Weekly Digest HRW

Egypt: Investigate Forcible Return of Refugees to Sudan
Deported Men and Boys May Face Persecution in Sudan
(New York, May 30, 2008) – Egyptian authorities should investigate the forced return to Sudan of at least 11 Sudanese who were officially recognized as refugees and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. The forcible return (refoulement) of people to a country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution constitutes a breach of Egypt’s basic obligation under international refugee law.Read more
Egypt: Court Upholds HIV Sentences, Reinforces Intolerance
Five Convictions in Fear-Driven Crackdown a Blow to Health and Justice
(Cairo, May 29, 2008) – A Cairo appeals court’s decision to uphold the sentences imposed on five men jailed in a crackdown on people living with HIV/AIDS underscores the Egyptian government’s dangerous indifference to public health and justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The May 28 ruling upheld the maximum three-year prison terms for each of the five, following a months-long campaign targeting men with HIV/AIDS. A total of nine men have been sentenced to prison so far. Read more
Libya: Disappeared Political Prisoner Released
Twelve Others Remain in Detention, One Missing
(New York, May 29, 2008) – The Libyan government’s release on May 27 of political prisoner Jum`a Boufayed, whose whereabouts were unknown for 15 months, is a welcome step, Human Rights Watch said today.Read more
China: Rights Lawyers Face Disbarment Threats
Intimidation Overshadows Reforms to Law on Lawyers
(New York, May 30, 2008) – Two prominent Chinese lawyers who offered to represent Tibetans face the loss of their professional licenses as part of a recent drive to threaten lawyers and law firms, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s unprecedented efforts to intimidate firms into refusing politically sensitive cases reflects the vulnerability of the legal profession, and overshadows the June 1, 2008, enactment of revisions to the Law on Lawyers, which is supposed to establish new procedural protections for lawyers.Read more
Burma: End All Conditions on Aid
Poor Disaster Response Reflects Government Political Oppression
(New York, May 29, 2008) – Despite welcome and improved access to the Irrawaddy Delta area affected by Cyclone Nargis, the Burmese military government is still using red tape to obstruct some relief efforts when it should accept all aid immediately and unconditionally, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s response to the humanitarian disaster as primarily a national security matter shows political oppression taking priority over the needs of the people.Read more
Burundi: Release Civilians Detained Without Charge
Stop Arbitrary Arrests, Beatings of Alleged FNL Members
(Bujumbura, May 30, 2008) – Burundian police and judicial officials should immediately release the scores of persons still detained solely as suspected members of a movement long opposed to the government, Human Rights Watch said today. They should also instruct security forces to cease such arrests.Read more
Sierra Leone: War Crimes Ruling Bolsters Victim Protection
Reason for Fighting Cannot Reduce Penalties
(New York, May 28, 2008) – The decision by Sierra Leone’s war crimes court to reject sentence reductions for two convicted militia members because they fought for a “legitimate cause” is crucial in ensuring justice for all victims of human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.Read more
Egypt: Extending State of Emergency Violates Rights
Repressive Law Renewed in Place of Promised Reforms
(New York, May 28, 2008) – The Egyptian government’s abrupt extension by two years of the country’s decades-old state of emergency shows contempt for the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today. Parliament rushed through the extension on May 26 with little debate and despite vociferous objections from the opposition and rights groups.Read more
UN: Africa Trip Should Focus on Human Rights
Protection of Civilians Necessary for Lasting Peace
(New York, May 28, 2008) – The United Nations Security Council should address protection of civilians, justice, and human rights during its upcoming visit to Africa from June 1-10, 2008, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the council. Human Rights Watch highlighted critical issues that needed to be addressed at each of the stops on the council’s tour.Read more
UN: Take Action Against Rape in War
Security Council Can Correct Historic Inaction on Sexual Violence
(New York, May 27, 2008) – The United Nations Security Council has a unique opportunity to correct its historic failure to address sexual violence against women and girls in conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 27, 2008, John Holmes, UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, is to address the council on the protection of civilians in conflict, and is expected to call for more consistent and better coordinated action to prevent sexual violence.Read more
Egypt: Satellite Company Punished for Protest Footage
CNC Linked to Broadcast of Anti-Government Demonstrations
(New York, May 24, 2008) – Egyptian authorities have enforced media licensing laws to punish a company associated with broadcasting information critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said today. Read more
Nepal: Urgent Need to Restore Rule of Law
Failure to Punish Those Responsible for Attacks and Killings Fuels Impunity
(New York, May 23, 2008) – The government’s failure to bring to justice armed groups and security forces responsible for a string of recent violent acts in Nepal does nothing to prevent further bloodshed, Human Rights Watch said today. After a decade of armed conflict in which both Maoists and security forces conducted abductions, torture, and killings with impunity, such lawless behavior has become the norm.Read more
Angola: Resume Negotiations with UN Rights Body
Government Seeks to Avoid Scrutiny Before Elections
(New York, May 25, 2008) – As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Angola should reconsider its March 2008 order that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Angola cease activities by the end of May 2008, Human Rights Watch said today.Read more
South Africa: Punish Attackers in Xenophobic Violence
Government Should Protect Victims to Ensure Justice
(Johannesburg, May 23, 2008) – The government should ensure that victims of xenophobic violence remain in South Africa to participate in bringing their attackers to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. Read more

Cluster Bomb Treaty Breaks New Ground

A six year-old in Laos lost his left eye in 2005 when he found a cluster bomb left from the Vietnam War. © 2005 Andrew McConnell/WpN.
Cluster Bomb Treaty Breaks New Ground
The Treaty Immediately Bans All Types of Cluster Munitions.
(Dublin, May 30, 2008) – The new cluster munitions treaty adopted in Dublin on May 30, 2008, will save thousands of lives for decades to come, with key treaty provisions stronger than even some of its staunchest supporters had expected, Human Rights Watch said today.Read more
US: Defeat at Clusters Parley
US Won Some Concessions on the Issue of “Interoperability”
(Dublin, May 28, 2008) – US efforts to undermine a new treaty banning cluster munitions met with significant defeat today at the final negotiations in Dublin, Human Rights Watch said.Read more

Cluster Bomb Treaty Breaks New Ground
(Dublin, May 30, 2008) – The new cluster munitions treaty adopted in Dublin on May 30, 2008, will save thousands of lives for decades to come, with key treaty provisions stronger than even some of its staunchest supporters had expected, Human Rights Watch said today.The treaty immediately bans all types of cluster munitions, rejecting initial attempts by some nations to negotiate exceptions for their own arsenals, as well as calls for a transition that would delay the ban for a decade or more. In addition to the prohibitions on use, production, stockpiling, and trade, the treaty also includes very strong provisions requiring states to provide assistance to victims and to clean up areas affected by cluster munitions. “This treaty will make the world a safer place for millions of people,” said Steve Goose, director of the Arms division at Human Rights Watch. “Cluster munitions have been tossed on the ash heap of history. No nation will ever be able to use them again without provoking the immediate revulsion and disapproval of most countries in the world.” Cluster munitions typically explode in the air and send dozens, even hundreds of tiny bomblets over an area the size of a football field. Used in urban areas, they invariably kill and injure civilians. Used in any circumstance, they can harm civilians even decades after the war is over, as “duds” on the ground act like landmines, exploding on contact. Both governments and non-governmental organizations campaigning for the treaty built consciously on the precedent set by the 1997 Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty. But in many ways, the Convention on Cluster Munitions goes farther, Human Rights Watch said. “This treaty bans not just some cluster munitions, but all cluster munitions,” Goose told the assembled delegates in his capacity as co-chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, a group of hundreds of NGOs supporting the ban. “It does not try to differentiate between good cluster munitions and bad cluster munitions, it bans them all. This is a convention with no exceptions. This is a convention with no delays. This can only be described as an extraordinary convention.” Human Rights Watch urged governments supporting the treaty to make all necessary preparations to sign the treaty in Oslo in December 2008. The treaty will go into effect after 30 nations have signed and ratified it. Several of the world’s biggest users or stockpilers of cluster munitions were not present at the Dublin talks, including the United States, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Pakistan, and Israel. But experience with the Mine Ban Treaty suggests that even non-signatories will ultimately feel bound by the ban on cluster munitions. Although the United States has still not signed the Mine Ban Treaty, for example, it has not used, exported, or produced any antipersonnel landmines since the treaty was negotiated 11 years ago. “The most important thing this treaty does is to stigmatize cluster munitions,” said Goose. “The stigma will grow and deepen over time, and ultimately make the use of cluster munitions unthinkable by anyone.” The new treaty’s sole disappointment came in Article 21, which is designed to provide legal protection for a signatory’s armed forces if another country uses cluster munitions during joint military operations. Human Rights Watch urged governments to make clear in official statements a “common understanding” that the treaty does not allow deliberate assistance for the use of cluster munitions during joint operations and does not allow non-signatories to stockpile cluster munitions on the territory of signatory states. The UK government has already indicated that it will ask the United States to remove its cluster munitions from UK territory within the eight-year deadline for stockpile destruction. The United States has not been present at the negotiations, but put intense, behind-the-scenes pressure on negotiating states to avoid inhibiting future US use of the banned weapon.
Article 21 of the treaty also includes a requirement that signatories actively discourage use by other states. More on Human Rights Watch's work on Cluster Munitions:http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=arms_clusterbombs-----------

