About 18,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled fresh violence in Burma and crossed into Bangladesh, with hundreds stranded in no man's land at the border, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Optimistic analysts hope the appalling suffering in Burma will inevitably lead to the collapse of the junta and its replacement by a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s a forlorn hope: the Burmese army is willing to kill civilians in large numbers. So long as the army stays united, nothing will change

The UN pleaded with Burma’s secretive government today to open its doors to foreign experts who could help up to two million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation.

A Burmese army helicopter crashed today, killing a general in the ruling military junta and two cabinet ministers.