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New York Times
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May 31, 08 10:50 AM CDT
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In the wake of Burma’s cyclone, Buddhist monks have become the only source of comfort—both “material” and “spiritual”—for many thousands of homeless and destitute who have been abandoned by the government, the New York Times reports. “Monks are like parents to us. The government wants us to shut up, but monks listen to us,” says one cyclone survivor.
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Times (UK)
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May 27, 08 4:48 PM CDT
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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 the road, destitution, sickness and homelessness are everywhere.
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Guardian (UK)
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May 27, 08 8:13 AM CDT
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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 10-minute official visit to her Rangoon home this morning.
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Guardian (UK)
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May 21, 08 2:47 PM CDT
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The leaders of the Burmese junta don’t want you to think about the victims of Cyclone Nargis, writes Tom Jenkins for the Guardian , and the world and the media are only too happy to oblige. The Chinese government’s heroics in Asia's other natural disaster focuses attention on victims receiving help, while the Burmese who desperately need outside intervention die off-camera.
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Associated Press
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May 15, 08 7:22 AM CDT
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Burmese voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution legitimizing military rule, the junta announced to widespread skepticism today. The vote held Saturday did not include two cyclone-ravaged areas where aid to victims is still largely being blocked by the government, but state media said those votes couldn't change the outcome. Turnout elsewhere was pegged at 99%, with 92.4% voting yes.
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Reuters
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May 14, 08 8:04 PM CDT
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The UN today nearly doubled its estimate of the number of people "severely affected" by the cyclone in Burma to up to 2.5 million and said they were in dire need of immediate aid, Reuters reports. The frustrated UN chief urged the creation of a "high-level pledging conference" of donor nations and said it was sending a top diplomat to meet with Burmese leaders to try to convince them to allow in more aid and relief workers.
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Wall Street Journal
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May 14, 08 5:21 AM CDT
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Thailand and the United Nations are working to open a land route from northern Thailand into Burma to get desperately needed help to cyclone survivors, reports the Wall Street Journal . The frantic efforts to deliver aid quickly have been stepped up as the UN's weather center is warning that another tropical storm is developing near Burma and could develop into a full-fledged cyclone within 24 hours.
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Associated Press
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May 13, 08 1:45 PM CDT
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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 switch hotels frequently, as police seek to root them out.
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BBC
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May 13, 08 6:47 AM CDT
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Two more American relief planes were scheduled to take off for Burma today, but the nation's military junta came in for another UN pounding for refusing to allow more desperately needed supplies to cyclone-stricken regions. "We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today's current crisis," said Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
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Washington Post
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May 12, 08 3:46 PM CDT
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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 supplies to sell at public markets.
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BBC
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May 12, 08 12:03 PM CDT
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After days of negotiating, a US aid flight landed today in Rangoon, the BBC reports. It’s the latest sign Burma’s military junta might be relaxing its restrictions on foreign aid—a French charity’s plane also touched down—but relief workers still aren’t allowed in to distribute the goods. The US has offered the help of 11,000 servicemen; that, too, has been declined.
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Reuters
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May 12, 08 4:30 AM CDT
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The first US aircraft laden with relief supplies for Burmese cyclone survivors was finally allowed to take off from Vietman today, Reuters reports. Desperately needed international aid has largely been blocked by Burma's military junta. American officials hope the flight, carrying water, blankets, and mosquito nets, will be the first of several others now that today's help was approved. “This is Burma's hour of need and the need is urgent,” said an official.
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CNN
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May 11, 08 12:00 PM CDT
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A Red Cross aid boat delivering desperately needed supplies to the survivors of Cyclone Nargis hit a submerged tree and sank in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta today, reports CNN. All those on board survived, but the 500 bags of rice, 5,000 liters of drinking water, and other critical cargo were all lost.
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Reuters
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May 9, 08 10:59 AM CDT
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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 food that was flown in today and not released to WFP," said WFP’s communications director.
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CNN
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May 9, 08 8:06 AM CDT
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An enraged UN has shut off all further cyclone aid to Burma after its military junta seized two planes carrying a massive food shipment, CNN reports. “This is another example of them actively getting in the way of relief getting to the victims,” said the UN's Asia World Food Program director. The junta has also frustrated the UN by refusing to let aid workers enter the country.
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Washington Post
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May 9, 08 4:52 AM CDT
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Emergency supplies for some 1.5 million Burmese desperately in need of help are ready to be flown into the cyclone-stricken regions—but the military junta is still blocking delivery. Only two UN planes have been allowed to land in Burma. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tried unsuccessfully to telephone Burma's top general to make a personal appeal to allow more relief supplies to get through, reports the Washington Post .
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Reuters
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May 8, 08 4:02 PM CDT
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Officials the world over are expressing dismay at Burma's apparent disinterest in swift international aid to victims of the devastating cyclone that has 1 million homeless and perhaps more than 100,000 dead, Reuters reports. The US ambassador to the UN said today he was “outraged by the slowness of the response of the government of Burma to welcome and accept assistance.”
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Associated Press
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May 8, 08 5:33 AM CDT