UN 'concern' at Suu Kyi sentence

Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi were angered by the court's verdict 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

Taiwan mudslide death toll rises

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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.

In pictures: Taiwan misery 'Devil' typhoon's impact

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.

See map of affected area

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 Eyewitness: Pacific storms

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).

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Obama tackles healthcare critics

President Obama: ''We are closer to achieving health insurance reform than we have ever been'' US President Barack Obama has accused some opponents of his healthcare reform proposals of trying to "scare the heck" out of people. Anti-reform campaigners had created "bogeymen out there that just aren't real", he said at a town-hall style meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Passing a healthcare reform bill is Mr Obama's top domestic priority for 2009. But in recent weeks, opponents of reform have been making serious accusations about his proposals. The former Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, said last week that the president wanted to set up "death panels" of government officials with the power to determine whether disabled or elderly Americans are "worthy of healthcare". In fact, under proposals drawn up by the US House of Representatives, the government would pay for elderly Americans to receive voluntary consultations with doctors to discuss their end-of-life care. "The rumour that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on Grandma because we've decided that its too expensive to let her live anymore," said Mr Obama. "Somehow, it has gotten spun into this idea of death panels. I am not in favour of that, I want to clear the air here." Meetings disrupted Some 47 million Americans currently do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit. But there is disagreement about how to go about reforming the system. HEALTHCARE IN THE US 47 million uninsured, 25 million under-insured Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, almost twice OECD average Reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance Some propose public insurance option to compete with private insurers Q&A: US healthcare reform Democrats in the House of Representatives have reportedly reached a deal on a bill that would mandate all Americans to take out health insurance, with subsidies for the less well-off paid for by a tax on families earning over $350,000 a year. The House bill would also offer Americans who do not get coverage through their employer the chance to join a publicly-run scheme. But in the Senate negotiations have stalled, with moderate senators expressing opposition to both the tax and the public plan proposed by the House. Both chambers need to agree on a bill before it can become law. HAVE YOUR SAY People are afraid to go to the hospital in an emergency, because they do not want to saddle their families with debilitating debt Louise Wilson, Grand Rapids, MI Send us your comments Mr Obama had called on the Senate and the House to agree their own versions of a bill before the August recess, but lawmakers missed the deadline. During the recess, a number of healthcare "town-hall" meetings hosted by Democratic politicians have been targeted by conservative opponents of reform. The opposition has sometimes been quite vocal, with anti-reform campaigners chanting slogans and shouting down supporters of reform. Proponents of reform say the protests are being organised by well-funded lobby groups, while opponents say they are a genuine expression of anger at Mr Obama's proposals. At the New Hampshire meeting, which did not feature any angry scenes, the president called on his opponents to temper their behaviour. "I do hope that we will talk with each other and not over each other," he said. Polls suggest that a majority of Americans support many of the administration's healthcare proposals.

Children killed 'over mafia fear'

The children's bodies were found in the family's Nice apartment A mother has confessed to drowning her two children in a bathtub to "protect them from mafia threats," French prosecutors have said. The woman, 39, phoned her husband and police and confessed to killing her three-year-old son and two-year-old daughter in their well-furnished home. Police found the bodies in the family's Nice apartment, in the south of France. The woman was due to have a psychiatric examination. She is reported to have attempted suicide after the drowning. The family had been in the apartment for three months, Nice-Matin reported. Prosecutor Olivier Caracotch said she confessed to drowning the toddlers to "protect them from threats by the mafia," AFP quoted him as saying. The husband, also 39, was taken to a police station after there was an altercation between him and police officers at the apartment. He was later released.

Taiwan mudslide survivors found

Rescuers reach Taiwan village About 700 people missing in southern Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot have been found alive, army officials say. People from several villages are said to have made it to higher ground before mud and rock engulfed their homes. Among the survivors found by rescue teams are 200 from Hsiaolin village, reports the Taiwan Central News Agency. However, despite frantic rescue efforts in Hsiaolin and elsewhere since the weekend, hundreds of people are still missing, feared buried under the mud. See graphic showing level of rainfall Morakot brought to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said hundreds of people were likely to have died. He was visiting the rescue operation centre in Qishan in rural southern Taiwan. Military helicopters have been ferrying villagers out of communities cut off by the storms and floods after roads and bridges were washed away. "We have found around 700 people alive in three villages last night and 26 more this morning. We are deploying 25 helicopters to evacuate them," said Maj Gen Richard Hu, a senior official in the rescue effort. The typhoon struck Taiwan at the weekend, causing the worst flooding in 50 years. The official death toll stands at 63. 'Save my village' The BBC's Cindy Sui in Qishan says the authorities fear that hundreds more people could still be trapped. In pictures: Taiwan rescue 'Washed away by the typhoon' Eyewitness: Pacific storms In Hsiaolin alone, rescue workers said about 100 were unaccounted for as of Tuesday and thought possibly to have been buried alive. Our correspondent says family members from surrounding areas have been converging on Hsiaolin, demanding that helicopters be sent to their villages too. Some are carrying signs that read, "Save my village". The search for survivors has been a slow process as the only way in and out of the villages is by helicopter, our correspondent adds. The BBC's Alastair Leithead, also at the Qishan rescue base, says a high school playing field has become a landing pad for helicopters, and ambulances are lining the running track to ferry the injured to hospital. Advertisement Alastair Leithead: "It's been another tough day for the rescuers" Morakot lashed Taiwan with at least two metres (80in) of rain over the weekend. It is typhoon season in the North West Pacific, which brings storms like Morakot with exceptionally high rainfall and strong winds, said Liam Dutton from the BBC Weather Centre. But, to put it in context, he said Morokot brought around 40 times as much rain to Taiwan as would fall on a typical wet weekend in the United Kingdom. Typhoon Morakot has caused at least $225m (£135m) in agricultural damage, while nearly 30,000 houses are still without power and 750,000 homes are without water, according to the latest estimates from officials. The storm also hit mainland China, where about 1.4 million people were evacuated from coastal areas, eight people died in flooding and up to 10,000 homes were destroyed. In the town of Pengxi in China's eastern province of Zhejiang, a landslide toppled seven older houses, reportedly killing two people. Meanwhile in Japan, another seasonal storm, Typhoon Etau, caused floods and landslides that have killed at least 15 people since the weekend and left a dozen missing. About 1,000 people spent Tuesday night in shelters and 4,600 households were without water, officials said.