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United Nations sends envoy to Burma as death toll soars
New effort to persuade Burmese generals to accept aid, as death toll from cyclone nears 78,000
UK demands repayment of climate aid

Developing countries attack plan to offer warming help as loans instead of grants
Saudis reject Bush's oil price appeal
US president makes renewed appeal to help cut record oil prices, during visit to Saudi Arabia
- Oil hits new record
Zimbabwe sets date for runoff

Tsvangirai says he will participate in June 27 election but adds that violence has to cease
Drug raid finds suburb leafier than most
Sydney police find huge cannabis operation in converted houses, hiding crop valued at £4m
- Australians flee UK in droves as credit woes bite

China earthquake

Anger, fear and a few rays of hope

Grieving survivors of Sichuan's disaster ask why so many of the victims were children
Great white hope

Does this week's decision to list polar bears as 'threatened' finally hand victory to the greens?
68% of Italians want Roma expelled - poll

Government accused of stoking racial tension as yobs boast of ethnic cleansing after attacks
Truffle kerfuffle grips Italy

DNA traces of Chinese truffle on tree roots in Italy 'could spell disaster' for Italian truffle traders

Multimedia

$Cyclone survivors reach out for food aid in Rangoon. The UN said it was delivering only a fraction of the emergency rations needed$

Brown condemns 'inhuman' Burma leaders over aid

May 17 2008:
PM issues Britain's strongest criticism of Burma's military rulers yet for blocking distribution of relief to cyclone survivors
Flood fears spark evacuation from quake-hit city

May 17 2008:
Official death toll in China rises to almost 29,000 as thousands of people are evacuated from areas near the epicentre amid fears of flooding
Housing worker smuggled baby to get council flat

May 17 2008:
Support worker at Kensington Housing Trust bought boy in Nigeria for £150 and used forged birth certificate to get visa for him
Hebron is a ghost town where joggers carry automatic rifles

May 17 2008:
Ian Jack: For the settlers, subsidies and tax breaks have become as important a motive as Deuteronomy
Weak dollar and supply worries push oil to fresh high of $128

May 17 2008:
Crude oil price increased sixfold in past eight years, fuelling debate about dwindling resources
Time to decide: are we with the Germans or the Irish?

May 17 2008:
Martin Kettle: As referendums return to centre stage, we should heed one of the wisest speakers on the subject: Margaret Thatcher
Sacrificial lamb

May 17 2008:
Leader: The refusal of the ruling coalition to accept the resignation of Sharif's ministers is a sign of the gravity of the situation
Face to faith

May 17 2008:
It is vital that children are taught humanism's answers to life's 'ultimate questions', says Andrew Copson

Boy, three, suffering from sickle cell disease to be deported

May 17 2008:
Home Office to deport sick child in spite of protests from asylum rights campaigners
Global health for all

May 17 2008:
Letter: Thirty years ago governments signed the declaration of Alma Ata
Beijing open to foreign aid and scrutiny in wake of tragedy

May 17 2008:
Officials say earthquake could accelerate liberalisation by China's government, as censorship of internet is lifted
Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah

May 17 2008:
Obituary: A key figure in the politics of Kuwait, he was cast aside as emir after only nine days
Shifting sands

May 17 2008:
As Kuwaitis go to the polls today many are disillusioned with their fragile and inefficient democracy, writes Ian Black
Power, intrigue and a horse ... curtain goes up on Catherine the Great, the musical

May 16 2008: Composer, Sergei Dreznin plans to take show of life and loves of legendary tyrant to London
Ancient bust of Caesar found in French river

May 15 2008: Bust of Roman ruler shows a man in his fifties with receding hair