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Ban Ki-moon is not a man known for taking risks. Yet his decision to visit Burma and meet its secretive military rulers - at a time when the rest of the world is outraged by their decision to put opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on trial - is quite a gamble.
 Mr Ban has been criticised for his unassertive style of diplomacy |
The visit was requested by the Burmese government.
The generals are rarely graced by the presence of figures of Mr Ban's international stature in their bunker-like capital Nay Pyi Taw.
If the secretary-general gets nothing in return, he will be assailed by his detractors for being naive, for allowing the status of his high office to be used by a pariah regime.
Critics have already argued that a UN secretary-general's visit should be a prize, to be awarded after significant concessions have been made, not before.
But if Mr Ban's visit can revive a dialogue between the military and the opposition that has been dead for six years, he can chalk up the greatest achievements at the UN to date.
So what are his prospects?
Previous UN envoys have generally had little success in Burma.
 |  Burma's rulers are prepared to sit in splendid isolation if they feel threatened by international pressure   |
The one exception was Razali Ismail, a distinguished Malaysian diplomat, who was appointed UN Special Envoy to Burma in April 2000.
He helped broker talks between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi that resulted in her release from house arrest in May 2002.
But after she was detained again a year later, Mr Razali was repeatedly denied entry to the country, and he resigned in frustration at the end of 2005.
His successor, Ibrahim Gambari, has led eight missions to Burma, but has little to show for them.
He arrived there right after the army's violent suppression of mass anti-government protests in September 2007, and thought he had been given assurances by Senior General Than Shwe that the military would be lenient with the protesters.
Since then, in a seemingly calculated snub to international opinion, military-dominated courts have imposed harsh sentences on hundreds of political prisoners.
Election risk
Ban Ki-moon's position as secretary-general may make it easier for him to deal with the notoriously reclusive and stubborn military ruler.
It may be that his oft-criticised unassertive diplomatic style strikes a chord with Than Shwe.
Mr Ban certainly seems to feel he has a rapport with him, a big claim to make after just one meeting over a year ago - but a claim nonetheless that few other international figures can rival.
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What we do know is that Burma's rulers are prepared to sit in splendid isolation if they feel threatened by international pressure - the networks of tunnels being constructed underneath the new capital, with North Korean help, are testimony to that.
But they do care about their legitimacy and respectability in the world.
Why else take the risk of holding elections next year, albeit elections which will leave the military in a dominant position?
Mr Ban must seduce them with offers of respect away from the comfort zone of their bunkers.
The few people who have any contact with top Burmese officials say they have been genuinely caught off-guard by the storm of international protest over Aung San Suu Kyi.
That the trial has been repeatedly delayed suggests they have concerns - dissident trials are usually rushed through with little due-process - so there is some willingness to acknowledge world reaction.
Dialogue test
Measuring the success of Mr Ban's mission will be difficult.
He may win the release of a number of political prisoners. Some will dismiss this as a mere token, but such concessions do matter.
Mr Ban has a list of those of greatest concern to the UN; some are being held in very harsh conditions. Dozens of political prisoners have died in custody over the years.
 Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party was brutally suppressed by the army |
He almost certainly will not obtain Ms Suu Kyi's release. The real test will be what happens over the next few months - whether a real dialogue can be restarted with the opposition.
Another test will be whether next year's election can be made more inclusive.
At the moment the main opposition party, Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, says it will only consider taking part if the military government meets a series of demands including the release of political prisoners and changes to the military-drafted constitution.
As it stands, the election result is likely to be dismissed by many countries around the world as too unrepresentative and too tightly controlled by the military to be recognised officially.
Yet Than Shwe clings to the hope that the election will give his rule international legitimacy.
The election will, though, make meaningful changes to the arbitrary way Burma is ruled by a small cabal of military men.
If it can be improved, if the military can be persuaded to allow the opposition a greater role - these are very big ifs - it could offer the country a way out of its current dire predicament.
This is a prize Ban Ki-moon clearly thinks is worth pursuing.
 Mr Webb, who has links with Barack Obama, is on a tour of the region |
US Senator Jim Webb has arrived in Burma on a visit during which he is to meet military ruler Than Shwe.
He would be the most senior US official to meet Than Shwe, the Democratic senator's office said in a statement.
He visits days after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for 18 more months.
