YANGON, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - Three months after much of Myanmar's fertile land was washed away by a devastating cyclone, a rescue effort remains critically underfunded, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Restoring fallow rice paddies to provide food for the 2.4 million affected people in Myanmar's southwest delta will require another 51 million dollars, a UN statement said.

YANGON, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - The UN's new human rights envoy for Myanmar on Tuesday toured remote parts of the Irrawaddy Delta still reeling from a killer cyclone that struck the country three months ago, a senior official said.

BOGALAY, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's military regime is giving desperately needed aid to cyclone survivors on credit, requiring them to pay back to the government any assistance offered, officials said.

The secretive military last week officially allowed local journalists to visit the disaster zone for the first time since Cyclone Nargis slammed into the country on May 2.

YANGON, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's most famous comedian has appeared in court alongside a popular sports writer and two political activists, but no formal charges were filed against them, a lawyer told AFP Friday.

The four appeared at a secret court inside the notorious Insein prison in the economic hub Yangon, for the first time since their arrests in June.

BERLIN, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - International aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged the West not to forget Myanmar three months after Cyclone Nargis hit it, saying the country was still struggling to cope with the devastation.

AUK PYON WA, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - Nearly three months after a cyclone devastated Myanmar's southern Irrawaddy delta, local firms are helping survivors replace their makeshift shelters with eco-friendly modern homes.

Cyclone Nargis swept away every home in its path, leaving thousands of Myanmar people with only driftwood and donated plastic sheets for shelter.

LABUTTA, July 27, 2008 (AFP) - Kyaw Thein thought his problems were solved when Myanmar's government delivered seeds, cattle and tillers to his village to help restart rice farming in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

BANGKOK, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - Actress Mia Farrow Friday joined other prominent women activists to slam Myanmar's ruling junta on its human rights record in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

GENEVA, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - Around 700,000 children are in need of long-term aid in Myanmar due to the devastating effects of May's Cyclone Nargis, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Friday.

YANGON, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - Survivors of Myanmar's devastating cyclone will be dependent on aid for at least another six months, the United Nations humanitarian chief has warned.

In an interview with AFP, John Holmes urged the country's secretive regime to cooperate more fully with the international community, while acknowledging there had been progress since the storm struck.