Bangkok Post, Thailand

Too little, too late as Ban pleads with the junta

As Burma holds the second part of its constitutional referendum in the midst of the cyclone aftermath, exiled opposition leaders say refugees are being forced out of emergency shelters to make way for voting booths. Many are also being driven back to the ruined villages they fled from. “They’ve been driven out of these shelters by soldiers and thugs from the Union Solidarity and Development Association,” according to Member of Parliament Sann Aung. Although UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon has succeeded in opening up Burma to more foreign aid and expertise, “the real issue remains unresolved – the discrepancy between how the UN and the international aid agencies see the situation and the prism through which the generals see it.”

The Guardian, UK

Tibet could be 'swamped' by mass Chinese settlement after Olympics, says Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama claims China is planning a mass settlement of up to one million Han Chinese in the region. Tibet’s spiritual leader – who’s based over the border in India - says he’s been informed by military sources that that large tracts of empty land had been marked out, as if for construction over the past two years. China denies there’s any deliberate settlment policy aimed at diluting Tibetan culture. There has however been an increasing influx of Chinese settlers into Tibet in recent years.

Daily Star, Lebanon

Berri invites Siniora, Cabinet for Parliament session to elect Suleiman

Sources close to the Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri have denied that he hasn’t invited the government to the ceremony to elect a new President on Sunday. Berri’s party is party of the Hezbollah-led opposition, which describes the pro-Western government as illegitimate. Although Berri’s side have been keen to stress the election ceremony will be “national”, there are undeniably still tensions at the heart of Lebanon’s legislature. Army chief Michel Suleiman is to be elected president of a national unity government. It’s hoped his elevation will bring to an end months of deadlock in the country, which degenerated into deadly gun battles between rival factions on the streets of Beirut earlier this month.