Myanmar needs more than food and shelter. Relief groups say the country needs human expertise for everything from purifying drinking water to mental health counseling - and right now, those experts can't get to the hard-hit delta. ...more

June 1, 2008

The U.N. secretary-general flew to Myanmar today to steer a 50-nation conference that will pledge funding for survivors of Cyclone Nargis after the country's military junta promised to open its doors to critically needed foreign help. ...more

May 25, 2008

The ruling junta said Friday that it will let foreign aid workers and commercial ships help survivors in Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta, but refused to relent on accepting aid from U.S., French and British military ships. ...more

May 24, 2008

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon flew over Myanmar's flooded Irrawaddy delta on Thursday, where the ravages of a cyclone stretched as far as the eye could see: Villages were empty of life, flattened huts dissolved into vast areas of water and people perched on rooftops. ...more

May 23, 2008

A U.S. plane ferried relief to Myanmar for the first time Monday to help nearly 2 million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation, but the U.N. chief criticized the military junta for its "unacceptably slow response." ...more

May 13, 2008

Myanmar's monumental task of feeding and sheltering 1.5 million cyclone survivors suffered yet another blow Sunday when a boat laden with relief supplies - one of the first international shipments - sank on its way to the disaster zone. ...more

May 12, 2008

Myanmar's military rulers held a referendum Saturday aimed at solidifying their hold on power while brazenly turning cyclone relief efforts into a propaganda campaign. In some cases, generals' names were scribbled onto boxes of foreign aid before being distributed. ...more

May 11, 2008

The economy in general, and the housing market in particular, is in less than ideal shape, forcing state and local governments and school districts to cut spending and in some cases eliminate jobs. The horrendous tragedy Cyclone Nargis inflicted on the Southeast Asian nation Myanmar is sending the Suncoast a sobering reminder that the start of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane season is less than three weeks away. To top all that off, the price of a gallon of gasoline is near the $4 level. ...more

May 10, 2008

Some survivors arrived half-naked, others wore clothes that they had scavenged from the dead. ...more

May 8, 2008

First lady Laura Bush condemned the military government in Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Monday for its "inept" response to a deadly weekend cyclone, marking an unusual foray by the president's spouse into a high-profile foreign policy crisis. ...more

May 6, 2008