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From the Editor:

Many photos have been circulating around the internet depicting the damage and destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis. While many of these images are from reputable sources such as the Democratic Voice of Burma and the Associated Press, others in fact cannot be verified as having truly been taken from the Irrawaddy delta region. Shockingly gruesome photos of victims of the Asian tsunami of 2004 are circulating and being passed off as Burmese cyclone victims. This could have serious consequences, compounding the difficulty of the already complicated efforts to coax the Burmese regime to let in aid and aid workers. Therefore, we encourage you to be vigilant and practice caution when attributing anonymous photos about Cyclone Nargis. Be sure to examine the photo accreditation in order to ensure that the images you are viewing have come from a trusted source. If in doubt, don’t send it.

Regards,

Burmanet Editor

The Red Cross says the death toll in Burma’s cyclone may be between 68,833 and 127,990. (more…)

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has condemned the Burmese military government’s plan to go ahead with the constitutional referendum on May 24 in the devastated areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. (more…)

Burma’s military government is hindering and even blocking local people from sending aid to the victims of cyclone Nargis, adding to the frustration and anger sweeping the nation. (more…)

Cyclone survivors in a Rangoon suburb have been ordered out of a temporary shelter so that it can be used as a polling station on May 24. (more…)

Burma’s junta has tightened access to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis, despite pleas to allow in foreign aid workers. (more…)

Four abbots from Maha Gandaryon monastery in Mandalay arrived in Rangoon today with two vanloads of aid to help victims living in cyclone-devastated Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions. (more…)

Cyclone-battered Myanmar faces prolonged food shortages if farmers are not able to return to their fields in the next 90 days and start planting their next rice crop ahead of monsoon rains, a U.N. food agency warned Wednesday. (more…)

Thailand said today that Myanmar’s ruling junta, which has been criticised for refusing foreign assistance in the aftermath of a cyclone, would allow 30 of its doctors to go and help victims. (more…)

Activists say the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must be more proactive in urging Burma’s military government to open up to humanitarian relief efforts or face the consequences of a natural and man-made humanitarian disaster. (more…)

Burma’s junta has approved aid personnel from Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand to help its relief efforts for victims of Cyclone Nargis, while still delaying granting visas to many non-Asian experts, a United Nations official said on Wednesday. (more…)

The European Union’s top aid official will try to see first hand the extent of damage from Cyclone Nargis while discussing the matter of access to the region for international relief workers. (more…)

A United Nations official has said that the aid situation has improved in Burma, but ongoing government restrictions mean the UN is still unable to mount a full-scale relief effort. (more…)

Somewhere from 1 to 2 million people are homeless in Burma today. The devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis was exacerbated by poor planning and inadequate warning by the Burmese military government. (more…)

We cannot allow politics to obstruct the delivery of assistance that can prevent this grave humanitarian situation from getting worse,” said US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton yesterday. (more…)

After Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar, killing tens of thousands of people, the world rushed to offer help. Most governments would be grateful. Not this one. A week and a half later, the country’s ruling generals are still blocking large-scale foreign aid. That negligence could lead to the death of tens of thousands more. (more…)

As the full extent of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis dawns, it is clear that Myanmar’s military junta has earned one more black mark in its egregious record of rule. United Nations officials reveal that the response of the country’s long-reigning tyrants to offers of humanitarian aid has been typically suspicious and opaque, even though the scale of the disaster is massive (approximately 100,000 casualties and more than 1 million displaced persons). (more…)

Reuters

BBC News

New York Times

Mizzima News

Times of London

http://donate.ifrc.org

www.uscampaignforburma.org/cyclone-nargis-devistates-burma

www.worldvision.org

www.mercycorps.org

http://www.avaaz.org

Yangon, Myanmar - Police barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in hard-hit areas Tuesday, while emergency food shipments backed up at the main airport for Myanmar’s biggest city. (more…)

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