U Gambira Photo 
xs.to
(From the left) Sister, Mother, Brother, Friend Monk and
U Gambira
ashinmettacara-eng.blogspot.com
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Sixty years after independence, Myanmar remembers in secret
Tue Jan 1
xs.to
A worker cleans beneath the bronze statue of General Aung San, national hero of Myanmar...
by Hla Hla Htay
YANGON (AFP) - Pausing in front of the fence around Yangon's main park, a man points through the iron bars to show his two young children the statue inside.
"This is Myanmar's independence leader General Aung San. He was a very honourable man," he said.
The children gazed at the 10-foot (three-meter) statue and started to ask a question when their father hushed them.
"I will tell you all about him once we get home," he said.
snip
news.yahoo.com
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Myanmar people urged to defend country from danger of subversive elements
2008-01-02
English_Xinhua
YANGON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar state media Wednesday called on the country's people to defend the nation from the danger of internal and external destructive elements, while cherishing, valuing and safeguarding the independence and sovereignty which successive generations of ancestors managed to help the nation regain.
"Neo-colonialists and saboteurs with negative views persist in resorting to various means to intrude on the fruits the state is enjoying in the political, economic and social sectors," the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar warned in its editorial two days ahead of the country's 60th Anniversary Independence Day.
snip
xinhuanet.com
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Red carpet for Burma minister
By RAMESH RAMACHANDRAN
New Delhi, Jan. 1: New Delhi will look to make progress on the $100-million Kaladan multi-modal transport project and cement its bilateral ties with Burma when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee hold talks with visiting Burmese minister of foreign affairs U. Nyan Win on Wednesday.
snip
asianage.com
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Satellite dish fees rocket in Myanmar
Wed, 02 Jan 2008
Yangon - Satellite dish owners in media-starved Myanmar got an unwelcome New Year surprise when they discovered that their annual license fees had climbed 166 times, Yangon residents said Wednesday.
Customers who expected to pay 6,000 kyats (4.60 dollars at the open market rate) at the local post office were shocked to be told to that the annual fee had increased to 1 million kyats (781 dollars), according to local residents.
snip
earthtimes.org
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33 Days Of Hunger Strike And Still No Family Visit
1 January, 2008
Original report by Maung Htoo, DVB
It is now 33 days since Ko Htin Kyaw started the hunger strike protest in Insein prison and despite the application from his family to be allowed to see him, the authorities are still refusing to act in any form of communication.
snip 'Do It Yourself' Without Violence, ABMA Urges People Of Burma
1 January 2008
Original report by Aye Nai, DVB
'We must be responsible for our own fate, while avoiding all violence', the All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) urged the people of Burma. In their announcement, issued today, the monks are also urged to continue with the boycott and also to be active and vigilant.
U Okkatta, the spokesperson of the Alliance, also beseeched everyone to join in the activities led by the ABMA in order to end the country's humanitarian sufferings.
'Please do not feel distressed. You must control your anger which can lead the tendency towards violence but let us concentrate on building our own future, in solidarity. With our joint forces of the public and monks together, we can resolve all our problems and troubles. We vow to continue with the boycott until every monk (and political prisoner) is released. Please try not to hate anyone and believe in love and affection, which is the only true winner.'
Statement Issued By The All Burma Monks Alliance Date 01-01-08
1369 Na Daw La Sote 8th , Tuesday
We, the monks, members of the Buddhist Order, being mindful of sympathy and pity for the public and the donors, who were struggling to survive the deep trouble of poverty, decided to overturn the offering bowls, and paraded and marched peacefully. This was done in order to let the ruling government know about the public's suffering and basic struggle to survive.
However, the government, instead of taking responsiblility and resolving the issues and problems of the people and the country, hired criminals and convicts to conduct the brutal crackdown on the peaceful protesters including the monks, as the world has witnessed. Moreover, the government has;
snip
whoiswhoinburma.blogspot.com
with thanxs to Goldie Shwe for the above translations
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"Silent Peace Walk & Prayer Service" 
Peace Walk from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square
&
Prayers Service at Trafalgar Square
On Saturday, 5th of January 2008 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Burma's Independence Day
The Prayer Service will be led by The International Burmese Monks Organization (UK)
prayforfreedomburma.com
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prayforfreedomburma.com
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Rohingyas flee from Northern Arakan
Written by Webmaster
Wednesday, 02 January 2008
Maungdaw, Arakan State: A number of Rohingyas fled from Northern Arakan for fear of being arrested after they clashed with Natala (model) villagers of the Buddhist community in Taungbro sub-border town of Burma - Bangladesh border on December 20.
snip
According to Kaladan news dated December 20, the authorities arrested 50 Rohingya people after the clash. Some of the injured were admitted at Taungbro government clinic.
But, the government authorities stated that the concerned authority (Nasaka ) had come on time and intervened to sort out the problem which had occurred between Natala villagers and local Rohingya villagers. No one was arrested, they claimed.
snip BDR pushes back five Burmese nationals
Written by Webmaster
Wednesday, 02 January 2008
Teknaf, Bangladesh: Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) pushed back five Burmese nationals back to their country on January 1, after arresting them in Bangladesh territory on December 31, according to our correspondent.
snip
On January 1, the BDR also arrested a medicine carrier, Mohammed Sayed alias Rediwan (30), son of Mohammed Alam of Teknaf Moulvi Para under Cox's Bazaar district, with 50 boxes of different types of medicine from the check-post in Waykong under Cox's Bazaar district while he was going to Teknaf by bus. The concerned authorities’ suspect the medicines were to be smuggled into Burma, said a source close to BDR.
