China received 1.87 billion cubic metres of gas during the first active year of the Shwe pipeline, according to a statement by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The state-run enterprise owns two parallel pipes -- one gas, one oil -- running from Burma’s Arakan coast to Yunnan, China. The gas pipe came online in July 2013, while the crude line is expected to begin this year. CNPC said that 60 million cubic metres of gas were distributed to Burma. At full capacity, the gas corridor can carry up to 12 billion cubic metres per year.

Burma’s state-run English daily will relaunch on 1 September under a new name, Global New Light of Myanmar, the paper announced on Sunday. The newspaper, operated by the Ministry of Information and long known as a conduit for government propaganda, entered a joint venture with a little-known private company, Global Direct Link, last year. The company, which has a 49 percent share in the joint venture, has consigned Japanese news agency Kyodo to “improve the skills” of the paper’s employees. 

Burma’s President Thein Sein has told parliament that the government is not responsible for the sentences of 10 years with hard labour handed down to journalists from Unity Weekly last month, saying it was a judicial decision. In a letter, the president said the reporters were accused of breaking national security laws and the matter was dealt with by the courts, not the government. He also stated that he wished to see an independent and ethical media in Burma.

Burmese mountaineering team Thabawa Khawthan, literally “nature’s call”, has announced plans to scale Hkakabo Razi, at 19,000 feet the highest mountain in Southeast Asia and the tri-border point for Burma, India and China. The team says it is hopes to reach the Himalayan peak in Kachin State by the end of August, weather permitting. The first successful expedition to ascend the mountain was led by Japanese climber Takashi Ozaki and Nyima Gyaltsen, a Burmese national Tibetan who hoisted the old Burmese flag on the peak in 1996.

Rumours that the retirement age for Burmese civil servants are to be raised from 60 to 63 are unfounded, Union Civil Service Board Chairman Kyaw Thu told parliament on Thursday in response to an MP’s question. There are currently more than 80 000 retired civil servants in Burma.

Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications Maung Toe told parliament on Thursday that 31 out of a total 36 government ministries now have active websites, and an additional 10 union-level organizations are also online. However, several observers have complained that the ministries mostly upload details of their office activities and meetings rather than providing information to the public.

Members of Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), a bloc of ethnic leaders undertaking peace negotiations with the central government, convened in Laiza, Kachin State on Thursday to discuss their next steps towards ending the country’s six decades of civil war. The 16-member alliance created a new leading committee of elected representatives to serve as delegates and decision-makers as negotiations become more precise. The NCCT will spend the coming days discussing the latest draft of a nationwide ceasefire agreement, which the government aims to achieve by the end of this year.  

Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann has called on the Burmese government to take a more considered approach when dealing with the press. He specifically referred to the case of the five Unity journalists, who were charged under Burma’s Official Secrets Act in January and sentenced to ten years with hard labour earlier this month. The sentence sparked domestic and international condemnation, with critics denouncing what they see as a backslide on media reforms. More about this on DVB Bullet Points.