jade

(Newser) - Soldiers, police, and volunteers pulled body after body from the rubble in northern Burma on Monday as the death toll from a landslide near several jade mines reached at least 113, with more than 100 others missing, a local official says. The collapse early Saturday in Kachin state's mining...

(Newser) - The jade trade in Burma "may well be the biggest natural resource heist in modern history," according to a report published Friday by an international anti-corruption organization. That organization, Global Witness, puts the value of the jade produced in 2014 in Burma at at least $31 billion—more...

(Newser) - The tense peace between Myanmar’s military rulers and various armed ethnic groups may fracture into war next year when the government implements a controversial new constitution, the New York Times reports. The constitution requires the rebels to disarm, without granting them the de facto autonomy they currently enjoy in...

(Newser) - Congress is moving to close a loophole in a law that forbids the sale of rubies from Burma, but the measure comes too late for the holiday shopping season, writes Marin Cogan of the New Republic. That means US shoppers—unless they take pains to question their jewelry shop's policy—...