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amnesty international zu 60 Jahren Menschenrechtserklärung

Die Menschenrechte verlieren im "Krieg gegen Terror"
Als die Mitgliedsstaaten der Uno 1948 die "Allgemeine Erklärung der Menschenrechte" verabschiedeten, war dies ein historisches Ereignis: Erstmals wurden universell gültige Prinzipien beschlossen. Zugleich wurde das Versprechen gegeben, dass sich die Staaten für Gleichheit, Gerechtigkeit und Rechtsstaatlichkeit überall auf der Welt einsetzen.
60 Jahre später fordert die Menschenrechtsorganisation amnesty international, dieses Versprechen endlich einzulösen, auch wenn das Jubiläum für eine "beachtliche Erfolgsgeschichte der Staatengemeinschaft" stehe.
"Nicht zuletzt die Janusköpfigkeit einiger westlicher Regierungen im 'Krieg gegen den Terror' hat zu Rückschritten beim Menschenrechtsschutz geführt", sagte die Generalsekretärin von amnesty international Deutschland, Barbara Lochbihler. Immer noch säßen in Guantánamo und anderen, zum Teil geheimen Lagern, weltweit Hunderte Menschen ohne Anklage oder Gerichtsverfahren in Haft.
EU-Staaten in Entführungen verwickelt
Amnesty international kritisierte, dass dem US-Geheimdienst CIA weiterhin Foltermethoden wie das "Waterboarding" erlaubt seien. Im vergangenen Jahr habe es weitere ernstzunehmende Hinweise darauf gegeben, dass sich EU-Staaten an Entführungen, geheimen Inhaftierungen und Überstellung von Gefangenen in Folterstaaten beteiligt hätten.
Keine europäische Regierung habe die verlangten umfassenden Untersuchungen durchgeführt oder Maßnahmen nachgewiesen, die solche Straftaten verhindern sollten. "Wie wollen die EU und die USA von anderen Staaten verlangen, dass sie die Menschenrechte einhalten, wenn sie ihre Glaubwürdigkeit derart untergraben?", fragte Lochbihler.
Die Arbeit des BND-Untersuchungsausschuss habe verdeutlicht, dass deutsche Geheimdienste wiederholt in einer menschenrechtlichen Grauzone gearbeitet hätten. Als Beispiele werden die Fälle des Deutsch-Syrers Mohammad Zammar und von Khaled Al Masri. "Die Bundesregierung muss die Geheimdienste künftig besser kontrollieren", forderte Lochbihler.
Zahlen des Unrechts
In ihrem Jahresbericht dokumentiert die Organisation in 81 Staaten Fälle von Folter oder entwürdigender und unmenschlicher Behandlung. In 45 Staaten saßen demnach Menschen allein aus politischen Gründen in Haft. Mindestens 1252 Menschen seien hingerichtet worden. Die Presse- und Meinungsfreiheit sei in mindestens 77 Staaten verletzt worden und in 54 Staaten seien unfaire Gerichtsverfahren durchgeführt worden. Zudem hätten in mindestens 23 Staaten Gesetze gegolten, die Frauen diskriminierten.
Amnesty-Jahresbericht 2008 [ai].
Bericht von amnesty international [R. Borchard, BR London]

Se desboca alza en los alimentos

Se desboca alza en los alimentos

Advierte Gobernador del Banco de México que el incremento en granos y otras materias primas continuará en los siguientes meses

Por Moisés Ramírez y Adolfo Navarro

Monterrey, México (21 de mayo de 2008).- Los incrementos en los precios de los alimentos no se detienen.

Durante la primera quincena de mayo, arreciaron las alzas en diversos productos de la canasta básica.

De acuerdo con cifras de la Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (Profeco), en la Ciudad de México aumentó 22 por ciento en promedio el precio de la tortilla de maíz.

El arroz siguió su carrera alcista y subió 14 por ciento, con lo que acumuló en el año un incremento cercano a 40 por ciento.

No se escapó de esta tendencia el valor del pollo, que se elevó 9 por ciento en la quincena, ni el bolillo, con 6 por ciento.

Aunque hubo reducción en algunos precios, como la pasta para sopa o la carne molida de res, predominaron los incrementos.

Pero eso no es todo.

De acuerdo con el Gobernador del Banco de México, Guillermo Ortiz, el incremento en los precios de los granos y otras materias primas en el mercado internacional continuará durante los siguientes meses.

Al participar en el XX Foro IMEF, que se realiza en Monterrey, Ortiz señaló que este fenómeno de alzas de las materias primas no se había visto desde los años 70 y, aunque ya se percibe cierta estabilidad en el importe de algunos cultivos, como la soya y el maíz, lo que aún falta es ver el efecto en el costo de los productos industrializados.

"Los alimentos procesados todavía van a seguir aumentando porque no acaban de pasar esos incrementos en los precios de los granos hacia los procesados, (mientras que) los precios de la energía quién sabe a dónde vayan a parar", comentó.

Ortiz explicó que el resurgimiento de las economías de China, India y otras naciones ha presionado para que se presenten los actuales niveles de precios en los mercados.

"Los mismos países que nos trajeron desinflación en periodos anteriores, por la baja en los precios de las manufacturas, ahora están provocando una reversión de este proceso por la demanda de materias primas", apuntó.

José Manuel Sánchez Moreno, presidente de la Asociación Nacional de Tiendas de Autoservicio y Departamentales (ANTAD), explicó que el alza de los productos en las tiendas deriva de los aumentos que han efectuado los distribuidores.

"Los proveedores ya no pudieron aguantar los aumentos de precios de sus materias primas y nos subieron a nosotros. Lo que estamos haciendo las cadenas es trasladar esos aumentos", indicó.

La previsión de nuevos incrementos fue confirmada por Jaime Yesaki Cavazos, presidente del Consejo Nacional Agropecuario (CNA), quien adelantó que hay condiciones para que, a partir del segundo semestre del año, suba con mayor fuerza el precio de la carne.

Para hacer frente a esta situación, propuso al Gobierno federal establecer un subsidio directo al ingreso de la población de menores recursos en México.

Ven en riesgo millones de mexicanos.- CEPAL

Al menos 5.2 millones de mexicanos tienen acceso insuficiente a los alimentos, y es esa población la más vulnerable a los efectos del incremento en los precios de éstos, advierte un reporte de la Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) difundido ayer.

"Dado que las alzas no parecen obedecer a una situación transitoria, es necesario, además de mantener políticas específicas destinadas a los sectores de menos recursos, impulsar propuestas de mediano y largo plazo destinadas a incrementar la oferta y la productividad de manera sustentable", indica el informe "Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio; la Progresión hacia el Derecho y la Salud en América Latina".

La CEPAL concluye que México no ha logrado un avance sustantivo para reducir a la mitad el número de personas que sufren hambre para el 2015.

