The Ovi magazine today!

Coping in the Cape by Fiona Zerbst
Rozena Maart, winner of the Journey Prize for emerging authors, offers five intriguing short stories in her debut collection Rosa's District 6.

BDM: Towards a Democratic Burma Without Rohingyas? by Rohingya Human Rights
The issue of the Burmese citizenship of Rohingyas and their ethnic status in their ancestral land Arakan has come up as one of the most talked about issues in the world media as well as in the regional political arena of the South Asia.
10 Helsinginkatu: Chapter 8 by Thanos Kalamidas
I pretended leaving so Marc wouldn't feel uncomfortable following the other two upstairs where the other members of the lonely hearts club was waiting and when I reached the bar on the ground floor turned and ordered another bourbon.

Swedish report by Euro Reporter
Euro Reporter heads to Sweden...

Burma blocks emergency telecoms

Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Burma.

The members of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) left the country after attempts to reach affected areas were blocked. The charity, which described the situation as "unprecedented", said it had no other choice but to leave. TSF finally reached Burma on 1 June after waiting nearly a month to be granted visas to enter the country.

The worst cyclone that has hit Burma is the dictatorship and the dead are countless!

Burma’ junta policy costs lives

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has accused Burma of causing the loss of tens of thousands of lives by hindering international cyclone relief efforts.

Mr. Gates said the United States had had ships and aircraft ready to help after Cyclone Nargis hit a month ago. Unlike Indonesia and Bangladesh after major natural disasters, Burma had denied entry to the country, he said.

An estimated 2.4m people remain homeless and hungry following the cyclone, which struck on 2 May. "Many other countries besides the United States also have felt hindered in their efforts," said Mr. Gates, speaking at a security conference in Singapore. "Despite these obstructions, we continue to get help into Burma, and remain poised to provide more," he added.

Burma and Myanmar’s dictators have proved in practice that democracy ….saves lives!!!

Burma closures camp

A senior UN official has said that any coercion of Burmese cyclone victims to return home is completely unacceptable.

Terje Skavdal's remarks follow reports that Burma's military government had begun to evict homeless families from some government-run emergency camps. It has given them bamboo poles and tarpaulins and told them to go and rebuild their lives, say reports.

An estimated 2.4m people remain homeless and hungry following Cyclone Nargis, which struck on 2 May. Mr. Skavdal, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said he could not confirm the camp closures but pointed out that the agency did not endorse premature return to areas with no services.

"People need to be assisted in the settlements and satisfactory conditions need to be created before they can return to their place of origins," said Mr. Skavdal. "Any forced or coerced movement of people is completely unacceptable."

After the cyclone the Myanmar gangsters on uniform kill the survivors themselves!

Burma neighbors in talks

The Association of South East Asian Nations is holding urgent talks to discuss ways of helping Burma's cyclone victims.

Foreign ministers meeting in Singapore hope Burma's military rulers - who have so far blocked most large-scale foreign aid offers - will accept Asean help. But correspondents say the grouping cannot force a solution on a member, as decisions are only made by consensus.

Burma says some 78,000 people have died since the cyclone hit on 2 May. But aid agencies say many more may die without urgent help - according to Save the Children, some 30,000 acutely malnourished children less than five years of age in Burma are threatened by death from starvation.

Let’s see, a bit more push and the dictators might go to a cyclone …hell for good and leave Burma free!

The Ovi magazine today

The gangsters of Myanmar by Thanos Kalamidas
What happens this minute in Burma is heartbreaking and the only way to put the way I feel is that I'm really angry. I'm really angry with the international community that has failed to stop once more a crime against humanity.

Richard Rorty's Unflinching Critique of Modern Western Philosophy by Emanuel L. Paparella
While writing a Ph.D. dissertation at Yale University on immanence and transcendence in Giambattista Vico's concept of Providence I serendipitously discovered the late Richard Rorty's 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature'.

Globalization and National Identities - The Society of Negotiation by Dimitra Karantzeni
To start with, globalization can be interpreted from many different perspectives: economic, social, psychological, political, and even philosophical.

Latvian Report by Euro Reporter
Latvia welcomes Euro Reporter for a short investigative visit.

France angered by Burmese delays

France's ambassador to the UN has accused Burma's government of being on the verge of committing a crime against humanity by not accepting foreign aid.

Jean-Maurice Ripert made the comment during a General Assembly session, after Burma's UN ambassador accused France of sending a warship to region. France says the ship is carrying 1,500 tons of food and medicine for survivors of Cyclone Nargis. State TV has put the official death toll of the 2 May storm at 78,000.

For how long? How long these people are going to rule this poor country? How long the international community will let these criminals rule the lives of the Burma people?

