The head of the United Nations will travel to Burma on Friday to press the country on democratic reform.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will urge Burma’s generals to free political prisoners such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ms Suu Kyi has spent much of the past two decades in jail or under house arrest.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate is currently on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest.

Mr Ban’s trip, set for Friday and Saturday, was announced by his spokeswoman from New York.

This is also the date that Ms Suu Kyi’s trial is set to resume.

The visit follows that of the UN’s special envoy to the country, Ibrahim Gambari last weekend.

Correspondents say Mr Ban is wary of his trip being used by the generals to endorse their treatment of Ms Suu Kyi.

Her trial has been widely condemned as a ruse to keep her in jail during a general election which the ruling junta has scheduled for next year.</p

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By Guy DeLauney
BBC News, Phnom Penh

Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Tribunal is due to hear for the first time from a survivor of a notorious detention centre.

Around 15,000 people were detained at the facility known as S-21 or Tuol Sleng.

There were only seven known survivors – and the man who ran the facility is on trial for crimes against humanity.

Vann Nath, the survivor now due to speak, has been waiting for his day in court for 30 years.

That is how long it has taken to bring to account the man best known as Comrade Duch.

Now at last the one-time prisoner is set to confront his former jailer across the trial chamber.

It should produce compelling testimony.

The Tribunal has already heard plenty from Comrade Duch himself – as well as a number of expert witnesses.

WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE

• Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979
• Founded and led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998
• Abolished religion, schools and currency in a bid to create agrarian utopia
• Up to two million people thought to have died from starvation, overwork or execution

But Vann Nath can provide a unique perspective. He is one of only three men alive who can say they know what it is like to have been a prisoner at S-21.

Vann Nath owed his survival to his skills as a painter. He was forced to produce portraits of Khmer Rouge leaders – on pain of death.

"I thought that if I could do good pictures and they were satisfied with what I painted, they would be happy and I would survive," said Vann Nath.

"But if I couldn’t do what they liked then I would die," he said.

Vann Nath’s portraits passed muster – and he has since become one of Cambodia’s most famous artists.

His work often depicts scenes from S-21 – the torture, murder and brutality from which he was fortunate to escape with his life.

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By Jonathan Head
BBC News, Bangkok

Burma’s highest court has rejected an appeal by lawyers for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow two prominent dissidents to testify in her defence.

Ms Suu Kyi is on trial for allowing a US man to stay in her home last month, after he swam there across a lake.

Her lawyers wanted four witnesses but have been allowed only two.

The trial has been widely condemned as a ploy to keep Ms Suu Kyi locked up until after next year’s elections, the first in 20 years.

The trial has also cast doubt on a planned visit to Burma by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Government ruse

Burma’s Supreme Court accepted the prosecution’s argument that witnesses for Aung San Suu Kyi’s defence could not be allowed to appear in court as they are government critics, and one is being held under house arrest.

The machinations of Burma’s court system are in any case immaterial to many outside observers, who believe the entire case against Ms Suu Kyi has been cooked up as a ruse to keep her in custody.

She is being charged with failing to evict an uninvited visitor to her lakeside home, where she has been held for 14 of the past 20 years.

The court case will now proceed later this week, and is widely expected to deliver a guilty verdict against the opposition leader.

But it is taking much longer than expected, with the authorities allowing far more "due process" than they normally do during dissidents’ trials.

The government seems to have been taken by surprise by the storm of international protest over its treatment of Ms Suu Kyi.

Her trial presents a dilemma for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who has been invited to visit Burma next month.

He is known to want to sustain a dialogue with the country’s isolated military rulers, but risks being condemned if he comes away from a visit with no concessions.

Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has just left Burma after spending two days negotiating the terms of Mr Ban’s visit – it still is not clear whether it will go ahead.

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Officials in Shanghai say they have taken "appropriate control measures" against nine people involved in a dramatic building collapse.

They plan to examine the foundations of the building, which fell over, intact, killing one worker, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The developers had sold 489 of the 629 flats in the 13-storey building, and owners are pleading for compensation.

The event has sparked worries about construction safety in China.

The building, one of 11 in the project, fell over near dawn on Saturday when pillars that were supposed to be buried deep under the earth were uprooted.

