Burma Update: May 8, 2008

Highlight

UN: Secretary-General Urges Myanmar Government to Ease Arrival of Aid Workers
ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus: Open Letter to ASEAN Leaders with Regards to Disaster in Myanmar and Military Junta’s Planned Constitutional Referendum

News from Burmese Media

Narinjara News: Arakanese Singers Forced to Sing for Referendum Amidst Tragedy
Narinjara News: Readymade Ballots Distributed Before Referendum
Shan Herald Agency for News: Vote "No" Posters Displayed in Shan State
Shan Herald Agency for News: Time for Burmese Junta to Repent
Shan Herald Agency for News: Mandalay - Taungyi Buses Robbed
Kachin News Group: Christian Pastors to Vote in Referendum
The Irrawaddy: 'Eighty Thousand People Dead’; Cholera Cases Reported
The Irrawaddy: Forty Percent of Children in Cyclone May be Dead, Missing
The Irrawaddy: Aid Finally Arrives
The Irrawaddy: India, Thailand Warned Burma of Approaching Cyclone
The Irrawaddy: ‘We are being Prevented from Talking about Burma at UNSC’: French Ambassador
The Irrawaddy: Thousands Dead, Than Shwe in Hiding
The Irrawaddy: Burma Backtracks on US aid Flight
The Irrawaddy: UN Frustrated over Visa, Custom Delays

News from Regional/International Media

UN News Centre: UN Calls on Myanmar to Facilitate Aid Delivery to Cyclone Victims
BBC News: UN Aid Flights to Burma Under Way
CNN Asia: U.S. Envoy: Myanmar Deaths May Top 100,000
The Nation: 'They Have Nothing to Eat'
The New York Times: Myanmar’s Biggest City Still Paralyzed After 5 Days
Bangkok Post: UNHCR Hopes to Deliver Burma Aid Saturday
Monsters and Critics: UNICEF Launches Appeal for 8.2 Million Dollars for Myanmar
International Herald Tribune: France, Britain Urge Myanmar to Lift Restrictions on Cyclone Aid
Xinhua Online: East Asia Summit Senior Officials Stress Readiness to Help Myanmar
The Jakarta Post: ASEAN Urges World to Keep Sending Aid to Myanmar through Thailand
Al Jazeera: Myanmar: Lessons from Aceh
Softpedia: Microsoft Offers Support for Cyclone Victims in Myanmar
Yahoo News: China Urges Myanmar to Work with Intl Community on Aid
Hindustan Times: Myanmar must Open Up 'Before It's Too Late': ASEAN Chief
Terranet: Health Experts Warn of Looming Crisis after Myanmar Cyclone

Opinion/Other

Shan Herald Agency for News: The Tragic Situation in Burma - Sai Awn Tai
The Irrawaddy: Humanitarian Intervention Needed [Editorial]
The Irrawaddy: How the Regime Hides Its Billions - Sean Turnell
The Irrawaddy: A Cyclone Diary - Kyi Wai
BBC News: Getting the Boot from Burma - Andrew Harding
The Nation: Mixed Signals from Burma over Disaster - Htet Aung Kyaw
UPI Asia Online: Where are Burma's Neighbors? - Awzar Thi
Relief Web: Cyclone Unlikely to Spell Disaster for Myanmar Junta [Analysis] - Ed Cropley
Inter Press Service: Junta Gives Referendum Priority over Cyclone Relief - Larry Jagan
The Korea Times: Tragedy in Myanmar - Dale McFeatters

Statement/Press Release

The Burma Campaign UK: Burma Regime Must Be Forced to Allow In Aid
Burma Rivers Network: Nature's Wake-up Call to Burma
National League for Democracy: Special Statement 9/05/08
Relief Web: COHRE Statement on Burma
Asian Human Rights Commission: Philippines: Burma's Tragedy Requires More than a Team

Report/Briefer

UNIC Yangon: Press Conference on Myanmar Humanitarian Relief
UNIC Yangon: Cyclone Nargis OCHA Situation Report No. 4
Network Myanmar: After Cyclone Nargis : The Politics of Humanitarian Relief - Nicky Black

Interview

Mizzima News: NLD Party Worker Beaten to Death During Interrogation - Phanida
Spiegel Online: 'Aid Work in Burma Is Extraordinarily Difficult'