By SIMON ROUGHNEEN / THE IRRAWADDY

RANGOON — Ko Ko Aung cannot forget the day six years ago when he spoke to his friend and colleague Kenji Nagai for the last time.

“It was around 11.30 Rangoon time when he called,” recalls the former Japan-based Burmese exile. It was Sept. 27, 2007. It was to be the last time the Japanese cameraman called his editors at the APF News office, where Ko Ko Aung was working at the time.

Later that afternoon, Kenji Nagai was shot dead in downtown Rangoon while filming an army crackdown on protests against military rule, demonstrations that were becoming known worldwide as “the Saffron Revolution.”

By – Zin Linn

Burma/Myanmar remains one of the world’s least developed countries, and was ranked 138 out of 182 countries in the 2010 UN’s Human Development Index.

Burma is one of Asia’s poorest countries, reflected in its health indicators. It had the 44th highest infant mortality rate of the 193 countries listed by the UNICEF in its 2011 State of the World’s Children report.

Burma is regularly along with the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index – in 2012, it was ranked 172 out of 174 countries, third from the bottom after Afghanistan and Somalia.

By AYE AYE WIN  Associated Press

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has sharpened her criticism of her country’s incomplete transition to democracy, saying the next general election in 2015 cannot be fair unless the army-imposed constitution is amended.

Speaking to reporters Friday at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of her National League for Democracy party, Suu Kyi said an unfair election would have consequences, but did not elaborate.

Her party considers the current constitution undemocratic because of clauses giving the military a substantial percentage of parliamentary seats and disqualifying Suu Kyi from running for president.

Kyodo News International

Myanmar’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, said Saturday it has failed to reach a consensus with ethnic political parties over whether to amend the Constitution or rewrite the entire charter, and they will seek public opinion on the matter.

The NLD has been meeting this month with 12 ethnic political parties, including the Arakan League for Democracy and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, at its headquarters in Yangon.

In a statement issued Saturday after the last day of talks, the NLD said there has been no consensus on what to do with the military-crafted Constitution.

Critics say the current Constitution, which was adopted in 2008 while the country was under military rule, was written to favor the military.

Kyodo News International

Four families from Myanmar comprising 18 people arrived Friday evening in Tokyo on a pilot refugee resettlement program Japan introduced in fiscal 2010.

The families are of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, including Karen. They had been living in a refugee camp in Thailand across Myanmar’s border. After going through a 180-day program in Tokyo for vocational training and Japanese language study, they will decide on their employment options and where to settle.

After arriving at Narita airport on a flight from Bangkok, the refugees seemed tired but looked relieved at the sight of their Japanese hosts.

A 36-year-old man spent seven years in a refugee camp before coming to Japan with his wife and a child. He said he appreciated the warm welcome and expressed wishes to take up work after studying Japanese.

Author: Aung Hla Tun

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A Myanmar court on Thursday sentenced 10 activists to three months in jail for protesting without a permit against a controversial Chinese-led oil and gas project in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, their defence lawyer said, in a case rights groups say is a sign of a new wave of authoritarianism creeping into Myanmar.

The activists were found guilty under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, which requires police permission to march or hold a procession – a clause criticised by rights groups as undemocratic.

Eleven

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she hopes that Myanmar will maintain good diplomatic relations with all countries in the world—including China.

The National League for Democracy chair made the comment on Saturday during an address to the Singapore Summit, a forum organized by an inter-agency office.

“Myanmar has enjoyed friendly relations with many world nations. It has established a tradition of maintaining good relations not only with neighbouring countries but also with the West,” said Suu Kyi.