Xinhua said officials were taking "control measures" against the developer, construction contractor and supervisor, who were suspected to be responsible for the collapse.

The building in the "Lotus Riverside" compound of Minhang District was being developed by Shanghai Meidu Real Estate, which has been banned from selling any more of the housing following the collapse.

Xinhua reported that more than 400 owners had applied to the government for refunds or compensation.

The China Daily showed tearful owners gathering for talks about taking collective action against the developer, as owners of flats in nearby buildings also expressed fears for their safety.

Commentators in the Chinese press have noted the project’s riverside location, the rise in water levels, and potentially unstable piles of mud near to the collapsed building.

Officials said they would investigate the cause of the collapse thoroughly. </p

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By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Police officials from across Asia have decided to form unprecedented joint operations to target the trafficking of sex slaves at a meeting in Australia.

A conference has heard that the trade in young women is far more organised than first thought.

The authorities believe most of the victims smuggled to Australia are women from South East Asia.

Victims of trafficking are often duped or coerced by threats of violence into travelling to Australia.

Once there, they are forced to work in the sex industry.

Many are effectively held hostage because of huge debts they owe to criminals.

New approach

At a meeting in Sydney, security officials from across Asia have agreed to intensify their efforts to combat this sophisticated trade in people.

New joint cross-border investigations will be undertaken and Australian federal police commander Ramzi Jabbour believes that increased regional cooperation will make a difference.

"By bringing together all the intelligence into a central point, we’re able to potentially identify organisers or facilitators that are common amongst a variety of trafficking victims," he said.

"If we were working in isolation; the Malays working on their own, the Thais working on their own; they may never actually see the fact that one or two organisers are actually behind these criminal syndicates," he added.

There is no reliable information about the number of people smuggled into Australia each year, although various estimates put the figure at about 1,000.

Successful prosecutions are rare but Australian authorities have set up a specialist unit to investigate allegations of slavery.

Charities have said that other victims of trafficking are forced to work in appalling conditions as domestic servants, farm labourers and on construction sites.</p

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Japan and South Korea have called for the latest United Nations sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear activities to be applied strictly.

New sanctions agreed by the UN Security Council this month include inspections of North Korean ships, a wider ban on arms sales and financial measures.

North Korea has said any search of its ships will constitute an act of war.

Its recent nuclear and missile tests, and aggressive language, have caused widespread concern in the region.

Eyes on China

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made their call for greater rigour on applying sanctions when they met in the Japanese capital Tokyo.

"We confirmed that we will never tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea"

Lee Myung-bak
South Korean president

"North Korea’s nuclear and missile developments are serious security threats and absolutely cannot be accepted," Mr Aso told reporters.

Mr Lee said the implementation of UN Resolution 1874 would show the North would "gain nothing by obtaining nuclear weapons".

"During the talks, we confirmed that we will never tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea," he said.

The two men added that they were united in supporting a return to the six-party talks which offered North Korea aid in exchange for abandoning its nuclear programme.

The talks, which also involved China, Russia and the US, made halting progress until April, when North Korea pulled out.

Japan and South Korea would like China to put greater pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, the BBC’s Roland Buerk reports from Tokyo.

China has favoured cautious diplomacy, wary of any move that might cause the North’s government to collapse and send refugees streaming across its border, our correspondent says.

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By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Shanghai

China’s economic development in recent years has created an ever growing class of entrepreneurs and business people who have made their fortunes.

Now a pastime that some argue started in the country 1,800 years ago only to die out during the Cultural Revolution is making a comeback for the moneyed classes.

In an immaculately tended field in Zhejiang province an unusual event is getting underway.

It is unusual, because for years the game of polo was seen as a deeply suspect pastime of the capitalist classes.

But the sport of kings is making a comeback.

‘Fashion statement’

The day starts with dragon dancers. Many, but by no means all, in the crowd are in their finery.

This is definitely an event for the well-heeled though.

"For a certain person who has bought the big house, the fast cars… there is a point when you think what else can I spend my money on"

Gene Wang

The matches are raising money for Shanghai charities.

