military junta

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Burma Rips 'Chocolate Bar' Aid; US Ships Threaten to Sail

Junta rails on stingy pace of int'l donations

(Newser) - Burma's military junta ripped international cyclone relief efforts today, slamming demands for access to the disaster zone and proclaiming "The people from Irrawaddy can survive without chocolate bars donated by foreign countries," Reuters reports. The slam comes a day after a US admiral threatened to yank warships from...

Canadians Bully Burmese Junta With... Panties?

Women mail skivvies to embassy to spook superstitious tyrants

(Newser) - When international pressure fails, try… underwear? Canadian women think they can change the Myanmar junta’s ways by mailing a steady stream of panties to the Myanmar embassy in Ottawa, Sify reports. The military dictators apparently harbor a superstitious fear that touching a woman’s undergarment will “rob them...

Burma Relief Effort Belies Need
 Burma Relief Effort Belies Need 
May 27, 2008 4:48 PM CDT

Burma Relief Effort Belies Need

Junta props up success stories but ignores thousands out of spotlight

(Newser) - Burma's junta would have one believe it's got the situation under control in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, and even has a test-case diorama as evidence for foreign envoys, the Times of London reports. Sinkan refugee camp hosts 180 well-fed, healthy inhabitants in clean blue tents—while 10 minutes down...

Burma Junta: No Freedom for Opposition Leader

Aung San Suu Kyi detention extended

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize-winning leader of the Burmese opposition will spend another year under house arrest, the country's military government announced today. Hopes that international pressure, along with the national crisis in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, might lead the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi were dashed by a...

Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid
 Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid 
May 23, 2008 5:34 AM CDT

Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid

Junta drops opposition to aid workers entering country

(Newser) - Burma has agreed to let international disaster relief workers into the country to help with the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Bloomberg reports. The junta's about-face came after  UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who flew in yesterday, met the nation's  reclusive military leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. The UN hopes to ramp...

World Bank Nixes Loan to Burmese Junta

Military government 'in arrears' on earlier debts; aid still scarce

(Newser) - As Burma looks for loans to cover an estimated for $10 billion worth of damage from Cyclone Nargis, the World Bank won't be among the lenders, the Telegraph reports. The junta has been in debt to the bank for more than a decade, and the bank is legally barred from...

Burmese Buy Up Black-Market Cyclone Videos

People want 'to see what's happening,' says vendor

(Newser) - Black-market videos of floating bodies, famished survivors, and cyclone-ravaged villages have become best-sellers in Burma, AP reports. The tapes are illegal because the nation's military junta wants to hide the extent of the devastation. "People buy them because they are interested in seeing what happened out there," said...

Burma Relents on Foreign Docs, Aid Workers

But only from ASEAN member nations

(Newser) - Two and a half weeks after cyclone Nargis hit, Burma finally agreed today to allow foreign medics and disaster experts into the battered country, reports the BBC—but only from ASEAN member nations. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon also plans to jet to Burma on Wednesday to bring additional pressure to...

133K Dead, Missing: Junta
 133K Dead, Missing: Junta 
May 16, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

133K Dead, Missing: Junta

Military admits full impact of storm

(Newser) - Nearly 78,000 are confirmed dead and another 56,000 missing in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, Reuters reports. Torrential rains continued to pound Burma today, complicating rescue efforts. The EU’s chief aid official met with military leaders to press for increasing foreign rescue workers' involvement, but he met...

Junta Hinders Cyclone Coverage

Foreign journalists must hide to do their jobs

(Newser) - Journalists trying to cover the cyclone’s devastation in Burma find themselves obstructed and under surveillance by the military junta, the AP reports. The majority of foreign journalists, like aid workers, have simply been denied entry. Those inside must disguise themselves as tourists, watch out for government phone taps, and...

As US, Burma Talk, Volunteers Say Junta Is Selling Aid

American troops stand ready to help relief

(Newser) - A US admiral met with Burma's military command today in continued attempts to persuade the government to allow US servicemen into the country to assist in relief efforts, the Washington Post reports. Meanwhile, a Burmese volunteer operating his own supply effort tells the Daily Telegraph that government officials are commandeering...

UN Resumes Food Aid to Burma
 UN Resumes Food Aid to Burma 
UPDATED
May 9, 2008 10:59 AM CDT

UN Resumes Food Aid to Burma

Agency bristles at junta's intervention

(Newser) - The UN World Food Program reversed its decision to cut off food shipments to cyclone-stricken Burma, Reuters reports. The WFP had stopped the flow of aid this morning after the junta confiscated a two-plane food shipment. Nonetheless, "discussions continue with the government of Myanmar on the distribution of the...

100,000 Burmese Now Feared Dead

Tally doesn't include prisoners Burmese junta might have shot after storm hit

(Newser) - The death toll from Burma's catastrophic cyclone could reach 100,000, a US diplomat said today. That's almost five times what the nation's government had estimated, CNN reports—and aid workers are still waiting in Thailand, to be allowed into the country to help the estimated million hungry and homeless...

Bush to Junta: Let the US Help
 Bush to Junta: Let the US Help 
May 6, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Bush to Junta: Let the US Help

President signs act awarding Congressional Gold Medal to Suu Kyi

(Newser) - President Bush today expressed “heartfelt sympathy” to the victims of the Myanmar cyclone and called on the ruling junta to allow the US to offer more help, the Voice of America reports. The government has accepted $250,000 of US aid but balked at letting US Navy rescue teams...

Argentina Baby Snatch Witness Dies in Trial

Possibly killed before could talk about Dirty War disappearances

(Newser) - Days before he was to testify about the Dirty War disappearance of twins born to a political prisoner, a former Argentine army officer has been found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, the BBC reports. Police don't know if Paul Navone committed suicide but human rights groups think...

Burma Frees Thousands in Nod to United Nations

Amnesty frees over 8,500, though uncertain if they include protesters

(Newser) - Burma's military junta has freed 8,585 prisoners but it's not clear if any of those arrested in September's crackdown are among them, AP reports. Burmese state media said the amnesty was to mark progress on drafting a new constitution, and a gesture to the United Nations. Similar amnesties in...

Burma Protests a 'Success,' Says Buddhist Leader

Famed anti-Vietnam agitator supports monks on US tour

(Newser) - Revered Buddhist spokesman Thich Nhat Hanh, famed for enlisting Martin Luther King's help against the Vietnam War, is supporting his spiritual brethren in Burma on a US tour. The monks' struggle against Burma is "already a success," he told Time, "because if monks are imprisoned or have...

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