ZIMBABWEAN playwright Cont Mhlanga, who has challenged President Robert Mugabe’s rule throughout his career, has been awarded a new prize celebrating the role the arts can play in promoting human rights.

BURMA’s ruling generals have accused foreign media of tarnishing the country’s image by reporting that cyclone victims have not received any assistance.

The UN’s envoy to Burma suggested today that the country’s military rulers should be offered incentives to move toward democratic reforms.

Police in riot gear fired warning shots to disperse more than 100 Buddhist monks who defied the Burmese military government’s ban on public assembly today by trying to penetrate a barricade blocking Rangoon’s famed Shwedagon Pagoda.