Voters in cyclone-hit areas of Burma overwhelmingly approved a constitution which critics say will perpetuate the military’s decades-old grip on power in the country, state radio said on Monday.
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The look on Lei Lei’s face is one of hopelessness.

She takes no notice of the school uniform that a private donor had left for her. Instead, the 12-year-old girl stares ahead at the vehicles passing back and forth along the highway. On her back, her sick sister coughs relentlessly. (more…)

While big international donors try to persuade Myanmar’s military rulers to open their doors wider to aid, small groups of volunteers are getting past army checkpoints to reach desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
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Yangon, Myanmar – Donor countries said they were ready to provide Myanmar with more than $100 million to help it recover from cyclone Nargis, but warned the ruling junta Sunday they will not fully open their wallets until they are provided access to the hardest-hit areas.
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Very few foreign aid workers have reached the Irrawaddy delta to help cyclone victims, two days after an agreement was made between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Burma’s head of state, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, to allow all aid workers access, said international aid groups.
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Yangon – The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) is trying to convince army-ruled Myanmar not to place at least 2,000 youngsters orphaned by this month’s cyclone into state-run homes, a senior official said on Monday.
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Cyclone Nargis hit Burma’s Panmawaddy Navy Base on Hainggyi Island at the mouth of the Bassein River, destroying military buildings and a reconnaissance station, according to navy sources.
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The Burmese regime on Sunday banned the prominent Swedish author and journalist Bertil Lintner from accompanying a Swedish government delegation to Rangoon.
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Nearly 70 % of the Burmese Embassy building in Bangkok including portions of the Ambassador’s office was burnt when a fire broke out on Monday morning, an embassy official said.
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A senior UN official says there are fragile signs that Burma’s co-operation with the international aid effort for victims of Cyclone Nargis is improving.
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The forced labour situation in Burma will be on the agenda at the International Labour Organisation’s annual conference in Geneva this week, an ILO official told DVB. (more…)

In military-ruled Burma, citizens must be prepared to spend years behind bars for discussing politically sensitive issues. For visiting dignitaries, the penalty is not quite as harsh, but the ban on talking politics is every bit as absolute.
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