Bridges over major rivers can transform local, as well as national, economies. But not everyone is in favour of building a $168 million bridge linking the congested downtown of Yangon with the poor and rural township of Dala to the south.

Renaud Egreteau argues that potential dissidents within the National League for Democracy are unlikely to gain influence in the near term.

The Home Affairs Ministry has been blasted for re-enforcing harmful assumptions about gender-based violence after it released a document positing that women consuming alcohol was among the leading causes of the rape of women and children.

Two Burmese reporters for the Reuters news bureau in Yangon were detained on Tuesday evening in the commercial capital’s northern suburbs.

Human rights monitors on Wednesday urged Burma to withdraw a ban on protests in its largest city, Yangon, amid fears that free speech is under pressure under the government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

Speaking at an interfaith gathering, the head of the Rangoon archdiocese denounced the international community’s criticism of Burma over the ongoing Arakan crisis and asked for international support as the country works to resolve the issues blighting its westernmost state.