Burma News (7.7.09)

by Danny Fisher

Here’s the latest on Burma:

  • The Associated Press reports on the ruling military junta’s “stage-managing” of U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon’s recent visit to the country.
  • Reuters reports on Mr. Ban’s urging of the junta to hold credible democratic elections next year.
  • The New York Times writes about the observation among analysts that “the fact that Mr. Ban emerged empty-handed after his two-day visit that ended Saturday provides the strongest evidence yet that a different approach is overdue.”
  • The Times also reports that “a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo [to Burma] was expected to return to home port, according to a South Korean defense spokesman, as American officials claimed that international sanctions had forced the ship to turn back.”
  • The AP also reports that Burma “earned more than 209 million euros ($292 million) from the sale of jade at a government-sponsored gems show despite a U.S. ban on their import.”
  • On the heels of this news, The Irrawaddy reports that “two identical resolutions have been introduced in the US House of Representatives and Senate calling for the renewal of sanctions on the Burmese military junta under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.”
  • The AP also reports further on the “uneven” rebuilding efforts in the year after Cyclone Nargis.
  • Lastly, the BBC reports on the University of Ulster’s Magee Campus awarding an honorary degree to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Prime Minister-elect and Nobel Peace laureate who is currently standing trial on trumped-up charges of violating the terms of her house arrest by the junta.