THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2012 16:25 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2012 16:25 |
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Aid groups to press Burma on evictions, red tapeForeign aid groups pressed Burma on Tuesday to stop closing cyclone relief camps as international experts kicked off a mission to pin down the scale of the devastation a month after the storm. Cyclone Nargis is officially thought to have left 134 000 people dead or missing and 2,4-million destitute. Burma junta unmoved, extends Suu Kyi arrestBurma's junta extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, a move likely to dismay Western nations who promised millions of dollars in aid after Cyclone Nargis. Officials drove to the Nobel laureate's lakeside Rangoon home to read out a six-month extension order in person. Ban: Burma agrees to allow in 'all' aid workersIn an apparent breakthrough for delivering help to millions of Burma's cyclone survivors, the military government agreed to allow in "all" aid workers, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. The UN Secretary General met junta supremo Than Shwe in his remote new capital of Naypyidaw for more than two hours to ask him to permit more foreign expertise. Impassive Burma junta chief greets UN's BanWith an impassive handshake, BUrma junta supremo Than Shwe greeted Ban Ki-moon in his remote new capital on Friday at the apex of a high-stakes aid mission by the United Nations chief for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The 75-year-old Senior General's stony-faced silence gave no clues as to whether he would overcome his deep suspicions of the outside world. UN chief presses case in Burma for more aidUnited Nations chief Ban Ki-moon flew to Burma on Thursday to press the ruling generals to allow a full-blown international aid effort for 2,4-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The government's official toll is 77 738 people killed and 55 917 missing, and it also estimates the damage to the economy at $10-billion. Foreign powers lean on Burma to open up aid driveWestern powers kept up the pressure on Burma's generals on Thursday to allow a massive aid effort as relief workers struggled to help an estimated 2,5-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The European Union's top aid official has warned that the military government's restrictions on foreign aid workers were increasing the risk of starvation. |
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