During the first week in March, the Karenni Nationalities Progressive Party (KNPP) will meet with the government peacemaking team to talk about a cease-fire. If successful, a political dialogue will follow.

Burmese who are now citizens of foreign countries and living overseas will be allowed to return home and reclaim citizenship, local media reported Tuesday. A requirement is that they relinquish their foreign citizenship.

Residents of the town of Mong Yaw, 25 miles northeast of Lashio and its 17 surrounding villages, are finding it hard to prevent their youth from using drugs, according to concerned parents there.

Kutkai Township in Northern Shan state saw heavy fighting Tuesday between the Kachin Independence Army and troops from a Burmese army battalion know for its involvement in the narcotics trade.

An opening festival ceremony at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon this week marks the 2,600-year anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment. It also marks the first time the festival has been held since Aung San Suu Kyi used the site for a speech in 1988 that marked her emergence as an opposition leader, say festival organizers.

Burma is poised to reap real trade benefits from neighboring countries following its opening up process, now with the Philippines where a bilateral trade meeting to strengthen economic ties is scheduled for June.

Members of parliament from Asean countries will conduct a fact-finding tour in Thailand to highlight issues surrounding Burmese migrant labourers and other migrants.

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Two visitors who visited their relatives in the Nayapara official refugee camp were arrested by the camp police on February 18, a relative of the men said.

More than 1,500 Kg of rice recently harvested by farmers in war-torn Kachin state were set ablaze by government troops last week in Waingmaw township on the Myitkyina-Bhamo (Manmaw) road, eyewitnesses report.

The Shan State Army (SSA) South that had signed the ceasefire agreement on 2December and the Burma Army are in a state of deadlock in Monghai, northwest of Tachilek, opposite Maesai, since last week, according to Lt-Col Gawn Zeun, Commander of the SSA’s Shan State East military region.

Burma and Bangladesh have agreed to use small vessels between the two countries in order to boost bilateral trade, according to a report in the Bangladesh media.