Con información de Margarita Vega


Copyright © Grupo Reforma Servicio Informativo

ESTA NOTA PUEDES ENCONTRARLA EN:
http://www.reforma.com/negocios/articulo/883704/
Fecha de publicación: 20-May-2008

New trend in Biofuels, new risks

New Trend in Biofuels Has New Risks
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
ROME — In the past year, as the diversion of food crops like corn and palm to make biofuels has helped to drive up food prices, investors and politicians have begun promoting newer, so-called second-generation biofuels as the next wave of green energy. These, made from non-food crops like reeds and wild grasses, would offer fuel without the risk of taking food off the table, they said.
But now, biologists and botanists are warning that they, too, may bring serious unintended consequences. Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species — that is, weeds — that have an extraordinarily high potential to escape biofuel plantations, overrun adjacent farms and natural land, and create economic and ecological havoc in the process, they now say.
At a United Nations meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday, scientists from the Global Invasive Species Program, the Nature Conservancy and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as other groups, presented a paper with a warning about invasive species.
“Some of the most commonly recommended species for biofuels production are also major invasive alien species,” the paper says, adding that these crops should be studied more thoroughly before being cultivated in new areas.
Controlling the spread of such plants could prove difficult, the experts said, producing “greater financial losses than gains.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature encapsulated the message like this: “Don’t let invasive biofuel crops attack your country.”
To reach their conclusions, the scientists compared the list of the most popular second-generation biofuels with the list of invasive species and found an alarming degree of overlap. They said little evaluation of risk had occurred before planting.
“With biofuels, there’s always a hurry,” said Geoffrey Howard, an invasive species expert with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “Plantations are started by investors, often from the U.S. or Europe, so they are eager to generate biofuels within a couple of years and also, as you might guess, they don’t want a negative assessment.”
The biofuels industry said the risk of those crops morphing into weed problems is overstated, noting that proposed biofuel crops, while they have some potential to become weeds, are not plants that inevitably turn invasive.
“There are very few plants that are ‘weeds,’ full stop,” said Willy De Greef, incoming secretary general of EuropaBio, an industry group. “You have to look at the biology of the plant and the environment where you’re introducing it and ask, are there worry points here?” He said that biofuel farmers would inevitably introduce new crops carefully because they would not want growth they could not control.
The European Union and the United States have both instituted biofuel targets as a method to reduce carbon emissions. The European Union’s target of 10 percent biofuel use in transportation by 2020 is binding. As such, politicians are anxiously awaiting the commercial perfection of second-generation biofuels.
The European Union is funding a project to introduce the “giant reed, a high-yielding, non-food plant into Europe Union agriculture,” according to its proposal. The reed is environmentally friendly and a cost-effective crop, poised to become the “champion of biomass crops,” the proposal says.
A proposed Florida biofuel plantation and plant, also using giant reed, has been greeted with enthusiasm by investors, its energy sold even before it is built.
But the project has been opposed by the Florida Native Plants Society and a number of scientists because of its proximity to the Everglades, where giant reed overgrowth could be dangerous, they said. The giant reed, previously used mostly in decorations and in making musical instruments — is a fast-growing, thirsty species that has drained wetlands and clogged drainage systems in other places where it has been planted. It is also highly flammable and increases the risk of fires.
From a business perspective, the good thing about second-generation biofuel crops is that they are easy to grow and need little attention. But that is also what creates their invasive potential.
“These are tough survivors, which means they’re good producers for biofuel because they grow well on marginal land that you wouldn’t use for food,” Dr. Howard said. “But we’ve had 100 years of experience with introductions of these crops that turned out to be disastrous for environment, people, health.”
Stas Burgiel, a scientist at the Nature Conservancy, said the cost of controlling invasive species is immense and generally not paid by those who created the problem.
But he and other experts emphasized that some of the second-generation biofuel crops could still be safe if introduced into the right places and under the right conditions
“With biofuels we need to do proper assessments and take appropriate measures so they don’t get out of the gate, so to speak,” he said. That assessment, he added, must take a broad geographical perspective since invasive species don’t respect borders.
The Global Invasive Species Program estimates that the damage from invasive species costs the world more than $1.4 trillion annually — five percent of the global economy.
Jatropha, the darling of the second-generation biofuels community, is now being cultivated widely in East Africa in brand new biofuel plantations. But jatropha has been recently banned by two Australian states as an invasive species. If jatropha, which is poisonous, overgrows farmland or pastures, it could be disastrous for the local food supply in Africa, experts said.
But Mr. De Greef said jatropha had little weed potential in most areas, adding: “Just because a species has caused a problem in one place doesn’t make it a weed everywhere.”

China quake death toll could hit 50,000

Ayuda para China (help for China)

Earthquakes first moments, exclusive AP video

State TV: China quake death toll could hit 50,000
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer 33 minutes ago
China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the government issued a rare public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster.
More than 72 hours after the quake rattled central China, rescuers appeared to shift from poring through downed buildings for survivors to the grim duty of searching for bodies — with 10 million directly affected by Monday's temblor.
The confirmed death toll reached 19,509, up from the nearly 15,000 confirmed dead the day before, according to the Earthquake and Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council, the country's Cabinet. The council said deaths could rise to some 50,000, state TV reported.
In Luoshui town — on the road to an industrial zone in Shifang city where two chemical plants collapsed, burying hundreds of people — troops used a mechanical shovel to dig a pit on a hilltop to bury the dead.
Police and militia in Dujiangyan pulverized rubble with cranes and backhoes while crews used shovels to pick around larger pieces of debris. On one sidestreet, about a dozen bodies were laid on a sidewalk, while incense sticks placed in a pile of sand sent smoke into the air as a tribute and to dull the stench of death.
The bodies were later lifted onto a flatbed truck, joining some half-dozen corpses. Ambulances sped past, sirens wailing, filled with survivors. Workers asked those left homeless to sign up for temporary housing, although it was unclear where they would live.
Not all hope of finding survivors was lost. After more than three days trapped under debris, a 22-year-old woman was pulled to safety in Dujiangyan. Covered in dust and peering out through a small opening, she was shown waving on state television shortly before being rescued.
"I was confident that you were coming to rescue me. I'm alive. I'm so happy," the unnamed woman said on CCTV.
One earthquake expert said the time for rescues was growing short.
"Within 72 hours after the disaster is the critical period. Generally, the sooner the rescue of the buried, the better," the chief engineer of Shijiazhuang Bureau of Seismology, Liang Guiping, told state TV.
The government issued a rare appeal to the Chinese public calling for donations of rescue equipment including hammers, shovels, demolition tools and rubber boats. The plea on the Ministry of Information Industry's Web Site said, for example, that 100 cranes were needed.
More than 130,000 soldiers and police joined the relief operation, Xinhua said.
"This is only a beginning of this battle, and a long way lies ahead of us," Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang told reporters in Beijing.
"We will never give up hope," he said. "For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase 100-fold. We will never give up."
Premier Wen Jiabao visited Qingchuan in northern Sichuan province, site of a collapsed school that buried dozens of children, to encourage doctors and nurses aiding the injured.
"The party and the government are grateful to you. The people need you," he said in footage shown on CCTV. "They see you as a relative. Every act and word of yours represents the government."
After days of refusing foreign relief workers, China accepted an offer from Japan to send a rescue team, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in an announcement posted on the ministry Web site.
Taiwan's Red Cross said China also agreed to accept a 20-person emergency relief team from the island. Taiwan is also sending a cargo plane to Chengdu with tents and medical supplies. The Air Macau plane will make a brief stop in Macau.
Taiwan and China, which split during civil war in 1949, have banned regular direct links and other formal contacts as political disputes persist.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also issued an emergency appeal for medical help, food, water and tents.
Gu Qinghui, the federation's disaster management director for East Asia who visited Beichuan county near the epicenter, said more than 4 million homes were shattered across the quake area.
"The whole county has been destroyed. Basically there is no Beichuan county anymore," Gu said in Beijing, adding the death toll was sure to rise.
Forty-four counties and districts in Sichuan were severely hit, with about half of the 20 million people living there directly affected, Xinhua said.
Roads were cleared to two key areas that bore the brunt of the quake's force, with workers making it to the border of Wenchuan county at the epicenter and also through to hard-hit Beichuan county, Xinhua reported. Communication cables also were reconnected to Wenchuan.
The Chengdu Military Area Command also planned to airdrop 50,000 packets of food, 5,000 cotton-padded quilts and clothes there, part of the military rescue operation that has grown to include more than 116,000 soldiers and police.
Dujiangyan city was clogged with buses and trucks decked out with banners from companies saying they were offering aid to disaster victims. One tour bus was stuffed full of water bottles, cartons of biscuits and instant noodles.
Public donations so far have totaled $125 million in both cash and goods.
NBA star Yao Ming, China's most famous athlete, was planning to donate $285,000 to the relief effort, agent Erik Zhang said.
"My thoughts are with everyone back in my home country of China during this very dark and emotional time," Yao said in a statement from Houston, where he is recovering from a broken left foot with hopes of competing in the Beijing Olympics this August.
As the rescue effort gathered momentum, the depth of the problem of tens of thousands homeless stretched government resources.
North of Chengdu in Deyang, the largest town near the devastated areas of Hanwang and Mianyang, thousands of people have streamed into the city hospital since Monday, mostly with head or bone injuries.
Patients heavily wrapped in bandages and with cuts and bruises were huddled in canvas tents in the hospital's parking lot.
"Our doctors have worked continuously since Monday and people keep coming in. We have to keep strengthening our measures to keep up," said Luo Mingxuan, the Communist Party secretary of the hospital.
There were piles of donated clothing for survivors at the hospital and stands for them to make free telephone calls. Handwritten notes with names of the injured were posted on a board in front of the hospital's emergency section, where ambulances arrived every few minutes.
Also Thursday, a group of 33 American, British and French tourists were airlifted from Wolong, site of the world's most famous panda preserve, to the provincial capital of Chengdu, Xinhua reported. All were in good health, Xinhua said.
___
Associated Press writers Audra Ang in Mianyang, Christopher Bodeen in Dujiangyan, and Cara Anna and Anita Chang in Beijing contributed to this report

