"It's a mark upon the military that never will be erased."

Military-ruled Myanmar, among the globe's poorest and most authoritarian nations, is reeling from a natural disaster of such magnitude that both the people's suffering and political aftershocks are certain to ... via Detroit News

"The Myanmar (Burma) government told us it has reopened the Thilawa port ... as another channel to receive international humanitarian aid"

Burma's main port in the former capital Rangoon has re-opened after Cyclone Nargis and will receive a shipment of diesel from Thailand, and a planeload of aid from the US is also due to arrive in the city. via The Sydney Morning Herald

"That would seem to be the major reason why the oil price has lost a little of ground in U.S. dollar terms"

A passenger glances at a protester displaying a placard Sunday, May 11, 2008 at Manila's Quezon city to urge motorists to join a nationwide public transport strike set for Monday to protest the weekly price ... via Kansas.com

Around 900 high school students have been buried after a powerful earthquake rocked China, collapsing buildings and killing dozens of people. via Telegraph.co.uk

"If Thailand sets up a rice cartel and fixes a price, that will make matters worse and worsen food security."

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Thailand drops plan for rice cartel BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand is dropping plans to create a Southeast Asian rice cartel that would have fixed the price of the skyrocketing commodity ... via Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro

"What we are sending in by road is in addition to the supplies we have already procured locally in Yangon and the 100 tons of supplies we started airlifting today from Dubai."

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said its first trucks had arrived in Burma Saturday from Mae Sot without a problem, carrying 20 tonnes of emergency aid for survivors of the cyclone. via Bangkok Post

"There may be cases were neighbors came back and because of the tidal surge, the bodies were dispersed"

As the bloated bodies rise and fall with the current, women scrub clothes along the river bank, villagers bathe to cool themselves and a lone child sits on a dock staring aimlessly into the water.

But with little aid getting through to desperate cyclone survivors, the dead have largely been forgotten _ left to decay where the brackish waters carried them or waiting to be pulled out to sea by the rising tides.

'The first few we saw, we were all very shocked,' said U Pinyatale, a monk from the area who has prayed for the dead. 'After a while, there were just too many.' Read more

"The trading mantra that we observed the last few months between the movement of the U.S. dollar and oil price movements appears not to hold water the last few days"

BANGKOK, Thailand - Oil prices held steady Thursday in Asia after jumping to a record near $124 a barrel as investors captivated by the market's upward momentum seemed to ignore figures showing an increase in ... via Newsday.com

"This appears to me to be computer-generated buying"

R.T. Taylor, a cab driver since 1956, fills up his Chicago Carriage Cab Co. coach at $4.16 per gallon Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Chicago. via The Florida Times-Union

"We are committed to further accelerate our work in order to reach consensus on all of the elements which include concrete conditions eligible for borrowing and contents of convenants specified in borrowing arrangements"

Finance ministers of 13 Asian nations agreed here on Sunday to set up a foreign exchange pool of at least 80 billion dollars to be used in the event of another regional crisis. via Maktoob Business