By KYAW PHYO THA

RANGOON — In a one-room wooden house in the northern part of Burma’s former capital, happy the man is Kin Maung Yin whose only wish and care is to paint.

Recognized as a leader in the first generation of Burma’s modern art movement, Kin Maung Yin is a living legend in Burmese contemporary art today, but he leads an austere lifestyle. He does not own a refrigerator or a washing machine at his home in Rangoon. Blank canvases are piled high where a television might otherwise stand, and he sleeps on the floor, not far from the spot where he paints. He has no family.

“Less is more,” says the 75-year-old. “I have everything I need here.”

Birmingham Mail

David Cundall believes he has evidence which shows exact location of buried planes

 Spitfire hunter David Cundall has unveiled evidence he claims shows the exact location where iconic Birmingham-made fighters are buried in Burma.

The 63-year-old farmer released new images of what he says are man made objects buried at Mingaladon Airport in Yangon up to 11 metres deep, in the wake of new surveys being carried out on his behalf in Burma.

The aircraft enthusiast has exclusively given the Birmingham Mail copies of the new 2D and 3D images, seen here, which are believed to show where the Spitfires have been buried in their steel reinforced wooden crates since the end of World War II.

Bangkok Post

Myanmar’s reform-minded government may fall short of fulfilling its commitment to free all political prisoners by the end of this year, a member of the committee reviewing prisoners’status said on Saturday.

“The number of political prisoners is falling, but it will not reach zero because the authorities are detaining more and more activists,” said Bo Kyi, a member of the government-appointed committee.

During a visit to Britain in July, Myanmar President Thein Sein pledged to release all political prisoners remaining in Myanmar by the end of this year.

by Joshua Kurlantzick    

The visit on Wednesday by the United Nations’ special envoy to Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, to Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization, is a positive sign that the conflict in Kachin state might really be over. [Asia Times has a fine summary of Nambiar’s visit.] The peace deal between the KIO and the Myanmar government, signed in the spring, was obviously a major step forward to ending the decades-long conflict, but it did not provide real closure—it was not a final ceasefire. Among many Kachin leaders, there remained even after the peace deal signing a high degree of mistrust of both the central government and regional army commanders, who frequently, during past ceasefires, had gone over the government’s orders and launched their own attacks in Kachin state.

AFP/Yangon

Myanmar has jailed an activist for two years in connection with protests over a controversial mine project, her lawyer said yesterday, despite the regime’s pledge to free all political prisoners.

Naw Ohn Hla, 49, was convicted on Thursday for public order offences in the town of Monywa, where the Chinese-backed Letpadaung mine has triggered fierce opposition from local villagers.  The activist, who has been arrested a number of times in the past for her activities, was detained on August 13 after her request to stage a protest was denied, her lawyer Robert San Aung said.

Rights campaigners have expressed concern at the continuing arrest of activists opposed to the mine in recent months, despite a pledge by reformist President Thein Sein to free all political detainees by the end of this year.

By Richard S. Ehrlich

(RNS) Buddhists are killing Muslims in Myanmar with impunity because the government failed to stop the attacks, New York-based Physicians for Human Rights reported amid fresh assaults that left more Muslims homeless.

During the past year, scattered clashes across Buddhist-majority Myanmar, also known as Burma, have left more than 240 people dead, most of them Muslims.

A mob of about 1,000 Buddhists burned more than 35 Muslim homes and a dozen shops on August 24 in Kanbalu in Myanmar’s central Sagaing Division after hearing rumors that a Muslim man sexually assaulted a young Buddhist woman, police told The Associated Press.

Author: Human Rights Watch

Source: Human Rights Watch

Burma’s draft associations law fails to meet international human rights standards and should be significantly revised or discarded, Human Rights Watch said today. If passed in its current form, the law would permit excessive government control over civil society groups, hindering freedom of speech and association at the expense of Burma’s reform and development.

(Bangkok) – Burma’s draft associations law fails to meet international human rights standards and should be significantly revised or discarded, Human Rights Watch said today. If passed in its current form, the law would permit excessive government control over civil society groups, hindering freedom of speech and association at the expense of Burma’s reform and development.