Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he had requested talks
with senior Myanmar general Than Shwe over a humanitarian crisis in the
country but nothing had been scheduled.
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The Secretary-General, deeply concerned about the welfare of the people of Myanmar at this time of national tragedy, has taken note of the Government’s decision to proceed with the constitutional referendum on 10 May, while postponing it in some of the areas most affected by the cyclone. (more…)

What is it with the Burmese generals and their sense of priority?  Even when the death toll from Cyclone Nargis is now over 22,000 people and more than 40,000 people are missing and a million left homeless and starving, they still had the gall to delay the visas of officials from international agencies who are visiting Burma to help. (more…)

(An Irrawaddy correspondent has returned from the delta area after interviewing military officers, government officials, medical personnel and survivors of Cyclone Nargis.)

An army major with the Irrawaddy Division military headquarters who asked not to be identified said on Wednesday more than 600 villages are submerged in the Irrawaddy delta along Cyclone Nargis’ deadly path. (more…)

The roof of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house was blown off in the cyclone over the weekend, and she is living without electricity, a neighbor said on Thursday.
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YANGON, Myanmar — Five days after the powerful cyclone struck, this city, Myanmar’s commercial capital and until Saturday a verdant oasis of wide avenues, is far from back to normal.
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Nearly half of the number of dead and missing in Burma following cyclone Nargis are likely to be children, according to Save the Children officials in Burma.
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As Burma deals with the pain of one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in recent history, one face is conspicuous by its absence— that of commander in chief of the Burmese armed forces and chairman of the ruling SPDC, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
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BURMA’S tyrant leader is spending just £ 2.5million to help save his people from cyclone hell - after lavishing TEN times that on his daughter’s wedding.
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After the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, communication with people inside Burma has been sporadic and extremely difficult.
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Myanmar’s badly conceived agricultural policies are compounding the country’s already dire food situation.
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China Thursday urged Myanmar to cooperate with the international community as the isolated Southeast Asian country signalled reluctance to let in foreign aid after a devastating cyclone.
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The London branch of the International Burmese Monks’ Assocication, or Sasana Moli, promised yesterday to provide assistance to disaster victims in cyclone-ravaged regions of Burma.
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United Nations officials urged the Burmese government to relax—if not wave altogether—visa and custom requirements, which are preventing aid workers and humanitarian supplies from reaching the survivors of the cyclone that devastated the delta region five days ago.
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Rice on Wednesday urged cyclone-hit Myanmar to admit international disaster relief, saying it was a humanitarian crisis rather than a political issue.
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The foreign ministers of France and Britain are urging Myanmar’s military leaders to let foreign aid into the country after its devastating cyclone.
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The United States is considering air-dropping food aid and other relief supplies to victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma, even if the closed regime resists, a U.S. official said Thursday.
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As a major humanitarian crisis in Burma unfolds and the death tool reaches 100,000, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Burmese military government is not doing enough to save lives.
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On May 10 most of the people of Burma will go to the polls in a referendum on a new constitution. This constitution aims to cement in place a regime (now styled the ‘State Peace and Development Council,’ or SPDC) that has impoverished this once prosperous land. (more…)

Many people, including this correspondent, were shocked with the state media’s announcement that the death toll of cyclone Nargis had reached 4,000 on Sunday.
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