Hilfe, Help, Ayuda

There are 2.5 million People waiting for YOU!
Help them!!
Help How to donate

Hay 2,5 millones de personas esperando TU ayuda!!!
Ayuda Cómo donar

Es gibt 2.5 millionen, die auf DICH warten!!
Hilfe für die Opfer des Wirbelsturms "Nargis" in Birma

"Entwicklung hilft"Spendenkonto 5151 Bank für SozialwirtschaftBankleitzahl 37020500. Stichwort: ARD/Birma.http://www.entwicklung-hilft.de/


"Entwicklung hilft - Gemeinsam für Menschen in Not" ist der Zusammenschluss der fünf deutschen Hilfswerke "Brot für die Welt", Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, medico international, MISEREOR und terre des hommes.


Außerdem rufen folgende Hilfsorganisationen zu Spenden für die Opfer des Wirbelsturms "Nargis" auf:
Aktion Deutschland hilftKonto 10 20 30Bank für SozialwirtschaftBankleitzahl 370 205 00 Stichwort: Zyklon Myanmar / Birmahttp://www.aktion-deutschland-hilft.de/


"Aktion Deutschland hilft" ist ein Bündnis der Hilfsorganisationen action medeor, ADRA, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, CARE International Deutschland, Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe, Malteser Hilfsdienst, HELP - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe, Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, World Vision Deutschland


Aktion HelpDirectKonto 99 000 00Bank für Sozialwirtschaft BLZ: 370 205 00 Kennwort: Spendenpool Myanmar http://www.helpdirect.org/


Ärzte der Welt e.V. Konto 2 88 88Bayerische LandesbankBLZ 700 500 00Stichwort: Wirbelsturm Myanmarwww.aerztederwelt.org/


Ärzte ohne Grenzen Deutsche Sektion (MSF) e.V.Konto 97 0 97Bank für SozialwirtschaftBLZ 370 205 00Stichwort: Myanmar/Birma u.a.http://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/
Cap AnamurKonto 2 222 222 Sparkasse KölnBonn Blz: 370 501 98Stichwort: Myanmar/Birmahttp://www.capanamur.de/


Caritas InternationalBank für Sozialwirtschaft KarlsruheBLZ 660 205 00Konto: 202Stichwort: Birma/Myanmarhttp://www.caritas-international.de/


Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Bank für Sozialwirtschaft BLZ 370 205 00 Konto: 41 41 41 Stichwort: Zyklon Myanmar/Birmahttp://www.drk.de/


Diakonie KatastrophenhilfePostbank StuttgartBLZ: 600 100 70Konto: 502 707Stichwort: Birma/Myanmarhttp://www.diakonie-katastrophenhilfe.de/


Die Heilsarmee in DeutschlandBank für SozialwirtschaftBLZ 370 205 00Konto 40 777 77Stichwort: Birmahttp://www.heilsarmee.de/


HelpAge DeutschlandSparkasse OsnabrückBLZ 26550105Konto 55517Stichwort: birmahttp://www.helpage.de/


KindernothilfeKD-Bank eG DuisburgBLZ: 350 601 90Konto: 45 45 40Stichwort: Zyklon Birmahttp://www.kindernothilfe.de/


Plan International Deutschland e.V. Deutsche Bank Konto: 061 281 202 BLZ: 200 700 00 Stichwort Myanmar/Nothilfe-Fondshttp://www.plan-international.de/


UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe e.V.Sparkasse KölnBonnBLZ: 370 501 98Konto: 2000 2002Stichwort: Myanmarhttp://www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de/

Sturmkatastrophe in Birma HILFE!!

Sturmkatastrophe in Birma
Schwierige Hilfe - zögerliche Spenden
In der birmanischen Metropole Rangun ist eine Maschine mit Hilfsgütern aus Deutschland für die Opfer des Zyklons "Nargis" eingetroffen. An Bord des Frachtflugzeugs sind nach Angaben der Deutschen Presse-Agentur (dpa) 20 Tonnen Hilfsgüter. Darunter befänden sich vier Anlagen zur Wasseraufbereitung. Das Welternährungsprogramm der Uno werde die Verteilung der Lieferung übernehmen.
Die Organisation schätzt, dass bis zu 2,5 Millionen Menschen dringend Nahrungsmittel, Medikamente und Unterkünfte brauchen. Zuvor war die Uno von 1,5 Millionen Betroffenen ausgegangen. Von den dafür benötigten 200 Millionen Dollar (130 Millionen Euro) hat die Uno bisher 150 Millionen Dollar erhalten, sagte UN-Nothilfekoordinator John Holmes laut dpa.

Geringe Spendenbereitschaft in Deutschland
Deutsche Hilfsorganisationen verspüren nach eigenen Angaben jedoch eine deutlich geringere Spendenbereitschaft der Bürger als bei früheren Naturkastastrophen vergleichbaren Ausmaßes: "Selbst große Hilfsorganisationen wie Caritas International haben noch deutlich unter einer Million Euro Einnahmen. Das ist also in keiner Weise vergleichbar mit anderen großen Katastrophen-Fällen, schon gar nicht mit dem einzigartigen Aufkommen der Tsunami-Spenden", erklärte Burkhard Wilke, Geschäftsführer und wissenschaftlicher Leiter des Deutschen Zentralinstituts für soziale Fragen, gegenüber dem NDR.
Birma: Interview DZI-Experte Wilke über die geringe Spendenbereitschaft für die Opfer der Katastrophe [ndr]
"Viele Menschen befürchten, dass die Hilfe, die sie leisten, nicht da ankommt, wo sie wirkllich gebraucht wird", sagte Helga Stamm-Berg von der Hilfsorganisation World Vision in den Tagesthemen.
Video
Bildunterschrift: Marion Schmickler über die Verteilung der Hilfsgüter in Birma, ARD-Morgenmagazin, 15.05.2008.
Weitere Video-Formate .
Auch dass es aufgrund der rigriden Informationspolitik der Regierung Birmas kaum Bilder aus dem Katastrophengebiet gebe, die das Leid der Menschen zeigten, sorge für eine geringe Spendenbereitschaft, erklärt DZI-Geschäftsführer Wilke. Ausländische Helfer und Reporter werden von den Behörden aus den Sturmgebieten ferngehalten.

