 | 2008 MAY
May 20, 2008
Scenes of Rubble, Grief, Worry in China Quake Zone
A week after the devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Southwest China, the death toll climbed near 40,000, with estimates that some 50,000 others could be dead. Rescuers are still sifting through collapsed schools and offices in hopes of finding more survivors, but their rescue missions are becoming recovery operations.
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| May 20, 2008
China Raises Death Toll, Struggles to Aid Homeless
China raised the confirmed death toll from last week's earthquake in the Sichuan province to more than 40,000 Tuesday, with another 30,000 people still missing, as officials grappled to find shelter for some of the 5 million people displaced.
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| May 19, 2008
Myanmar Allows U.N. Officials to Tour Hard-hit Areas
U.N. officials began to tour the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar on Monday, though some U.N. staffers still reported problems gaining access to the tightly controlled country. A senior U.S. diplomat in Rangoon, also known as Yangon, provides an update.
   
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| May 19, 2008
As China Mourns, Government Navigates Quake's Aftermath
China paused for three minutes of silence Monday to remember victims of last week's earthquake and to begin three days of mourning. Margaret Warner reports from Beijing and Shanghai on how both the government and Chinese citizens are handling the crisis.
 
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| May 19, 2008
China Mourns Quake Victims as Rescues Ebb
China begins three days of mourning Monday as millions of Chinese pause from their daily lives to remember victims of the May 12 earthquake as well as offer aid to those who must now rebuild their lives.
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| May 19, 2008
Workers Killed as China Mourns Quake Victims
More than 200 workers repairing quake-shattered roads in China's Sichuan province were buried over the past three days by mudslides, state media reported Monday as millions of Chinese people paused to mark the first week since the deadly quake.
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| May 16, 2008
Aid Efforts Continue as China's Quake Toll Rises
The Chinese government revised the estimated death toll from the massive May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province to 50,000, as cleanup and rescue efforts continued.
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| May 16, 2008
U.N. Chief Details Diplomatic Efforts on Myanmar Crisis
Two major natural disasters have hit Myanmar and China in as many weeks. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discusses the two crises, and diplomatic efforts to get the Myanmar government to quicken its pace of allowing in foreign assistance.
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| May 16, 2008
Olympics Mark China's 'Coming of Age'
China's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics thrust the Asian nation into the international spotlight and is viewed by many inside the country as a way to showcase how far the communist regime has come in opening up to the world over the past few decades.
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| May 16, 2008
Olympics Highlight Press Curbs in China
Though the Chinese have made efforts to increase press freedoms for foreign journalists covering the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, reporters are still expecting to encounter some challenges based on long-standing restrictions and mentalities.
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| May 16, 2008
Beijing Pollution Poses Challenge to Olympic Athletes
Athletes participating in the Beijing Olympics this summer could face a troubling combination of polluted air and hot, humid weather conditions if the Chinese government is not able to clear the skies in time for the games.
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| May 16, 2008
Tibet Tests China's Movement on Human Rights
When China bested four other finalists to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, the win brought a new global status but also renewed scrutiny on its handling of free speech and human rights, particularly in the area of Tibet.
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| May 16, 2008
Olympic Stadiums Around the Globe
As the clock ticks down to the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, two scholars look back at the stories surrounding Olympic stadiums around the world, from the Berlin facility that survived the bombings of World War II to Athens' sky-high infrastructure costs in 2004.
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| May 16, 2008
Interactive: Compare Life in Olympic Host Cities
Wonder how much a movie ticket costs in Seoul? Or a taxi ride in Athens? Compare some facts and figures about current day-to-day life in these seven summer Olympic host cities.
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| May 16, 2008
Examining Myanmar's Military Regime
The military government in Myanmar, the country also known as Burma, has been under close scrutiny in recent days as it has resisted allowing international aid workers in the country to assist after a deadly cyclone. Two experts answered your questions on Myanmar's military government.
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| May 16, 2008
More Rain Threatens Cyclone Victims' Well-Being
Survivors of the cyclone that ravaged Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta have received little emergency aid from the country's ruling military junta, though government officials insist their relief operations are running smoothly.
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| May 15, 2008
Rescue, Recovery Continue in China Quake Zone
Rescue efforts continue around the clock in China, and as the full scope of the disaster is becoming clear, the government in Beijing warns that the death toll could pass 50,000.
