Myanmar’s ruling junta lashed out at foreign aid donors Friday, saying cyclone victims did not need supplies of “chocolate bars” and could instead survive by eating frogs and fish. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, also warned that foreign relief workers could snoop inside homes, and condemned donors for linking aid money to full access to the hardest-hit... 

A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 has hit southern Iceland, 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Reykjavik. In the town of Selfoss, near the epicentre, buildings were damaged and up to 20 people needed treatment for minor injuries, reports say. Residents in the capital felt buildings shake and aftershocks were felt in the south-west of the country. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck... 

CHENGDU, China: Rain grounded helicopters and hampered attempts Thursday to drain an earthquake-created lake in central China threatening to flood disaster victims. The new Tangjiashan lake above the city of Beichuan was formed by a landslide triggered by the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck May 12, blocking a river. The lake has been rising by several yards (meters) a day. With roads to the area... 

MANILA - Indonesia’s foreign minister chided Myanmar on Wednesday for extending the detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the first criticism of the junta’s move by a fellow Southeast Asian nation. Hassan Wirajuda told reporters in Manila that the action by Myanmar’s generals was even more regrettable since it came while the world was busy helping Myanmar recover from a killer... 

BANGKOK - Donor nations, meeting yesterday in Burma, pressed the government to make good on its promise to allow foreign aid workers free access to millions of isolated cyclone survivors. Leading the one-day meeting of 52 countries, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, said that the government was “moving fast in the right direction” and that he was confident Burma would... 

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has claimed 62,664 lives and left 358,816 injured and 23,775 missing as of 00:00 a.m. Sunday, according to the State Council Information Office. Guo Weimin, director of the State Council Information Office, announced the latest official statistics concerning the Wenchuan quake on behalf of the State Council General... 

The Burmese military government today agreed to let in “all” aid workers to help the 2.4 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis. The junta’s leader, General Than Shwe, made the announcement during a meeting with the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. The decision comes some three weeks after the devastating cyclone swept through the south-east Asian country, leaving nearly 134,000 dead... 

Experts warily monitored dozens of lakes and the natural dams that formed them during China’s earthquake to see if aftershocks could unleash flooding, and the death toll from the quake rose Friday to more than 55,000. Hardest-hit Sichuan province also announced plans to rebuild within three years, as it copes with the aftermath of the May 12 temblor that left some 5 million homeless. The province... 

A LUOSHUI TOWN state tv reported as troops dug burial pits in this quake-shattered town and black smoke poured from crematorium chimneys elsewhere in central China as priorities began shifting Thursday from the hunt for survivors to dealing with the dead. Officials said the final toll could more than double to 50,000. Thousands of residents poured onto the streets of areas near the epicentre and in... 

At least 10 people have been killed in a suicide attack in the heart of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, the army says. Seven police personnel, two civilians and the bomber died when a motorcycle packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying police, officials said. The blast happened near the Hilton Hotel and a twin-tower commercial building at around 1230 local time (0700 GMT). Doctor Hector...