U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived Thursday in cyclone-damaged Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to meet with Senior Gen. Than Shwe in hopes of convincing the stringent military junta to loosen restrictions on international aid.

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.

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.