Mother Nature goes to extremes in the summer, spoiling the gift of good weather with hurricanes, heat waves, fires and floods. This year she started early. On May 2, Cyclone Nargis laid waste to large parts of Myanmar. According to the latest counts, the disaster left 2.4 million people destitute, more than 50,000 missing and [...]

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NARGIS POSES HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA
The stubbornness of Burma’s military junta puts the West into a hopeless situation. If the international community wants to provide relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis, then it has to play by the regime’s rules. But the West’s submissiveness sends a dangerous signal to despots everywhere. By our reporter in Rangoon more…

Junta [...]

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Uprooted trees, destroyed houses, disease. Burma is in chaos more than a week after Cyclone Nargis, and the real disaster is happening now. Drugs and aid aren’t reaching the people who desperately need it. But the Burmese are helping each other, and anger at the junta is mounting. By our reporter in Rangoon, Burma more…

‘Like [...]

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‘LIKE THE APOCALYPSE’
The worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami has hit Burma, home to a despotic military regime. Despite a storm that locals claimed was “like the apocalypse,” the junta sought to complicate the arrival of any foreign aid out of mistrust of the West. By Jürgen Kremb and Thilo Thielke more…

Interactive Graphic: Cyclone [...]

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And the correlation between oil and violence is likely to grow stronger, since as Ross points out, countries in Africa, the Caspian basin, and Southeast Asia will soon become “significant oil and gas exporters. Some of these countries, including Chad, East Timor, and Myanmar, have already suffered internal strife. Most of the rest are poor, [...]

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Opinions from some westerners conclude that what motivates Beijing to support Myanmar is economic interest, and yet others think it is out of Beijing’s fear of democracy. Some experts in China defended the government with seemingly correct reasons—in principle Beijing does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and really doesn’t possess [...]

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China and Russia rule out Security Council action on Myanmar
International Herald Tribune, France - 8 hours ago
In January, China and Russia cast a rare double veto on a US-sponsored resolution calling on Myanmar’s military government to release all political …
Ban Ki-moon meets Myanmar envoy NDTV.com
UN given grim report on Myanmar Aljazeera.net
UN Chief Meets Myanmar Envoy The Associated [...]

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Several people have been killed, including a Japanese photographer, as the Burmese military opened fire on thousands of demonstrators in the city of Yangon on Thursday. Many have been badly beaten after early morning raids on Buddhist monasteries. more…

Photo Gallery: Military Cracks Down in Burma
The Cyber Rebellion: Burmese Bloggers By-Pass Censors
The World from Berlin: Burmese [...]

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Burmese soldiers kill 9, US imposes sanctions
CTV.ca, Canada - 43 minutes ago
The United States imposed economic sanctions Thursday on more than a dozen senior Myanmar officials, including members of the country’s ruling military …
Trade away tyranny The Australian
Burmese diplomat carpeted: PM Sydney Morning Herald
Sanctions to freeze junta’s cash The Age
Sydney Morning Herald - The Age
all 137 news articles »

Q&A: [...]

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MYANMAR: CHINA, MILITARY JUNTA USE RESTRAINT
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy - 3 hours ago
(AGI) - Beijing, Sept 27 - The Chinese government, main ally of Myanmar, has asked the Burmese military junta to use restraint in managing the …
Burmese military crackdown condemned Telegraph.co.uk
Global outrage over Burma protest crackdown Melbourne Herald Sun
China’s crucial role in Burma crisis [...]

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BANGKOK - Myanmar’s military leaders have never made a secret of their interest in developing a domestic nuclear-energy industry. Plans to buy a nuclear reactor from Russia have been in the pipeline for years, and this month in Moscow the two sides formally resurrected those controversial plans.
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Why are there so few takers outside China for its self-proclaimed doctrine of “peaceful rise”?
And yet, as our special report in this week’s issue argues, if you scour the region for China’s firm friends it is hard to find them. Even Russia, where China’s president, Hu Jintao, was this week pressing the flesh, is a [...]

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