UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the Burmese junta's decision to allow "all aid workers" into the country to help cyclone survivors, after weeks of refusing access to foreign relief experts.

Burma’s military regime distributed international aid today but plastered the boxes with names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief effort for last week’s devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise.

The UN special envoy to promote political reconciliation in Burma met Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition party members today, a day after being rebuffed by the country’s military rulers.

A day of global protests against Burma’s junta began in cities across Asia today, after the military regime admitted detaining hundreds of Buddhist monks when troops turned their guns on pro-democracy demonstrators last week.

Burma’s ruling military junta extended the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi today, defying international pressure to free the Nobel laureate.