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Burma’s trail of destruction

They have a saying in Burma that if the roof is not sound, the whole house is prone to leaks - and the recent cyclone has blown the country's roof right off, a catastrophe that could reach even greater proportions if the ruling junta keeps resisting foreign help.

Official: Storm toll could be 100,000

Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that up to 100,000 people may have died in the devastating cyclone.

Getting humanitarian aid to Myanmar

As the death toll continues to rise in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar (Burma) last weekend, international aid is beginning to arrive from neighboring countries. China, India, and Thailand have been able to fly in supplies, but the military junta has been hesitant to allow other countries to help with the aid effort-including aid offered by the United States.

Myanmar: Cyclone death toll likely above 10,000

The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged Myanmar is expected to top 10,000, a senior official said Monday, with at least 4,000 people already listed as killed and nearly 3,000 others unaccounted for.

Violent Crackdown Launched in Myanmar

Security forces in Myanmar opened fire Wednesday on demonstrators, and witnesses said police beat and dragged away dozens of Buddhist monks. The government said at least one person was killed, while dissident groups and media reported up to eight dead.

Protests Persist in Myanmar, Despite Arrests by Junta

A crackdown by the ruling military junta is failing to stop an apparently spontaneous wave of protests - triggered by a sharp increase in fuel prices, and sustained in part by photos and video transmitted over the Internet.

Myanmar refugees refuse to go home 15 years on

The 21,000 Rohingya refugees living in two camps run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Bangladeshi government are lucky compared to more recent arrivals from Myanmar who are homeless and live outdoors.

Don't Force Democracy in Burma

We incorrectly see Myanmar as a democracy transition problem, sort of a Velvet Revolution gone wrong. But it actually represents a post-conflict challenge, more like Afghanistan or the war-torn societies of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore incredibly complex.

Generals in the Jungle: Junta Withdraws as Burma Suffers

Good read. While Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, Burma's ruling junta is withdrawing to its new jungle capital and ravaging a country that should by all rights be one of Asia's wealthiest.

Asean gets tough with Burmese junta

After decades of turning a blind eye to the Burmese junta's authoritarian abuses, south-east Asian nations announced today that they could no longer defend the indefensible. "Asean now has reached a stage where it is not possible to defend its member when that member is not making an attempt to cooperate or help itself," Malaysia's foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, said in a speech at a conference of Asean legislators.

Myanmar minorities fear being dammed, and damned

The predominantly Christian Karen, who have been fighting for independence for more than 50 years, believe plans by Yangon's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta calls itself, to dam the Salween river are designed to destroy their jungle homeland and culture. "The dams are one of the weapons the SPDC is using to clear us out," said Nay Tha Blay, 33, of Karen Rivers Watch, a pressure group operating out of a bamboo hut in a secret valley in rebel-held territory near the Salween.

Burma extends Suu Kyi's detention

Ms Suu Kyi's latest period under house arrest expired on Saturday, raising hopes that she would be released. On Friday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appealed to the head of Burma's military junta to free Ms Suu Kyi. But within hours Burma said Ms Suu Kyi, 60, would remain in detention.

Tutu Presses Rice for U.N. Resolution on Burma

He wants a binding U.N. Security Council resolution calling on the Burmese military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners and halt a counterinsurgency campaign that is targeting civilians. "The secretary is very, very concerned about the situation in Burma. She said they really want to do all they can," Tutu said in an interview after the meeting. "The situation is deteriorating very, very greatly."