Adding to international condemnation, the UN Security Council has expressed its "serious concern" and the EU extended sanctions against Burma.
Mr Webb, who is close to US President Barack Obama, is due to meet Than Shwe on Saturday, a Burmese official said.
He is not expected to meet Ms Suu Kyi or American John Yettaw, whose uninvited visit to her home led to the trial which ended on Tuesday.
Four senior members of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) have been invited to Burma's administrative capital, Nay Pyi Taw, "to meet with an important person", party spokesman Nyan Win said, adding that it was unclear if that person was Than Shwe or Jim Webb.
'Watered-down' statement
Ms Suu Kyi was put on trial in May after Mr Yettaw swam to her lakeside home, evading guards. She was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by sheltering Mr Yettaw and after many delays, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison.
Although the sentence was commuted to 18 months house arrest by Than Shwe, it ensures the opposition leader cannot take in planned elections next year.
Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
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A UN Security Council statement on Thursday expressed "serious concern" at the sentence and urged the release of all political prisoners.
Correspondents said the statement was watered down from an original US draft, which "condemned" the verdict and demanded that Burma's military junta free Ms Suu Kyi.
The main reason for the weaker language was China - a powerful permanent member of the council, with close ties to Burma's rulers, says the BBC's Tom Lane at the UN.
Together with Russia it has blocked strongly-worded condemnations in the past, our correspondent adds.
The US, Britain and France were among countries to condemn the verdict, but Burma's neighbour China said the world should respect Burma's laws.
| FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE |
The EU said judges involved in Ms Suu Kyi's sentencing would now join military and government figures in having their overseas assets frozen and travel to the EU banned.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) told the BBC that imposing sanctions could lead to problems and that it was important to take a balanced approach to dealing with Burma.
President Obama said earlier this year that the US was reviewing its policy towards Burma.
Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said increased US engagement with Burma, including investment, might be possible if Ms Suu Kyi were freed. But she also warned that there were concerns over the transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea to Burma.
Mr Webb chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs. He has called for more "constructive" US engagement with Burma but said in July that the trial of Ms Suu Kyi would make this difficult.
| Mr Webb, who has links with Barack Obama, is on a tour of the region |
US Senator Jim Webb has arrived in Burma on a visit during which he is to meet military ruler Than Shwe.
He would be the most senior US official to meet Than Shwe, the Democratic senator's office said in a statement.
He visits days after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for 18 more months.
Adding to international condemnation, the UN Security Council has expressed its "serious concern" and the EU extended sanctions against Burma.
Mr Webb, who is close to US President Barack Obama, is due to meet Than Shwe on Saturday, a Burmese official said.
He is not expected to meet Ms Suu Kyi or American John Yettaw, whose uninvited visit to her home led to the trial which ended on Tuesday.
Four senior members of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) have been invited to Burma's administrative capital, Nay Pyi Taw, "to meet with an important person", party spokesman Nyan Win said, adding that it was unclear if that person was Than Shwe or Jim Webb.
'Watered-down' statement
Ms Suu Kyi was put on trial in May after Mr Yettaw swam to her lakeside home, evading guards. She was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by sheltering Mr Yettaw and after many delays, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison.
Although the sentence was commuted to 18 months house arrest by Than Shwe, it ensures the opposition leader cannot take in planned elections next year.
Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
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A UN Security Council statement on Thursday expressed "serious concern" at the sentence and urged the release of all political prisoners.
Correspondents said the statement was watered down from an original US draft, which "condemned" the verdict and demanded that Burma's military junta free Ms Suu Kyi.
The main reason for the weaker language was China - a powerful permanent member of the council, with close ties to Burma's rulers, says the BBC's Tom Lane at the UN.
Together with Russia it has blocked strongly-worded condemnations in the past, our correspondent adds.
The US, Britain and France were among countries to condemn the verdict, but Burma's neighbour China said the world should respect Burma's laws.
| FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE |
The EU said judges involved in Ms Suu Kyi's sentencing would now join military and government figures in having their overseas assets frozen and travel to the EU banned.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) told the BBC that imposing sanctions could lead to problems and that it was important to take a balanced approach to dealing with Burma.
President Obama said earlier this year that the US was reviewing its policy towards Burma.
Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said increased US engagement with Burma, including investment, might be possible if Ms Suu Kyi were freed. But she also warned that there were concerns over the transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea to Burma.
Mr Webb chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs. He has called for more "constructive" US engagement with Burma but said in July that the trial of Ms Suu Kyi would make this difficult.
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|  I want to be a teacher and help others like myself realise their dreams Shashi Arya |
A dream has come true for 135 young people living in slums across the Indian capital, Delhi.
All have just started classes after successfully getting admission into Delhi University.
Coming from poor families, none of them ever imagined they would go to college. But it has happened with the help of a local non-governmental organisation.
They have helped them in everything from filling out forms, buying books and paying their tuition fees.
Myriad problems
Eighteen-year-old Shashi Arya is a bubbly girl, who loves to tell her story.
|  We knew we had to build their confidence and tell them that they are no less than anyone else Asha founder Kiran Martin |
Her family lives in one room in a slum in south Delhi. The lanes leading to her home are narrow and crowded.
Families live cheek by jowl and they face myriad problems including a lack of water and electricity.
There is also the fear of losing their home as the Delhi government is determined to demolish all slums within the city before the Commonwealth Games are held here next year.
Despite all this Shashi is one of the young women who has got into university this year, helped by the organisation Asha. This is something she never believed could happen.
"Of course I had dreams of going to college," Shashi says, "but because my family is so poor, all I could think of was getting a job to help them.
"I want to be a teacher and help others like myself realise their dreams."
When her father refused to pay for her to study anymore, Shashi did it herself by tutoring other children and making money.
She has just begun a BA programme at Maitreyi College with financial help from Asha.
Neglected
Another grateful beneficiary of the scheme is 19-year-old Mahesh Sharma, from a family of six, who is doing his BA in geography.
 Opportunities are few and far between in Delhi's slums |
Studying was a big problem for him with so many family members living in one room.
Such obstacles are numerous for students from poorer backgrounds, says Asha founder Kiran Martin.
"We have college preparation workshops, because we knew that there's going to be a problem of integration," she said.
"Since these children have always lived on the margins of society, they've in fact never in their lives mixed and mingled with children that are much wealthier than them.
"So what basically we did was try and prepare them because we knew we had to build their confidence and tell them that they are no less than anyone else - and at the end of the day the great equaliser will be how well they do in their exams."
Most of these students are the first in their families to go to college. Of the 135 students, more than 40% are women, who are usually the most neglected when it comes to education in poorer fa  Nehwal also became the first Indian to win a Super series tournament |
Shuttler Saina Nehwal has become the first Indian woman to enter the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championship being played in India.
Nehwal beat 10th seed Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 in a match which lasted 57 minutes.
She recently won the Indonesian Open badminton title and became the first Indian to win a Super series tourney.
Nehwal, now ranked eighth in the world, was the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarter-finals at the Olympics.
In a thrilling match in front of a home crowd in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Nehwal lost the opening game against Nedelcheva, but bounced back.
The sixth seed Indian will now take on the second seed Chinese Lin Wang in the quarter finals.
The 19-year-old shuttler hails from the northern state of Haryana.
Nehwal is also the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championship| |
 Ramon Fil says he was tricked into signing away more land |
Romam Fil is moving rapidly through a dense patch of forest. Every few metres he pauses and points to edible plants and roots that the Jarai people of north eastern Cambodia have relied on for generations.
Then suddenly the trees come to an end. In front of us is a vast clearing, the red earth churned up and dotted with tree stumps.
Beyond that, stretching as far as we can see is a rubber plantation, the young trees are still thin and spindly and sway gently in the breeze.
This is the scene of a battle the Jarai people of Kong Yu village have been fighting, and losing for the past five years.
It started when local officials called a meeting and said they needed some of the forest.
"They told us they wanted to give part of our land to disabled soldiers," said Mr Fil.
"They said if you don't give us the land, we'll take it. So we agreed to give them a small area, just 50 hectares."
| They cleared areas where our people had their farms, and they destroyed our burial ground Romam Fil |
The villagers say they were then invited to a party and when many of them were drunk they were asked to put their thumbprints on documents.
"Most of us don't know how to read or write, and the chiefs did not explain what the thumbprints were for," said Mr Fil.
The villagers later found they had signed away more than 400 hectares - and the land was not for disabled soldiers, but a private company who began making way for the rubber plantation.
