (February 13, 2009)
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand
The ANI agency described Burma’s IT standards as “abysmally low” compared with its neighbors. A Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board is listed as having booked a …

Junta’s business crony to build Nature Park in northern Burma
Mizzima.com, India –
… States had imposed sanctions on for his alleged role in supporting the ruling military regime’s human rights violations and being a crony of the junta. …

Democracy Activist Jailed for Media Contact
Narinjara News, Bangladesh –
Taungup: A democratic activist from Taungup, Arakan, was sentenced to five years in prison for having connections with exiled Burmese media in Bangladesh, …

Will Rambo return to Afghanistan?
guardian.co.uk, UK –
Though that movie has yet to deliver on Sly’s claims that it would precipitate the overthrow of the real-life Burmese military junta, the discovery that he …

Burmese Opposition Launches Campaign to Free Political Prisoners
Voice of America –

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest in Rangoon for 13 of the past 19 years. The launch of the NLD signature campaign coincides with …

Mrs. Clinton Goes to Asia
Far Eastern Economic Review (subscription), Hong Kong – 13 hours ago

Personal, because she has long been critical of China for human rights abuses and trade issues, and Beijing has been trying to puzzle her out. …

Correspondent, ‘Dateline NBC’
MSNBC –
Kotb conducted an exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, an internationally recognized leader of Burma, marking the first time in 11 years that Suu Kyi …

DESS marks 30 years of excellence
Gulf Times, Qatar –
… ‘animal testing to be stopped and world peace,’ and ‘peace, harmony and democracy in Burma and for people to care for those in need. …

Sweet Devotion
nextbook, NY –
Between India and Myanmar (formerly Burma), there’sa tribe of 9000 people called—depending who you ask—the Chin, Kuki, Mizo, Zomi, or Bnei Menashe. …

No Sanctuary: Trafficking of Burmese people at the ThaiMalay Border
เดอะ เนชั่น, Thailand –
By ELAINE PEARSON THAILAND made headlines last week as photographs emerged of its navy towing boats filled with hundreds of Rohingya people from Burma out …

Exiled Burmese government calls for tripartite dialogue on Union Day
Mizzima.com, India –
“The role of ethnics is essential to form a federal Union of Burma,” Dr. Tint Swe told Mizzima. On Thursday, more than a hundred Burmese pro-democracy …

Ulster To Honour Burma Pro-Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi
University of Ulster Online, UK –
Leader of the National League for Burma and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) in abstentia …

Chinese businessmen abandon Sino-Burmese border town
Mizzima.com, India –
But following the KIO’s ceasefire agreement with the ruling junta in 1994, the village transformed into a border commercial hub, filled with casinos and …