Experten aus Nachbarländern auf dem Weg
Nach weltweiten Appellen hat die Regierung von Birma aber nach Angaben der US-Regierung mittlerweile begonnen, ausländische Experten in die Katastrophengebiete einreisen zu lassen. Die birmanische Führung habe Fachleuten aus den Nachbarstaaten angefordert und ihnen die Erlaubnis zum Einsatz in der sturmverwüsteten Region im Süden des Landes erteilt, sagte der US-Botschafter für den südostasiatischen Staatenbund ASEAN, Scot Marciel. Zugelassen seien Experten aus China, Indien, Bangladesch und Thailand. Die Regierungen dieser Staaten hatten sich in der Vergangenheit mit Kritik an den Militärs zurückgehalten.
Zuvor hatte die Uno abermals Kritik an der Weigerung Birmas zur Zusammenarbeit mit ausländischen Helfern geübt. "Ich bin enttäuscht, dass wir nicht mehr Ergebnisse haben", sagte UN-Nothilfekoordinator Holmes.

Rotes Kreuz befürchtet 128.000 Todesopfer
Nach Angaben des britischen Fernsehsenders BBC geht Birmas Militärregierung nunmehr von fast 38.500 Toten durch die Wirbelsturmkatastrophe aus. Zudem würden knapp 28.000 Menschen vermisst. Das Rote Kreuz befürchtet, dass sogar 128.000 Menschen ums Leben gekommen sein könnten.
Birma: Junta meldet große Mehrheit für neue Verfassung.
Hilfe für die Opfer des Wirbelsturms "Nargis" in Birma

Mensaje de GREENPEACE

Más biocombustibles para Europa es igual a menos bosques y más hambre para Latinoamérica.

Hola !
La producción de biocombustibles a base de maíz, soja u otros cultivos para el mercado europeo y estadounidense amenazan los últimos bosques nativos que nos quedan y contribuyen al aumento del precio de los alimentos en toda la región.
El próximo 16 de mayo se realizará en Lima, Perú, la V Cumbre de América Latina, el Caribe y la Unión Europea. El presidente de México, Felipe Calderón, estará allí. Exígele que reconozca el impacto que la producción de biocombustibles representa para la preservación de los bosques y la seguridad alimentaria en la región.
Haz click aquí.
Los países europeos han establecido altas metas para reemplazar parte de los combustibles fósiles que consumen sus vehículos con grandes cantidades de biocombustibles, sin contar con ninguna política que contemple las repercusiones ambientales y sociales que su producción implica.
La demanda europea de biocombustibles excede su capacidad de producción, por lo que los países latinoamericanos nos convertiremos en sus proveedores naturales. Nuestra región necesitaría destinar millones de hectáreas que hoy se utilizan para cultivar alimentos o que son áreas de bosques nativos, para abastecer la demanda internacional de biocombustibles.
No permitamos que los vehículos europeos llenen sus tanques a costa de la destrucción de los bosques y el hambre latinoamericanos.
Exígele a tu presidente que promueva criterios sustentables de producción de biocombustibles en la V Cumbre de América Latina, el Caribe y la Unión Europea.
Haz click aquí.

Ayúdanos a que el negocio de unos pocos no destruya el patrimonio natural de todos. Muchas gracias, Eugenia (Greenpeace)

PS: Como sabes Greenpeace solo puede realizar su trabajo gracias al aporte económico de personas que, como tu, están comprometidas con el medio ambiente y luchan por un mundo mejor para todos. Únete tu también como socio de Greenpeace. Haz click aquí y completa el formulario seguro desde donde podrás hacer tu aporte mensual para que podamos continuar con nuestras campañas.


SALVA AL MAÍZ MEXICANO!!!
Haz Click Aquí para firmar la carta de este Site al Presidente Calderón.

Help for Darfur: urgent action!

Dear Friend,
Attacks in Khartoum have made international action even more urgent for the people of Darfur.
Help us make our call for action even louder.
Ask your friends join you in sending a message to President Bush today.
Thank you again for urging President Bush to help protect the people of Darfur when the U.S. assumes the presidency of the U.N. Security Council on June 1.
But violence is getting worse, and we need to step up our support for the people of Darfur. A Darfuri rebel group attacked Khartoum on Saturday, and there is already news of widespread atrocities against Darfuri civilians.
You made your voice heard last week. Now, in light of these new events, we need your help again to make our calls for action even louder.
Will you help us make sure the White House helps end these atrocities?
Click here to ask your friends, family, and co-workers to join you in sending a message to the White House.
Reports indicate that the government is detaining, torturing and killing Darfuris in and around Khartoum, and that janjaweed militias have commenced attacks in North Darfur. The international community must speed up deployment of peacekeepers to help protect civilians in Darfur and make clear to all sides that there is no violent solution to this conflict.
The United States, acting as a top voice at the U.N. Security Council, must urge all parties to end hostilities, take immediate steps to deploy peacekeepers to Darfur, and work to punish those responsible for attacks on Darfuri civilians.
We have two weeks left before the U.S. assumes the presidency of the Security Council, so please take a minute today to help us flood the White House with messages.
Tell your friends and family how they can help send a powerful message to the President today.
Our movement has always been powered by grassroots energy—people sharing information with one another, friends sharing outrage with friends. To put an end to this humanitarian nightmare, we must keep it up. Thank you for all your work and support.
Best regards,
Colleen ConnorsSave Darfur Coalition

Donate to Help Save DarfurHelp build the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur by supporting the Save Darfur Coalition's crucial awareness and advocacy programs. Click here now to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.
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Report: Death toll in China quake exceeds 12,000

Report: Death toll in China quake exceeds 12,000
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer

The toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China's worst earthquake in three decades.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the death toll exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, and 18,645 were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter of Monday's massive, 7.9-magnitude quake.
The Sichuan Daily newspaper reported on its Web site that more than 26,000 people were injured in Mianyang.
The numbers of casualties was expected to rise due to the remoteness of the areas affected by the quake and difficulty in finding buried victims.
There was little prospect that many survivors would be found under the rubble. Only 58 people were extricated from demolished buildings across the quake area so far, China Seismological Bureau spokesman Zhang Hongwei told Xinhua. In one county, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed.
Rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a rescue mission to the epicenter due to heavy storms, Xinhua reported.
More than two dozen British and American tourists who were thought to be panda-watching in the area also remained missing.
Officials urged the public not to abandon hope.
"Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it's not time to give up," Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief division director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told reporters in Beijing.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed to the area to oversee rescue efforts, said a push was on to clear roads and restore electricity as soon as possible. His visit to the disaster scene was prominently featured on state TV, a gesture meant to reassure people that the ruling party was doing all it could.
"We will save the people," Wen said through a bullhorn to survivors as he toured the disaster scene, in footage shown on CCTV. "As long as the people are there, factories can be built into even better ones, and so can the towns and counties."
State media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county — where the number of casualties was still unknown. The quake was centered just north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu in central China, tearing into urban areas and mountain villages.
Earthquake rescue experts in orange jumpsuits extricated bloody survivors on stretchers from demolished buildings.
Some 20,000 soldiers and police arrived in the disaster area with 30,000 more on the way by plane, train, trucks and even on foot, the Defense Ministry told Xinhua.
Aftershocks rattled the region for a second day, sending people running into the streets in Chengdu. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the shocks between magnitude 4 and 6, some of the strongest since Monday's quake.
Zhou Chun, a 70-year-old retired mechanic, was leaving Dujiangyan with a soiled light blue blanket draped over his shoulders.
"My wife died in the quake. My house was destroyed," he said. "I am going to Chengdu, but I don't know where I'll live."
Zhou and other survivors were pulling luggage and clutching plastic bags of food amid a steady drizzle and the constant wall of ambulances.
Just east of the epicenter, 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing at a collapsed high school in Beichuan county — a six-story building reduced to a pile of rubble about two yards high, according to Xinhua. Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan alone.
At another leveled school in Dujiangyan, 900 students were feared dead. As bodies of teenagers were carried out on doors used as makeshift stretchers, relatives lit incense and candles and also set off fireworks to ward away evil spirits.
Elsewhere in Gansu province, a 40-car freight train derailed in the quake that included 13 gasoline tankers was still burning Tuesday, Xinhua said.
Gasoline lines grew in Chengdu and grocery stores shelves were almost empty. The Ministry of Health issued an appeal for blood donations to help the quake victims.
Fifteen missing British tourists were believed to have been in the area at the time of the quake and were "out of reach," Xinhua reported.
They were likely visiting the Wolong Nature Reserve, home to more than 100 giant pandas, whose fate also was not known, Xinhua said, adding that 60 pandas at another breeding center in Chengdu were safe.
Another group of 12 Americans also on panda-watching tour sponsored by the U.S. office of the World Wildlife Fund remained out of contact Tuesday, said Tan Rui, WWF communications officer in China.
Two Chinese-Americans and a Thai tourist also were missing in Sichuan province, the agency said, citing tourism officials.
Expressions of sympathy and offers of help poured in from the United States, Japan and the European Union, among others.
The Dalai Lama, who has been vilified by Chinese authorities who blame him for recent unrest in Tibet, offered prayers for the victims. The epicenter is just south of some Tibetan mountain areas that saw anti-government protests earlier this year.
Beijing Games organizers said the Olympic torch relay will continue as planned through the quake-affected area next month.
The Chinese government said it would welcome outside aid, and Russia was sending a plane with rescuers and supplies, the country's Interfax news agency reported.
But Wang, the disaster relief official, said international aid workers would not be allowed to travel to the affected area.
"We welcome funds and supplies; we can't accommodate personnel at this point," he said.
China's Ministry of Finance said it had allocated $123 million in aid for quake-hit areas.
The quake was China's deadliest since 1976, when 240,000 people were killed in the city of Tangshan, near Beijing in 1976. Financial analysts said the quake would have only a limited impact on the country's booming economy.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen in Juyuan and Audra Ang in Chengdu contributed to this report.