"They cleared areas where our people had their farms, and they destroyed our burial ground," said Mr Fil.
Political connections?
Lawyers for the owner of the plantation company, a powerful businesswoman called Keat Kolney, insist she bought the land legally.
 The Cambodian government has been accused of undermining the poor |
But groups advocating for local land rights in Cambodia say part of the reason she was able to acquire the land is because she is married to a senior official in the ministry of land management.
It is not the only case where those closely connected to senior government figures are alleged to have taken land from poor Cambodians.
Five years ago, in north-western Pursat province a large grazing area was turned into an economic land concession - land the government grants to private firms for investment in large-scale agriculture.
It was allocated to a politically well-connected company called Pheapimex.
"They just came one day with their bulldozers and started clearing the land straight away," said Chamran, a farmer in the area.
"So we organised a demonstration but then a grenade was thrown among us - we don't know who by. Nine people were injured. The military police pointed a gun in my stomach and said if you hold another demonstration we will kill you."
Transparent process
Under the law, land concessions granted by the government should not exceed 10,000 hectares but the Pheapimex concession, although much of it is so far inactive, covers 300,000 hectares.
Global Witness, an environmental pressure group, estimates Pheapimex now controls 7% of Cambodia's land area.
| The requirement is that you have enough capital, you have the technology to develop the land Phay Siphan |
The organisation says the company's owners, a prominent senator and his wife, have strong links to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Pheapimex did not reply to requests for a response to these allegations, but the Cambodian government maintains that the process by which private companies acquire land is both transparent and legal.
"The requirement is not to be close to the prime minister," said Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers.
"The requirement is that you have enough capital, you have the technology to develop the land."
'Kleptocratic state'
It is not just in rural areas that people complain of losing land.
Cambodia's recent stability, following decades of violence, has attracted a rapid boom in tourism and a race among foreign and local entrepreneurs for prime real estate on which to build new resorts.
 Farmers have been threatened with jail if they demonstrate |
Many of the country's beaches have already been bought up.
And rights groups estimate that 30,000 people have been forcibly evicted from their homes in the capital Phnom Penh over the past five years to make way for new developments.
The roots of the problem date back to the 1970s when the brutal Khmer Rouge regime abolished private property and destroyed many title documents.
A land law passed in 2001 recognises the rights of people who have lived on land without dispute for five years or more, but in many cases it is not being implemented.
The UN estimates hundreds of thousands of Cambodians are now affected by land disputes.
 The government has said that they are not forcefully taking land from farmers |
But land is not the only state asset being sold at an alarming rate.
Beginning in the 1990s, large swathes of the country's rich forests were bought up by logging companies.
Now sizeable mining and gas concessions are also being granted to private enterprises.
Eleanor Nichol of Global Witness believes individual members of the Cambodian government, right up to the highest levels, are benefiting.
"Essentially what we're dealing with here is a kleptocratic state which is using the country and its assets as their own personal slush fund," she said.
The Cambodian government rejects these allegations.
"They could accuse [the government of] anything they like. Cambodia operates under a modernised state of law. Everyone is together under one law,” said Phay Siphan.
Back in Kong Yu village, the Jarai people are waiting to hear the result of suit filed in a local court to try to get their land back.
"If the company gets the land, many of our people will starve," says Mr Fil.
"If we lose the land, we have lost everything.”
Assignment is broadcast on BBC World Service on Thursday at 0906 GMT and repeated at 1406 GMT, 1906 GMT, 2306 GMT and on Saturday at 1106 GMT.
