<p>Burma has in recent weeks been one of the top world news stories. The country&rsquo;s November 7 general election was followed less than a week later by the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the world&rsquo;s best-known political dissidents, whose appearance at her front gate on Saturday, November 13, was carried on news networks around the world.</p>

<p>MAE SOT, Thailand &ndash; More than 200 refugees crossed into Thailand over the weekend after clashes between Burmese troops and a faction of a Karen armed group broke out anew on November 27.</p>

<p>MAE SOT, Thailand &ndash; At least a thousand Burmese are trapped in no man&rsquo;s land on the border with Thailand as fighting between the Burmese army and a faction of a Karen armed group, which began soon after the November 7 general elections, entered its first week.</p>

<p>The Asian Network For Free Elections(ANFREL) calls attention to an important point from November 7th &amp; 8th&lsquo;s counting activities that requires the State Peace and Development Council(SPDC) and the Union Election Commission(UEC) of Myanmar to urgently clarify why the counting process was not made transparent to the public and the media beginning with the first advance voting period. </p>

<p>Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association call for the release of Japanese journalist Toru Yamaji, the head of the Tokyo-based news agency APF, who was arrested in the eastern border town of Myawaddy on 7 Nov after apparently entering from Thailand. He was reportedly taken by helicopter to the Burmese capital, Naypyitaw, for questioning by military intelligence.</p>

<p>Despite the Burmese military regime&rsquo;s claims that the entire country will enjoy electricity after the 2010 election, its national power development plans, set to be rubberstamped by its incoming proxy government, spell otherwise. The vast majority of the country&rsquo;s natural resources are destined for export, not for nationwide electrification. </p>