U.N. Leader Tells Myanmar to Hurry on Aid

May 13, 2008
U.N. Leader Tells Myanmar to Hurry on Aid
By WARREN HOGE and SETH MYDANS
UNITED NATIONS — As the authorities in Myanmar raised the cyclone death toll to nearly 32,000 and admitted one American military aircraft, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pressed the junta on Monday to accept international assistance. He expressed “deep concern and immense frustration” with what he called “the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis.”
In unusually blunt language for a United Nations leader, Mr. Ban said: “This is not about politics; it is about saving people’s lives. There is absolutely no more time to lose.”
The sharp comments from Mr. Ban came on a day when the authorities in Myanmar allowed a United States military aircraft to land with relief supplies, crossing one barrier that has hindered the delivery of large-scale aid to more than a million people affected by the May 3 cyclone.
State television has put the death toll at 31,938, with 29,770 people missing.
The United States landing was the most public example of what aid groups said was a slight easing of restrictions over the last day, though not nearly enough to provide for what they said was a desperate, growing need. On Monday, the United Nations estimated the dead at 62,000 to 100,000.
And even with the American flight — the first of three that the Myanmar government has approved — President Bush said that the slow flow of aid suggested that the generals in charge were either “isolated or callous.”
“It’s been days, and no telling how many people have lost their lives as a result of the slow response,” he told CBS News in a radio interview. “An American plane finally went in, but the response isn’t good enough.”
Remarkably, a government newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, carried eight photos on Tuesday of the arrival of the American aid shipment, a rare acknowledgment of any cooperation with the United States. Long-time foreign residents of Yangon marveled that government censors would approve pictures of the C-130, clearly marked “U.S. Air Force,” sitting on the tarmac at the Yangon airport. The government often lumps the United States in with other “foreign saboteurs” who want to invade Myanmar and establish military bases there.
Mr. Ban, in clear frustration, said he had been trying without success for four days to reach the country’s senior general, Than Swe, and that he had sent a second letter to him on Monday alerting him to the United Nations’ efforts to help and its need for “greater access and freedom of movement.” John Holmes, the under secretary general in charge of emergency, said that while there had been “slight progress” in granting visas to relief workers, only 34 of more than 100 applications had been approved.
United Nations officials said the distribution of most deliveries of international relief supplies to the most badly affected parts of the country was still being blocked. They said help was reaching fewer than one-third of those in need.
The United Nations World Food Program said that it needed to move 375 tons of food a day to keep up with the urgent needs, but that it was shipping less than 20 percent of that — and that it was close to running out of rice.
At the airport in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, a group of high-level officials greeted the unarmed C-130 in an extraordinary scene of cooperation between nations whose only relations in recent years have been acrimonious.
In a sign of the significance of the American aid delivery, the aircraft also carried Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the American military in the Pacific.
In a telephone interview, Admiral Keating said it had been years, if not decades, since an American military officer of his rank had visited Myanmar.
He said the United States had about a dozen medium- and heavy-lift military helicopters on standby in Thailand, ready to assist. In addition, Admiral Keating said a three-ship naval task force with another dozen transport helicopters was 24 hours away and ready to help relief efforts.
“We told them we could come in during the day and leave at night, that they could put Burmese officials on our planes and ships, and that we would provide our own fuel,” he said. “We told them we wouldn’t stay a day longer than they wanted.”
Reports out of the Irrawaddy Delta, the worst-hit area, continued to reflect a growing and gruesome catastrophe, according to Western diplomats in Yangon.
People whose homes, farms and food stocks were destroyed have been making their way to more than half a dozen refugee camps north of the delta, although these were more like gathering places than organized camps with food, water, shelter and medical assistance.
“It’s grim, and getting grimmer,” said one Western diplomat in Yangon. “The vast majority of people out there haven’t been reached. It’s a challenge to get stuff there anyway. Now it’s a double challenge.”
At the United Nations, Mr. Ban specifically mentioned disease. “We are at a critical point,” he said. “Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today’s crisis.”
Another worry is the start of the rainy season, which usually begins in mid-May. Rice stocks need to dry, and new rice needs to be planted. Aid workers said there was one possible upside to more rain: People without fresh water might be able to collect rainwater for drinking.
Although United Nations officials have criticized the government for blocking efforts to help its citizens, spokesmen from the various aid groups — relieved to have even one toe in the door, and clearly worried that harsh words might slam it shut again — have adopted a tone of cautious hope. “We are optimistic that the restrictions will be relaxed,” said Rigoberto Giron, a spokesman for CARE, based in Atlanta.
But he said the group had not been granted visas to bring in international staff members whom it needed. Another CARE spokesman said over the weekend that the group had been waiting to ship in supplies until it could be sure that CARE would control their distribution.
Doctors Without Borders, another international aid group, also said the government had allowed it to take possession of a planeload of supplies and to begin distributing them.
But there are still problems, the group said. Three of its workers in the devastated city of Bogale — a physician, a water and sanitation expert and an aid coordinator — were refused permission to travel or even to enter hospitals to consult on problems.
“We are worried,” said Hugues Robert, a spokesman for the group in Geneva. “This has been happening for a few days.”
By their stubbornness in refusing to allow the rapid distribution of relief supplies, the generals who rule Myanmar are turning the cyclone that struck more than a week ago from a devastating natural disaster into a man-made disaster of huge proportions.
As the disaster grows and pressure from the outside world intensifies, the junta faces a dilemma.
If it opens its doors to large numbers of foreigners, it may never be able to seal the country again against the outside influences and interference it dreads.
By keeping most foreign assistance out, though, the generals must be ready to accept the deaths of hundreds of thousands more people, according to foreign relief officials. At the moment, that is the choice it appears to be making.
Even if there are divisions within the leadership over policy, most analysts say, the junta is likely to maintain its grip.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen,” said Terence Lee, an expert on regional militaries from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “They have too much invested in the regime to have any ideas of jumping ship.”
Warren Hoge reported from the United Nations, and Seth Mydans from Bangkok. Reporting was contributed by a correspondent for The New York Times from Yangon, Myanmar; Eric Schmitt from Washington; and Graham Bowley and Denise Grady from New York.

