It is nothing short of holding people to ransom. Without shelling out money to civil servants of the electric power department no electricity supply will be ensured to home and markets. This was stated by electricity department officials to Rangoon residents when they complained of lack of supply.
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A Burmese human rights activist says Burma’s military government continues to use rape as a weapon to subdue ethnic minorities. She urges Burma’s neighbors to put pressure on the military to stop sexual violence against women. Claudia Blume reports from Hong Kong.
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Indian financial services thwart junta sanctions

India’s financial support for Burma is growing even as Western sanctions seek to curtail the junta’s business activities.
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An outbreak of animal foot-and-mouth disease is spreading in townships affected by Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy delta and in Rangoon and Pegu divisions, according to sources in Rangoon.
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Teknaf, Bangladesh: Diarrhea has afflicted over 150 Burmese refugees in the makeshift camp in Dum Dum Mea since June 21. It killed two children in the makeshift camp till June 26, said a Majee (shed leader) from the camp.
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The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, said on Thursday that the alarming increase in opium production in Afghanistan and Burma in 2007 is posing a serious threat to the progress made in drug control over the past several years.
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The impact of cyclone Nargis on Myanmar may not be as dire as initial assessments, but its ruling junta will still need to be coaxed into keeping vital aid flowing in, the ASEAN secretary general said on Friday.
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In the 20 years since Aung San Suu Kyi first emerged as the leader of Burma’s pro-democracy movement, she has inspired admiration in people around the world. She has also captured the imagination of artists, filmmakers and songwriters, making her not only a political but also a cultural icon.
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The Group of Eight wealthy nations put pressure on Myanmar to let in more foreign relief workers after a devastating cyclone last month, after accusations it had obstructed aid, a Japanese official said on Thursday.
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A European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma has been formed to raise awareness about Burma in Europe and pressure European governments to do more to bring about democratic transition.
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There have been persistent but unconfirmed reports that Gen Thura Shwe Mann, 60, will take over the powerful position of commander in chief in the near future. (more…)

A Myanmar editor has been arrested and his magazine closed after he travelled to the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta to help bury people killed in the storm, media rights watchdogs said Thursday.
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Burmese survivors of cyc­lone Nargis are trying to rebuild their battered lives but their situation remains precarious, with many families struggling to get enough to eat each day, according to a new international study.
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Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Burma.
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The Myanmar authorities have stressed the prompt repair of remaining cyclone-ravaged jetties in Yangon to ensure speedy and normal inflow of commodities from other parts of the country, the official newspaper New light of Myanmar reported Thursday.
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Thousands of villagers in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta townships of Bogalay and Laputta are being told by local authorities to relocate to new sites, according to local residents in both regions.
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The military regime in Burma has removed a speech and writings by the late independence hero general Aung San and peace architect Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing from this year’s basic high school curriculum.
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The Burmese military junta has claimed that its drug eradication campaign has brought about a drastic decline in opium cultivation in the country. It has decreased from 140,000 hectares to 27,700 hectares within a decade.
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Bangladesh urged Myanmar on Thursday to lease it farm land near the border for rice cultivation to meet its growing food demand, an official said.
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US President George W Bush, in a meeting with the ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, discussed the Burmese junta, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the political stalemate on the restoration of democracy in the country.
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