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| May 15, 2008
Death Toll in China Quake Could Soar to 50,000
China said the death toll of the 7.9 magnitude quake that ravaged the country's central Sichuan Province on Monday could reach 50,000 as the government made a rare appeal to its citizens to help the rescue operation.
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| May 14, 2008
For Indiana Community, Myanmar's Cyclone Crisis Hits Home
Fort Wayne, Ind., is home to one of the largest Myanmar immigrant communities in the United States. Elizabeth Brackett reports on the community's unique perspective on the handling of the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the cyclone that devastated the country.
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| May 14, 2008
Quake Is Formidable Challenge to China's Government
Rescue and relief efforts continue in China as the death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake neared 15,000 and is expected to rise, with tens of thousands still buried in rubble. An analyst examines how the country and its government have handled the disaster.
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| May 14, 2008
Helicopters Drop Food to Isolated Earthquake Survivors in China
As the official death toll in China's massive earthquake neared 15,000 Wednesday, military helicopters dropped food and medicine to survivors who remained cut off in remote mountain villages.
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| May 13, 2008
Aid Organizations Face Continuing Hurdles in Myanmar
France, Britain and Germany called for humanitarian aid to continue to flow to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar despite sporadic government resistance. Andrew Kirkwood, country director for Save the Children in Myanmar, describes the challenges aid groups are facing.
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| May 13, 2008
Chinese Ambassador on Quake Disaster, Olympic Protests
In a NewsHour interview, Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., discusses the earthquake that hit central China this week, recent protests over Tibet that have disrupted the Olympic torch relay and the state of international relief efforts following Myanmar's cyclone.
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| May 13, 2008
NPR's Siegel Describes China Earthquake Experience
NPR's Robert Siegel, who experienced Monday's earthquake in China firsthand while on assignment in China, provides an update on the situation there.
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| May 13, 2008
Q & A With Dr. Asis Min of Doctors Without Borders
Dr. Asis Min of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is working in the aid group's operations base in Bassein in the southwestern Irrawaddy delta region of Myanmar -- the area hit hardest by the cyclone.
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| May 13, 2008
India on Alert after Blasts Kill as Many as 60
Dozens of people were killed Tuesday in western India after a series of bomb attacks ripped through the busy city of Jaipur.
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| May 13, 2008
Rescue Workers Dig to Reach Tens of Thousands Buried in China Earthquake
The most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 years killed more than 12,000 people with the death toll likely to rise with thousands more reportedly buried under crumpled buildings.
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| May 12, 2008
Myanmar's Rulers Hold Tight to Power Amid Cyclone Crisis
In the aftermath of last week's destructive cyclone, the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar has thrown a spotlight on the military junta governing the country. A former U.S. ambassador to Myanmar and professor born in the country examine the country's government structure.
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| May 12, 2008
Powerful Earthquake Destroys Buildings, Builds Mountains in China
There's a saying among seismologists: "Earthquakes don't kill people. Buildings do."
The powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked central China on Monday afternoon, killing upwards of 8,500 people, was a grim reminder of that common phrase.
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| May 12, 2008
Aid Official Discusses Challenges of Working in Myanmar
The military regime governing Myanmar has been slow to relax its grip on things even in the wake of the current humanitarian crisis there, which has drawn criticism from many quarters. An official with a nonprofit working in Myanmar describes the challenges they face there.
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| May 12, 2008
Earthquake Rocks Western China, Killing Thousands
A earthquake devastated southwestern China on Monday, killing as many as 10,000 people and trapping hundreds of others under flattened buildings, state media reported. After an update on the impact of the quake, Time Magazine's Beijing correspondent, Austin Ramzy, discusses details and rescue efforts.
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| May 12, 2008
Death Toll in China's 7.9 Earthquake Nears 9,000
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake rocked central China on Monday, killing nearly 9,000 in Sichuan province's Beichuan county and trapping students in at least eight schools, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
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| May 12, 2008
Sharif's Party Pulls Out of Pakistan Cabinet
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Monday his party was withdrawing from the cabinet -- though it still supported the coalition government -- because of a dispute over restoring judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf.
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| May 11, 2008
More Aid Enters Myanmar; Referendum Vote Held
Food and water began reaching more of Myanmar's cyclone victims Sunday, but the government made no indication that it would allow foreign aid workers into the country to distribute the goods.