Quake in China

Quake in China Kills Thousands7.9-Magnitude Temblor, Centered in Sichuan, Is Country's Worst in Decades
By Jill DrewWashington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, May 13, 2008; A01
BEIJING, May 13 -- A powerful earthquake hit central China on Monday, killing nearly 10,000 people, as schools and other buildings collapsed across eight provinces and tremors shook buildings as far away as Bangkok.
State media reported widespread damage, and officials feared that the death toll could rise sharply as rescue teams reached areas affected by the massive quake, the worst to strike the country in three decades.
Most of the damage appeared to be in Sichuan province, where as many as 5,000 people died and 10,000 were injured in one county alone, state media reported. The collapse of one high school left 1,000 students and teachers dead or missing, while further south, as many as 900 students were trapped beneath the rubble of another town's devastated high school.
"People were terrified," said Huang Shi Hua, who had just watched rescuers loading victims into ambulances near the city of Chongqing, where a primary school had collapsed, killing four children.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck at 2:28 p.m. and was centered 55 miles northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, according to China's State Seismological Bureau. More than 1,000 aftershocks jolted the region, state media reported, and the quake was felt nearly 1,000 miles away in Beijing, where workers poured into the streets as office towers swayed.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu just a few hours after the quake hit to oversee rescue efforts and establish a temporary headquarters for disaster relief. An estimated 50,000 soldiers, police and reservists were dispatched to the area to provide aid as Chinese President Hu Jintao called for "all-out" efforts to rescue quake victims. The deployment of the military, in particular, sent a signal of urgency in a country that carefully calibrates the use of its armed forces.
Rescuers, meanwhile, worked through the night to locate victims and provide medical care.
Li Jing, general engineer of China's National Disaster Reduction Center, said the full scale of the devastation is unclear because communication and transportation links to mountainous Sichuan province were badly damaged. He said rescuers will place a priority on getting water and medicine to the affected regions as quickly as possible to minimize the loss of life.
Cellphone communication in the area failed after 2,300 base stations and five power plants shut down, officials said. Chengdu airport closed and flights throughout the country were disrupted.
Telephone calls could not be connected to emergency officials in Wenchuan county, the sparsely populated area at the quake's center. Wenchuan, home to China's leading giant panda reserve, is to the south of Beichuan county, where up to 80 percent of the buildings collapsed.
A rescue team set out for Wenchuan on foot at 10 p.m. Monday, walked through the night and had about 45 miles to go at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Local officials, via satellite phone, appealed for urgent help.
Li Chongxi, a high-level Communist Party official in Sichuan, attempted to lead a rescue team to Wenchuan but could not get through. "We are doing everything we can, but the roads are blanketed with rocks and boulders," he was quoted as telling the New China News Agency.
The massive Three Gorges Dam, a few hundred miles away, was not affected by the quake, state media quoted an official as saying. Two chemical plants in Shifang city were reportedly flattened, burying hundreds of workers and spilling more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia.
A Chengdu resident said the ground shook for several minutes and tall buildings swayed in the city of 10.7 million people. He saw one building shift position and begin leaning after the quake ended, but he said it had not fallen.
Chen Liangcai, in Sichuan's Deyang city, said the quake felt like "sitting on a train going through a hard turn." State media reported that five schools collapsed in the city, trapping an unknown number of students. Chen said local officials advised residents not to go inside their homes to sleep, but to spend the night outside.
Experts said many of the buildings were not built to withstand the impact of such a severe earthquake. In the four hours after the main quake, many other, smaller quakes were recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey. Experts said aftershocks could be just as deadly as the main quake because they put new strains on already damaged structures.
One Deyang shopkeeper, who declined to give her name, said she was advised to stay in her shop and not return home for the night. Rattled after having watched dozens of ambulances race by all afternoon, she said she would do as she was told. But she devised her own early warning system by putting a piece of metal in a glass; if she noticed it trembling, she said, she would run from the shop.
A reporter for National Public Radio who was in Chengdu at the time of the quake reported that tens of thousands of people had rushed into the streets, fearing that buildings would collapse. Many people remained in the streets for several hours, she said; stores closed and did not reopen.
Tang Yi, an office clerk in Chengdu, said local government vehicles were patrolling the streets about midnight, broadcasting from loudspeakers that residents should not panic. Tang said most of the people in his neighborhood were spending the night camped out in a local square. He saw some buildings with large cracks and others whose ceramic tiles had fallen off.
In Beijing, Olympic organizers said none of the venues built for the Games, which open Aug. 8, were damaged. Li Jiulin, a top engineer on the 91,000-seat National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, was conducting an inspection at the venue when the quake occurred. He told reporters the building was designed to withstand an 8.0-magnitude quake, according to Reuters.
In Xian, panicked residents across the city filled the streets as buildings shook. Strong aftershocks continued for more than an hour as stores, shopping malls and restaurants across the city shuttered. Many of the city's 13 million residents fled for the countryside, according to residents.
Zhang Guomin, a researcher at China's Seismological Bureau, said the damage was so great because the quake was shallow, about six miles below the earth's surface. Earthquakes less than 19 miles below the ground release 85 percent of their energy to the surface, Zhang said in an interview with the New China News Agency.
Researchers Liu Liu and Liu Songjie contributed to this report.

© 2008 The Washington Post Company


More info in
CNN

Myanmar permite la entrada de expertos extranjeros para valorar daños

Un equipo de la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático visitará la zona.- Los militares prometen aceptar más ayuda
AGENCIAS - Bangkok - 13/05/2008
La Junta Militar de Myanmar ha dado luz verde para que un equipo de expertos de la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN) visite la región sur del país con el objetivo de valorar los daños del ciclón Nargis.
El secretario general de la ASEAN, el tailandés Surin Pitsuwan, ha explicado que todavía no disponen de visados, pero las autoridades birmanas han asegurado que los funcionarios no tendrán problemas para acceder a las zonas afectadas en el delta del río Irrawaddy. La entrada de este equipo de expertos coincide con el envío del segundo avión estadounidense, cargado de medicamentos y comida, procedente de Tailandia. Una ayuda a cuentagotas mientras centenares de aldeas permanecen aisladas y los supervivientes no tienen nada que llevarse a la boca.
El régimen militar, que dirige con mano de hierro el país asiático, se ha resistido hasta el momento a dejar entrar en Myanmar a los cooperantes extranjeros. También, ocho días después del brutal azote del ciclón, se sigue reservando la potestad del reparto de la ayuda humanitaria, pese a las quejas de Naciones Unidas y otras organizaciones internacionales. “La Junta Militar está relajando sus restricciones, y eso es una buena señal”, ha dicho en un comunicado el secretario general de la ASEAN.
Expertos en gestión de situaciones de emergencias de la ASEAN se reunirán el próximo lunes en Singapur para acordar una estrategia común antes de viajar a Birmania, que ingresó en 1997 en el bloque regional. Pitsuwan ha negado que la ASEAN no haya hecho lo suficiente para persuadir a los generales birmanos para que éstos aceptaran lo antes posible la asistencia de la comunidad internacional. “Nunca es demasiado tarde”, ha asegurado.
Por su parte, los ministros responsables de la ayuda humanitaria de la Unión Europea se reúnen hoy en Bruselas para estudiar cómo intensificar la respuesta a la situación que sufre la antigua Birmania.
Hasta ahora, la Junta Militar reconoce casi 32.000 muertos y unos 30.000 desaparecidos por el ciclón, aunque la ONU calcula entre 63.000 y 102.000 muertos, 220.000 personas en paradero desconocido y casi dos millones sin hogar. Mientras tanto, el régimen birmano, a través de su poderoso aparato de propaganda, sigue ocultando a la población la auténtica magnitud del desastre y bombardea imágenes de su máximo líder, Than Shwe, y otros generales dando ayuda a los damnificados, pero no muestra ni menciona los miles de cadáveres que flotan en el delta.