Children facing death

Thousands of children in cyclone-hit Burma will starve to death within weeks unless food reaches them soon, UK charity Save the Children has warned.

The charity said 30,000 under-fives in the Irrawaddy Delta were malnourished before Cyclone Nargis hit on 2 May. It says energy-rich food now needs to reach them "before it is too late".

The warning comes as a UN envoy is due in Burma to join international efforts to try to persuade the ruling junta to grant more access to relief workers. Humanitarian envoy John Holmes will carry a letter from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Burma's leader, Than Shwe, who has refused to answer Mr. Ban's calls.

Perhaps it is time for Mr. Ban to stop …calling and act, even though that will come as a surprise to what he has done till now!!!

Burma death toll 78,000

The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV.

Previously, Burma was giving a toll of 43,000 dead and 28,000 missing while the Red Cross and United Nations had estimated a death toll above 100,000. Aid agencies are frustrated at the slow progress of aid to areas worst hit. Cyclone Nargis battered southern regions of Burma, including the Irrawaddy Delta, on 2-3 May.

The dictators of Burma must go soon, the longer they stay the higher the dearth roll will be!

McCain adviser leaves over Myanmar

Doug Goodyear, McCain’s Convention chief executive officer, and Doug Davenport, one of his regional campaign managers, both resigned after a report that GOP firm DCI — where Goodyear had served as CEO and Davenport had headed the lobbying effort — had represented Myanmar’s ruling military junta.

“Today I offered my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign,” Goodyear wrote in a statement released by the McCain campaign Sunday. “I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign.”

At least we know where we are standing, George W. Bush had a soft point for Pakistan’s Musharraf, McCain has it for Myanmar’s dictators

Burma votes amid cyclone

A constitutional referendum is being held in Burma despite calls from the outside world for a postponement after last week's devastating cyclone.

Voting is under way in most of the country - but has been delayed in the worst-hit areas, including Rangoon. The poll comes amid mounting international criticism of Burma's military rulers for their handling of the response to the crisis. They say they will welcome overseas aid but not foreign relief workers.

The UN fears the death toll from the cyclone could reach 100,000. The referendum has been postponed for two weeks in Rangoon, the country's main city, and the Irrawaddy delta, which took the full force of Cyclone Nargis. The country's ruling generals say the referendum will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010, while the opposition says it is intended to tighten the generals' rule.

Democracy might not feed people but definitely saves lives and Burma nowadays is the best prove why the dictators must go the soonest possible.

The dictators screw Burma disappointing even UN

The UN says it is extremely disappointed at the slow progress made in securing access to victims of last weekend's cyclone in Burma.

Humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters that Burma's response was "nothing like as much as is needed". In addition to at least 23,000 people who died in the storm and tidal surge, 1.5 million are at risk, he said. Some supplies have been allowed into Burma but many more tones of aid, and dozens of foreign staff, have not.

To disappoint Ki-moon needs a lot of effect and proves how dangerous the dictators of Burma are!

Burma aid delays

Burma's dictators are facing growing international concern over their reluctance to accept foreign aid, days after the devastating cyclone.

The UN says its planes carrying vital food supplies cannot enter because they still do not have permission to land. The regional Asean group has urged the military regime to allow in aid flights "before it's too late".

A US diplomat said conditions were "horrendous" and warned the death toll could top 100,000 if they worsened. Teams reaching some of the worst-hit areas have described harrowing scenes. Some aid workers reported bodies rotting in the fields and desperate survivors fighting over food and water.

What the dictators’ fear? That with food the airplanes will bring democracy?

Aid call from Burma

International agencies are pushing to gain access for a massive aid operation in Burma, where the toll from Saturday's cyclone continues to rise.

State media say 10,000 people died in one town alone, and put the number of dead at 15,000. Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be without clean water and shelter, with some areas still cut-off.

Burma's dictators say they will accept external help, in a move correspondents say reflects the scale of the disaster. The military government has traditionally been suspicious of aid agencies, limiting their activities.

Perhaps this catastrophe is a chance for the dictators the drug dealers of Burma to go for good!

Burma cyclone with 243 dead

A tropical cyclone has killed at least 243 people in Burma and damaged thousands of buildings, according to state television.

Parts of the Irrawaddy region were hit particularly badly, with three out of four buildings blown down in one district. Burma has declared Irrawaddy and four other regions, including the main city Rangoon, to be disaster areas.

Rangoon has been without power and water, its streets full of debris. Winds of about 190km/h (120mph) battered the Irrawaddy, Rangoon, Bago, Karen and Mon regions. Military and police personnel have been carrying out rescue operations Cyclone Nargis has since moved towards Thailand where storm warnings have been issued. However, it appears to be lessening in force.

One of the worst dictatorships in history was not enough with Burma people they have to deal with nature also!