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| May 9, 2008
Damage in Myanmar Is Revealed as Aid Trickles In
As thousands of people in Myanmar continue to languish in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, humanitarian assistance is slowly trickling in despite disputes with the country's military rulers over the distribution of the aid. Two aid officials update the situation.
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| May 9, 2008
Cyclone Nargis Batters Myanmar
A cyclone that smashed into Myanmar flattened villages, knocked out electricity and immersed low-lying regions. U.N. officials warned of an eventual death toll of 100,000 due to a lack of food and water and the risk of disease.
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| May 9, 2008
U.N. Resumes Aid to Myanmar Despite Junta Actions
The U.N. World Food Program said Friday it would continue to send aid to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, despite the military government seizing the supplies at the airport in order to distribute the shipments on its own.
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| May 8, 2008
Aid Begins to Trickle Into Myanmar but Recovery Is Slow
The first relief shipments arrived in Myanmar Thursday after resistance from the country's reclusive military government to foreign assistance. Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Rangoon, and UNICEF's Richard Bridle discuss the aid response for the tens of thousands left homeless by the cyclone.
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| May 8, 2008
U.N. Aid Begins Arriving in Cyclone-damaged Myanmar
Shipments of food, medicine and other relief items began arriving in Myanmar Thursday to help victims of a cyclone that battered the country on Saturday, but U.S. military planes loaded with supplies were still being denied access.
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| May 7, 2008
Death Toll Rises in Myanmar as Aid Groups Face Obstacles
A senior U.S diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that the death toll from Tropical Cyclone Nargis could reach 100,000, as disease outbreaks remain a threat and some aid groups face difficulty gaining access to the country. A United Nations official discusses efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the military-ruled country.
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| May 7, 2008
Myanmar Pressured to Let in Aid Workers
U.N. officials on Wednesday urged the Myanmar government to allow aid workers to distribute relief goods throughout the country, following a cyclone that could result in the deaths of 100,000 people as conditions worsen, a U.S. diplomat said.
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| May 6, 2008
Cyclone Death Toll Soars as Myanmar Reels From Disaster
The estimated death toll from Saturday's cyclone in Myanmar increased to 22,000 Tuesday with 41,000 still missing and possibly 1 million left homeless, according to relief agencies. The head of the U.S. embassy in Rangoon and a reporter recap the situation.
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| May 6, 2008
Indonesia Mulls Quitting OPEC; Oil Prices Leap Past $122 a Barrel
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday that his country is considering dropping out of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries based on its declining oil output.
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| May 6, 2008
Death Toll Surpasses 22,000 in Myanmar; Groups Poised to Rush in Aid
Myanmar's government raised the death toll from the weekend's cyclone to more than 22,000 on Tuesday and said another 41,000 were missing, as aid groups awaited visas to bring supplies to the devastated Asian nation.
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| May 5, 2008
Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Could Top 10,000
The foreign minister of Myanmar's strict military junta said Monday that the death toll from Saturday's cyclone strike could continue to skyrocket.
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| May 5, 2008
Relief for World Food Crisis Made More Difficult by Cyclones, Riots
In the wake of the devastating cyclone in Myanmar and widespread rioting in Somalia, the international community continues to try and respond with food relief programs to confront the rising need. World Food Program's head Josette Sheeran discusses the relief efforts.
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| May 5, 2008
Massive Cyclone Ravages Myanmar, Tests Government
A large cyclone hit the nation of Myanmar Saturday, bringing widespread damage and causing major harm to its citizens, killing upwards of 10,000 people. Relief agencies are rushing to respond, and the event is seen by many as a test of the military junta's ability to direct the relief effort.
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| APRIL
April 30, 2008
Afghan Forces Target Taliban in Kabul in Latest Bout of Unrest
Afghan security forces engaged in a firefight with Taliban fighters in the capital city of Kabul Wednesday, blowing up a home and reportedly killing two militants and a woman and child inside. Two analysts assess the security situation in Afghanistan.
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| April 29, 2008
China Sentences 30 to Prison for Roles in Protests
A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced 30 people, including six monks, to jail terms ranging from three years to life in prison for their alleged roles in deadly riots in the Tibetan capital last month, state media reported.
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| April 28, 2008
Afghan President Escapes Assassination Attempt
Afghan security officials on Monday hunted for suspects in the attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai during an attack that killed three people.
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ASIA-PACIFIC
