Burma Update: January 26, 2008

Highlight

APPPB Update: Burma in January 3rd Week

"...From now on we will be providing you with a week by week summary of news, update, and activities inside and outside of Burma, while we will still try to give you immediate update on any situation that may arise in the country following the September uprising led by Buddhist monks as the people continue to struggle for freedom and justice.

Recently on January 17 amazing it was that around 200 people including Buddhist monks tried to gather around the market area in Taunggot, Arakan State, despite extreme and bloody brutal crackdown by the regime during last September uprising..."


News from Burmese Media

Narinjara News: Young Monk Leader and Colleague Arrive in Bangladesh


News from Global Meida

Contra Costa Times, California: 'Rambo' Back in Action in the Jungles of Burma
AFP: Myanmar Arrests 96 Dissidents Since November: Amnesty
Xinhua Online: S Korean University, Myanmar to Play Friendly Soccer Matches
Irish Sun: UN Envoy Heads to Brussels for Further Consultations


Opinion/Other

Irrawaddy News Magazine: Burma Under Siege - Min Zin


Statement/Press Release

Amnesty International: Arrests of Political Activists Increase in Myanmar


Report/Briefer

Irrawaddy News Magazine: Weekly Business Round-up (January, 26, 2008)

- Hundreds Face Eviction in Kachin State Over Chinese Dam
- India, China Planning Transit Routes through Burma
- Car Maker Skoda Eyes Burma
- Burma State Airline Plans New Service to India

Shan Herald Agency for News: SHRF Monthly Report - January 2008


Special Feature

Irrawaddy News Magazine: High Tide Run [Beyond 1988—Reflections III] - Aung Naing Oo

"We left the island about 5:30 p.m., before the evening tide, quietly walking past the house we had visited that morning. I saw the woman of the house and her family watching us sympathetically. Without looking back, I felt their collective gaze, as we descended into the deep ravine of the river.

There was only a small stream of water now flowing through the deep channel—perhaps just enough for a long-tailed boat. We waded through the water, sinking in the soft mud, and struggling with the supplies in our bags. There were many birds—mostly herons and seagulls —feeding on crabs and mudfish on the muddy sediment on the other side. The sun was setting slowly on the horizon.

To this day, I do not know what the river was called, but it was one of the many tributaries that flowed into the gulf. I could clearly see its estuary opening towards the gulf a few hundred meters to our left. With the tide out, it was like dry land—a strange spectacle for newcomers like me. The riverbed was so deep that from the middle we couldn’t even see on the opposite bank the small house that was our intended destination..."