12mil muertos en China

Las autoridades chinas elevan a 12.000 el número de muertos en el terremoto
El Gobierno chino anuncia que la situación "es más grave" de lo esperado.-
10.000 personas están sepultadas en la ciudad de Mianzhu, cerca del epicentro

ELPAÍS.com/AGENCIAS - Madrid/Pekín - 13/05/2008
Las autoridades chinas han elevado a 12.000 el número de muertos por el seísmo de magnitud 7,8 en la escala de Ritcher, que ha llevado el caos y la destrucción al suroeste del país, siendo la provincia de Sichuan la más afectada. Sólo en la ciudad de Mianzhu, cercana al epicentro del terremoto, unas 10.000 personas permanecen sepultadas bajo los escombros.
Durante la noche, numerosas personas han buscado sus pertenencias entre los edificios derrumbados y la oficina sismológica provincial anunció que en la madrugada de hoy se han registrado más de 1.800 temblores, algunos de ellos de magnitud 6.
Además, la agencia oficial Xinhua ha informado que en la ciudad de Shifang, próxima a Deyang, una planta química se ha venido abajo y han muerto al menos 600 personas, entre ellas 81 estudiantes. También unas 1.000 personas, entre escolares y profesores, murieron en el distrito de Beichuan, en la provincia de Sichuan, al desplomarse el colegio donde se encontraban. Un testigo citado por la agencia estatal china asegura que en esa región se ha derrumbado el hospital de la ciudad de Dujiangyan y casi un millar de estudiantes permanecen enterrados bajo los escombros de una escuela.
Por otra parte, el embajador de España en China, Carlos Blasco, ha asegurado que no hay constancia de que entre los miles de fallecidos haya víctimas españolas.
“Más grave de lo esperado”
El presidente de China, Hu Jintao, instó anoche a todas las autoridades locales a poner todo su empeño en las labores de rescate y envió a la zona al primer ministro, Wen Jiabao, para seguir de cerca la evolución del desastre natural. Nada más conocerse la tragedia, Hu, que es también secretario general del Partido Comunista de China (PCCh) presidió una reunión del Comité Permanente del Comité Central del PCCh, que decidió el envío a las zonas afectadas de fuerzas del ejército, policía, fuerzas paramilitares y personal médico.
El primer ministro, Wen Jiabao, ha reconocido que la situación es “más grave” de lo que se esperaba. En declaraciones a la televisión china CCTV, realizadas desde Dujiangyan, a 100 kilómetros del epicentro del desastre, ha solicitado la presencia de ayuda internacional. "Necesitamos el mayor numero posible de personas", ha explicado.
El terremoto es uno de los peores sufridos por China en las últimas tres décadas y afectó a las provincias de Shannxi, Sichuan, Yunnan y Gansu, así como a la municipalidad de Chongqing, en un área de 1,3 millones de kilómetros cuadrados en la que viven más de 200 millones de personas, más de la décima parte de la población china.
La provincia de Sichuan, epicentro del temblor, es una de las más pobres y pobladas del país con más de 100 millones de habitantes. El 80% de los edificios se han desplomado. También siete escuelas se han venido abajo en distintos lugares de la zona, por lo que la cifra de muertos puede aumentar drásticamente.

La última gran reserva de los pandas
El epicentro del terremoto que ayer causó miles de muertos en China se localizó en una zona montañosa de la provincia de Sichuan, una de las mayores y más pobladas (86 millones de habitantes) de China. Vecina a la región autónoma del Tíbet, su orografía es muy variada, con paisajes de suaves colinas y campos de arrozales, pero también profundos valles, bosques frondosos y cañones glaciales. En sus bosques de bambú viven alrededor de 1.200 pandas, el 80% de los que existen en libertad en China.
El seísmo se produjo en una zona en la que hay numerosas fallas, que han provocado temblores en el pasado. Un terremoto de magnitud 7,5, en Diexi, en 1933, mató a más de 9.300 personas.
Más de 100.000 personas viven en el condado montañoso de Wenchuan, donde fue localizado el epicentro a 10 kilómetros de profundidad. A varios cientos de kilómetros se encuentra la polémica presa de las Tres Gargantas, que, según aseguró ayer la agencia oficial Xinhua, no ha resultado dañada.
En Sichuan existe una fuerte presencia de población tibetana, que protagonizó algunas revueltas tras los graves disturbios registrados en Lhasa (capital del Tíbet) el pasado marzo para protestar contra el Gobierno chino, y pedir el regreso del Dalai Lama y el respeto de la cultura y las tradiciones locales.
Sichuan, que tiene una superficie casi igual a la de España, es una de las regiones más fértiles de China, y el mayor productor de arroz, maíz y ganado vacuno y porcino del país. Pero su agricultura podría haberse visto afectada por el terremoto, ya que, de haber resultado muy dañado, podría lastrar la producción y contribuir al alza de los precios de los alimentos, cuando China vive sus niveles más altos de inflación de los últimos 12 años.

© Diario EL PAÍS S.L.

Is it time ti invade Burma?

Saturday, May. 10, 2008
Is It Time to Invade Burma?
By Romesh Ratnesar
The disaster in Burma presents the world with perhaps its most serious humanitarian crisis since the 2004 Asian tsunami. By most reliable estimates, close to 100,000 people are dead. Delays in delivering relief to the victims, the inaccessibility of the stricken areas and the poor state of Burma's infrastructure and health systems mean that number is sure to rise. With as many as 1 million people still at risk, it is conceivable that the death toll will, within days, approach that of the entire number of civilians killed in the genocide in Darfur.
So what is the world doing about it? Not much. The military regime that runs Burma initially signaled it would accept outside relief, but has imposed so many conditions on those who would actually deliver it that barely a trickle has made it through. Aid workers have been held at airports. U.N. food shipments have been seized. U.S. naval ships packed with food and medicine idle in the Gulf of Thailand, waiting for an all-clear that may never come.
Burma's rulers have relented slightly, agreeing Friday to let in supplies and perhaps even some foreign relief workers. The government says it will allow a US C-130 transport plane to land inside Burma Monday. But it's hard to imagine a regime this insular and paranoid accepting robust aid from the U.S. military, let alone agreeing to the presence of U.S. Marines on Burmese soil — as Thailand and Indonesia did after the tsunami. The trouble is that the Burmese haven't shown the ability or willingness to deploy the kind of assets needed to deal with a calamity of this scale — and the longer Burma resists offers of help, the more likely it is that the disaster will devolve beyond anyone's control. "We're in 2008, not 1908," says Jan Egeland, the former U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "A lot is at stake here. If we let them get away with murder we may set a very dangerous precedent."
That's why it's time to consider a more serious option: invading Burma. Some observers, including former USAID director Andrew Natsios, have called on the U.S. to unilaterally begin air drops to the Burmese people regardless of what the junta says. The Bush Administration has so far rejected the idea — "I can't imagine us going in without the permission of the Myanmar government," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday — but it's not without precedent: as Natsios pointed out to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. has facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid without the host government's consent in places like Bosnia and Sudan.
A coercive humanitarian intervention would be complicated and costly. During the 2004 tsunami, some 24 U.S. ships and 16,000 troops were deployed in countries across the region; the mission cost the U.S. $5 million a day. Ultimately, the U.S. pledged nearly $900 million to tsunami relief. (By contrast, it has offered just $3.25 million to Burma.) But the risks would be greater this time: the Burmese government's xenophobia and insecurity make them prone to view U.S. troops — or worse, foreign relief workers — as hostile forces. (Remember Black Hawk Down?) Even if the U.S. and its allies made clear that their actions were strictly for humanitarian purposes, it's unlikely the junta would believe them. "You have to think it through — do you want to secure an area of the country by military force? What kinds of potential security risks would that create?" says Egelend. "I can't imagine any humanitarian organization wanting to shoot their way in with food."
So what other options exist? Retired General William Nash of the Council on Foreign Relations says the U.S. should first pressure China to use its influence over the junta to get them to open up and then supply support to the Thai and Indonesian militaries to carry out relief missions. "We can pay for it — we can provide repair parts to the Indonesians so they can get their Air Force up. We can lend the them two C-130s and let them paint the Indonesian flag on them," Nash says. "We have to get the stuff to people who can deliver it and who the Burmese government will accept, even if takes an extra day or two and even if it's not as efficient as the good old U.S. military." Egeland advocates that the U.N. Security Council take punitive steps short of war, such as freezing the regime's assets and issuing warrants for the arrest of individual junta members if they were to leave the country. Similar measures succeeded in getting the government of Ivory Coast to let in foreign relief teams in 2002, Egelend says.
And if that fails? "It's important for the rulers to know the world has other options," Egeland says. "If there were, say, the threat of a cholera epidemic that could claim hundreds of thousands of lives and the government was incapable of preventing it, then maybe yes — you would intervene unilaterally." But by then, it could be too late. The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake; and the world has yet to reach a consensus about when, and under what circumstances, coercive interventions in the name of averting humanitarian disasters are permissible. As the response to the 2004 tsunami proved, the world's capacity for mercy is limitless. But we still haven't figured out when to give war a chance.

Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1739053,00.html