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Article
/ 25 May 2008

Burma monks, priests beat controls to give aid

While big international donors try to persuade Burma’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. Among them were Catholics and Buddhists seeking to fulfil a charitable mission under extreme circumstances three weeks after the devastating storm left 2,5-million people destitute.

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Article
/ 23 May 2008

Iran calls for uranium enrichment on its soil

The Iranian government has proposed the creation of an international consortium to enrich uranium on its own soil as a way of defusing the tense stand-off over its nuclear programme. The proposal is part of a ”new and comprehensive initiative” put forward by Iran ahead of a planned visit to Tehran by Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief.

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Article
/ 23 May 2008

Ban: Burma agrees to allow in ‘all’ aid workers

In 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.

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Article
/ 23 May 2008

Impassive Burma junta chief greets UN’s Ban

With 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.

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Article
/ 22 May 2008

UN chief presses case in Burma for more aid

United 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 -billion.

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Article
/ 21 May 2008

Ban heads for Asia on Burma aid mission

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon headed to south-east Asia on Wednesday on a mission to secure more help for cyclone victims in Burma, whose military rulers have finally granted an aid agency the use of helicopters to deliver supplies. The UN says up to 2,4-million people are struggling to survive.

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Article
/ 20 May 2008

Asian aid to reach Burma cyclone victims

Burma’s neighbours appeared to have reached a compromise with the regime on Monday that would finally allow significant amounts of international aid to reach the survivors of the deadly cyclone, more than two weeks after it struck. An Asian-led task force will be formed to help funnel relief into the isolated country.

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Article
/ 18 May 2008

Pressure mounts on Burma to open up to aid

Aid was trickling in on Sunday to an estimated 2,5-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis in Burma’s Irrawaddy delta as more foreign envoys tried to get the junta to admit large-scale international relief. The junta’s official toll from the disaster stands at 77 738 dead and 55 917 missing.

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Article
/ 15 May 2008

Foreign powers lean on Burma to open up aid drive

Western 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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Article
/ 14 May 2008

Burma tightens access to disaster zone

Burma tightened access to its cyclone disaster zone on Wednesday, turning back foreigners and ignoring pleas to accept outside experts who could save countless lives before time runs out. A top European Union humanitarian official said there was now a risk of famine, after the storm destroyed rice stocks in a main farming region.

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Article
/ 12 May 2008

Gaza ‘a disaster for everybody’

Gaza’s population has been reduced to a ”subhuman existence” where basic humanitarian needs are going unmet in the face of rapidly deteriorating conditions, according to a senior United Nations official. An Israeli economic blockade on the Gaza Strip has produced shortages of fuel and basic supplies and has closed most private businesses and pushed up poverty rates.

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Article
/ 10 May 2008

Burma holds referendum amid cyclone chaos

The military rulers of Burma went ahead with a constitutional referendum on Saturday despite calls from the outside world to postpone it after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.The plebiscite was postponed by two weeks in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy Delta and the city of Rangoon, but voting went ahead in other parts of the country.

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Article
/ 9 May 2008

Mbeki in Zim to discuss disputed poll

Regional mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday for talks on the country’s disputed elections ahead of a possible run-off that has raised concerns of further violence. The South African leader’s ”quiet diplomacy” approach towards the crisis in Zimbabwe has triggered criticism at home and abroad.

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Article
/ 8 May 2008

Pressure mounts on Zim amid violence

Pressure mounted on the Zimbabwe government on Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were instilling terror in communities in the countryside. Meanwhile, there was still no word on when a second round should take place.

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Africa
/ 7 May 2008

Zim parties challenge results

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have contested half the results of the March 29 parliamentary election, state media said on Wednesday, extending a stalemate that has triggered widespread violence.

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Africa
/ 2 May 2008

Zim announces election run-off

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader defeated President Robert Mugabe in the presidential election but faces a run-off vote after he failed to win an outright majority, the electoral body said on Friday. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47,9% of the vote on March 29 and Mugabe took 43,2%, said the chief elections officer.

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Article
/ 2 May 2008

Israel urged to end blockade of Gaza as talks begin

Israel will be urged on Friday to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip to avert a humanitarian disaster as the Middle East ”quartet” meets to consider the state of the faltering peace process. Oxfam and five other United Kingdom aid agencies are calling for the quartet to end its ”complacency” by putting the ”highest diplomatic pressure” on Israel.

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Africa
/ 30 April 2008

Zimbabwe gloats over UN stalemate

The Zimbabwe government savoured a rare diplomatic victory on Wednesday after the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on how to respond to the country’s post-election crisis. Western countries such as former colonial power Britain had been trying to steer the council to adopt a common strategy on the situation in Zimbabwe.

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Article
/ 29 April 2008

Security Council takes up Zimbabwe vote

France’s United Nations ambassador called on Zimbabwe authorities on Tuesday to publish and accept the results of elections there as the Security Council met for its first session on the Zimbabwe crisis. Diplomats have said South Africa, which currently holds the Security Council presidency, was reluctant to have it take up the issue of Zimbabwe.

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Article
/ 29 April 2008

UN pledges action on world food crisis

United Nations agencies and the World Bank pledged urgent action on Tuesday to tackle an unprecedented rise in global food prices that is hurting developing countries. The international bodies called on countries not to restrict exports of food to secure supplies at home, warning that could only make the problem worse.

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Article
/ 23 April 2008

Burundi rebels shell capital

Burundian rebels fired a dozen shells at the capital, Bujumbura, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, hitting the residence of the Vatican’s ambassador, an army spokesperson said. The attack by the National Liberation Forces came the day after the Burundian military bombed rebel strongholds north of the capital.

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Article
/ 22 April 2008

UN: High food prices unleash silent tsunami

A ”silent tsunami” unleashed by costlier food threatens 100-million people, the United Nations said on Tuesday, but views differed as to how to stop it. The Asian Development Bank said there was enough food to go round, and the key was to help the poor afford it. It said Asian governments that have curbed food exports were overreacting.

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