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The UN Security Council has expressed serious concern at the imposition of a new period of house arrest on Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A statement from the council, which came after two days of debate, also called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. A court in Rangoon found Ms Suu Kyi guilty two days ago of breaking the terms of her previous house arrest. Earlier the European Union extended its sanctions on Burma. The EU said judges involved in Ms Suu Kyi's sentencing would now join military and government figures in having their overseas assets frozen and travel to the EU banned. Ms Suu Kyi was found guilty because she allowed an American man, John Yettaw, to stay at her lakeside home after he swam there uninvited in May. She was sentenced to three years in prison but the term was commuted to 18 months house arrest, ensuring the opposition leader cannot take in planned elections next year. Governments around the world condemned the conviction. UN statement Correspondents said Thursday's UN statement was watered down from an original US draft, which "condemned" the verdict and demanded that Burma's military junta free Ms Suu Kyi. The main reason for the weaker language was China - a powerful permanent member of the council, with close ties to Burma's rulers, says the BBC's Tom Lane at the UN. Together with Russia it has blocked strongly-worded condemnations in the past, our correspondent adds. The statement, read out by the council's current president, British Ambassador John Sawers, said: "The members of the Security Council express serious concern at the conviction and sentencing of... Aung San Suu Kyi and its political impact." Thai PM on relations with Burma He said council members "reiterate the importance of the release of all political prisoners". Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. The US, Britain and France were among those to quickly condemn Tuesday's verdict, but Burma's neighbour China said the world should respect Burma's laws. Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) told the BBC that imposing sanctions could lead to problems and that it was important to take a balanced approach to dealing with Burma. The latest European sanctions widen restrictions imposed on military and government members after a violent crackdown on protests in 2007. A decade earlier, in 1996, the EU banned the sale or transfer of arms and weapons expertise to the country. It also suspended all bilateral aid other than humanitarian assistance | |
More troops are being drafted in to help the rescue effort
More than 390 people are believed to have been buried alive in the Taiwanese village worst affected by a massive mudslide caused by a typhoon.
It is the first time the government has released a firm estimate of the number of people they believe might have been killed in Hsiaolin village.
Thousands of people are still stranded by the worst mudslides and floods.
Last weekend's typhoon caused Taiwan's worst flooding for 50 years, resulting in 117 confirmed deaths so far.
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The floods have washed out roads, swept away bridges and sent low-rise buildings crashing into rivers, leaving many mountain villages accessible only by air.
Hundreds of survivors have been airlifted from Hsiaolin village, which was hit by a massive mudslide that covered all but two houses, and thousands more from other settlements in central and southern Taiwan.
But Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has said he expects the number killed to climb to more than 500 people.
Hundreds had been feared dead, but the government had not previously given an estimated overall death toll.
Help on way?
Taiwan's government says it has received offers of help from the international community, including the European Union and the US.
But it has stressed the need for very specific technical assistance - namely giant cargo helicopters that can carry large earth diggers and other machinery into remote mountain areas to help re-open roads.
The government has also requested prefabricated buildings to help house those left homeless by the flooding and supplies of disinfectant, to try to prevent the spread of disease.
| TYPHOON MORAKOT  Deluged Taiwan with at least two metres (80in) of rain over the weekend Caused the country's worst flooding in 50 years Some 117 people confirmed dead, another 500 believed killed More than 14,000 people airlifted out of affected areas |
Visiting the area earlier this week, President Ma assured anxious relatives that no effort would be spared to find their loved ones, as anger began to rise over the government response.
The families of those stranded and of the hundreds feared dead have urged the government to speed up rescue efforts.
Many have been waiting for days at the rescue operation centre in Qishan for news of relatives missing since the typhoon struck over the weekend.
Critics say the authorities were too slow to realise the magnitude of the disaster. Some of those stranded say they have received no help for days and are short of food and water.
More than 14,000 people have been evacuated by air from the worst-affected areas. Others have been carried to safety over ravines where bridges have collapsed by soldiers using cables and makeshift ziplines.
Military helicopters have been dropping provisions for those still stranded, but poor weather has hampered their work. Soldiers have also been trying to reach remote settlements on foot.
The flooding has destroyed 34 bridges and severed 253 sections of road in Taiwan, Reuters news agency quotes the transportation ministry as saying, with repairs likely to take up to three years in the worst-affected areas.
Officials in the island's south-eastern Taitung county estimated that nearly 3,700 people remained cut off as of Friday morning, the AFP news agency reports, while in central Chiayi county some 9,000 were thought to be stranded.
Some 2,000 people are still to be evacuated in Kaohsiung county, the area worst hit and where the rescue operations in Hsaiolin and other villages have been focused, AFP quotes a county magistrate as saying.
Many of the affected villages are inhabited by aborigines, who farm the mountainous terrain.
Typhoon Morakot, which lashed Taiwan with at least 200cm (80in) of rain last weekend, has caused at least $910m (£550m) in damages to agriculture and infrastructure, Reuters reports.
Reconstruction is expected to cost some $3.65bn (£2.2bn).