Border trade halted in Bangladesh-Burma Border
Written by Webmaster
Wednesday, 02 January 2008
snip On December 29, at noon, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) arrested two Burmese nationals including one Rakhine and one Rohingya while they were taking video clips of area surrounding the land port without permission from the concerned authority. snip The authorities in Burma closed the Burma-Bangladesh border trade indefinitely until matter is settled. Border businessmen said, "Rice, cattle, timber, goats and other things are imported from Teknaf land port along the corridor of Shaphuri Dip. If goods from Burma are not exported from the said points, Bangladesh will face many kinds of difficulties. So, the problem needs to be solved early, said a trader from Teknaf. UNHCR distributes blankets in Burmese refugee camp
Written by Webmaster
Wednesday, 02 January 2008
Teknaf, Bangladesh: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) distributed blankets in Burmese refugee camps in Bangladesh from December 27 to January 1, says our correspondent.
snip
"We are very happy to get blankets as we will able to protect ourselves from the cold. It will prevent pneumonia, said a refugee Shoffi (80) of Nayapara camp.
"I am happy to get the blankets because I have spent sleepless nights for a week because of the cold," a refugee woman Jarina Khatun from Kutupalong camp said
kaladanpress.org
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Fresh Bird Flu Outbreak in Burma
By Saw Yan Naing
January 2, 2008
A ban on the sale of chickens and eggs was imposed in Tachilek on Tuesday after a fresh outbreak of bird flu was discovered in a village in Shan State’s Mongphyat Township in eastern Burma, according to sources in Tachilek.
A resident from the Thai-Burmese border town said, “The authorities have prohibited the sale of chickens since yesterday. They publicized the decision by setting up a sign in the town, advising vendors not to sell chickens or eggs.”
snip Burmese Junta Not Interested in Dialogue with Opposition, EIU Says
By Wai Moe
January 2, 2008
Liaison officer Aung Kyi meets Aung San Suu Kyi on October 25, 2007
Burma’s junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), “fails to show any interest in talks” with Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said on Tuesday.
In its January 2008 report on Burma, the London-based EIU, an influential think tank, said the junta took a small step forward in October with the appointment of Aung Kyi, the labor minister, as a liaison officer to meet the detained leader of the opposition, Suu Kyi.
The liaison officer subsequently met with Suu Kyi three times. The most recent meeting was on November 19, and since then “the junta has shown no interest in holding a dialogue with the opposition.”
snip
irrawaddy.org
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Sri Lanka : Domestic gems & jewelry trade prospers
January 2, 2008
snip
In an exclusive interview with
Fibre2fashion, Mr Ajith Perera, Acting Deputy Director General of National Gems and Jewellery Authority, stated, “The major factors supporting diamond and jewellery export is the quality of gems and jewellery which has gone up. In 2007, colored gems had posted a growth of 25 percent while diamond marked 19 percent as compared to 2006. We have already started doing promotion of gems and jewellery by participating into a number of fair and exhibitions like Shanghai gems and jewellery fair.”
gem stones are imported from countries like Madagascar, Myanmar 
fibre2fashion.com
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Regional Commander's son exports illegal timber to China
January 2, 2008
KNG
In the case of the Burmese military junta it is one of hogging everything in sight. For instance the eldest son of Kachin State's Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint controls a local logging company called Awng Mai and exports timber to China, said local loggers.
Kyaw Thura owns most of the shares of Awng Mai Company since last year and the company is a specially authorized to export timber from Northern Burma to China. The authorization comes from none other than his father Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, the loggers added.
A local logger close to the company told KNG today, the company is mainly exporting hardwood called Tarmalan and teak from areas between the Irrawaddy River and Mogaung Town to China. The timber is sent across a ferry-bridge near Sinbo in Irrawaddy River.
The timber is then transported to China by crossing Laiza, the headquarters of Kachin ceasefire Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) controlled areas on the Sino-Burma border, the sources said.
From early last month, hundreds of new Chinese log trucks with workers have been entering those areas and the teak and hardwood are transported to the Sino-Burma border, according to eyewitnesses.
snip
kachinnews.com
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Workers Suffer As Factories Close Down
1 January 2008
Original report by Naw Say Paw, DVB, Thailand
About 1000 employees from New Wave shoe factory, Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Estate, Rangoon are now suffering because the factory is closed. After sacking 200 workers for demonstrating in September as they protested for being denied workers' rights, the owner of the factory closed it down in late October.
According to one employee, the reason for the closure is the unavailability of supplies. It has also been learnt that worker are not getting the proper partial payment during the period of closure.
snip
whoiswhoinburma.blogspot.com
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India nudges Myanmar to hasten political reform
Wed Jan 2, 2008
snip
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told visiting Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win that there was a "greater urgency in bringing about political reform and national reconciliation", Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said.
"This process had to be broadbased to include all sections of society including Aung San Suu Kyi and various ethnic groups in Myanmar," he told reporters.
snip
uk.reuters.com
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