Burmese politicians and activists shocked by the assassination of an adviser to leader Aung San Suu Kyi gathered on Monday at a cemetery for an emotional funeral ceremony.

Burma’s isolationist military regime gave the go-ahead for the first major airlift of international aid into the country today, while dragging its feet on urgently requested visas by foreign agencies several days after a devastating cyclone.

Protesters ventured out onto the streets of Rangoon today in defiance of a brutal military crackdown by the Burmese regime.

Burma’s main political and economic allies, China and Japan, joined other nations around the world in urging the country to use peaceful means to restore stability.