Gene Wang is a Shanghainese polo player.

He is a former financial trader who says at the moment he is more interested in "fun" than "work".

An amateur, Mr Wang is typical of the new generation of wealthy players taking up the sport here.

"For a certain type of person, who has bought the big house, the fast cars, the designer labels, who has the mistresses, there is a point when you think, what else can I spend my money on"

He is careful to make clear though, he does not see himself as quite in that bracket, but he does think, for China’s richest, polo is becoming "a fashion statement".

Gene and another Chinese player are paired up with two more experienced team-mates from overseas.

They saddle up and tear off across the grass in front of the marquees.

Gene’s training (three times a week for several months) appears to have paid off. Within minutes he has scored.

On the sidelines watching the matches is Liang Shangyan, a Chinese entrepreneur, one of the first women to take up the sport in China.

"Those who are playing polo are the first generation of the country’s rich people," she explains.

"They are investing in the sport and polo will be popular in China very soon. You can see today that we have the first Chinese team that can compete with their world-class rivals," she says.

That is perhaps a little over-optimistic.

The Chinese players are keen, but helped a lot by the professionals brought in to train them and play alongside them – experts like Tom Crater, an American.

"I cannot believe how fast polo is developing in China," he says.

"I also play in Thailand and Indonesia, and the rate of Chinese people coming and showing interest in the game and learning the game is phenomenal for me," Mr Crater continues.

Mysterious traditions

Polo of course is not just about what happens on the pitch.

In the VIP tent the champagne is flowing freely. The first generation of Chinese people to get rich spent most of their time making money and now they want to enjoy themselves, to appreciate the finer things in life.

The founder of the Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club, today’s host in fact, is Steve Wyatt. He says in China polo is becoming the perfect way to show you have made it.

"It is hats, beautiful dresses, finest champagne, whisky and people looking at the best cars," he explains.

"That is completely opposite to the horsey set you might find in Europe."

Some polo traditions are respected, like treading in the divots (the pieces of turf cut out of the ground by horses’ hooves) at half time.

A loudspeaker announcement invites the spectators on to the pitch to replace the turf that has been disturbed, but the commentators have to spell out to people what to do.

It is a reminder that this is still a pastime that is something of a mystery for the moneyed classes here.

However, the organisers of this event say this is a glimpse of the future of the sport worldwide – polo, you might say, with Chinese characteristics.

There is no snobbery.

Anyone can take part. As long, that is, as they have got enough money.

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Thousands of protesters have gathered in Thailand’s capital Bangkok to call on the government to resign, in the biggest rally since riots in April.

About 4,000 security officers are policing the red-shirted demonstrators, who are loyal to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The rally organisers say Mr Thaksin will address the crowd by telephone from Dubai, where he lives in exile.

Protests in April led to the worst street violence in 15 years.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called a state of emergency as the rallies by red-shirted protesters threatened to destabilise his government.

The protest leaders eventually called off their action after days of rioting and clashes with security forces left at least two people dead and more than 100 injured.

Yellow vs red

One of the organisers of the current protest, Nutthawut Saikua, told the Associated Press the aims of the demonstrators had not changed since the April clashes.

"We rally today because we want to get rid of the government, the aristocracy and bring back true democracy to the people," he said.

"We demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resign and dissolves the [parliament] because the government is not democratic."

Mr Abhisit came to power last December after previous Thaksin-supporting governments were brought down by a concerted street protest by yellow-shirted demonstrators.

He was eventually chosen as leader after several MPs who had previously backed Thaksin were persuaded to change sides.

Analysts say the rift in Thai society – symbolised by the red and yellow shirts – remains strong.

Many Thais in rural areas support Mr Thaksin and ally themselves with the red-shirt cause.

The "yellow shirts" draw their support from Bangkok’s urban elite, the middle classes and the conservative royalists.

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UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari has left Burma after a two-day visit aimed at paving the way for a possible visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

State media reported that Mr Gambari met Foreign Minister Nyan Win on two occasions to discuss a visit by Mr Ban.

But he is not believed to have met jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently on trial accused of breaking the terms of her detention.

Mr Gambari is now expected to brief Mr Ban before a possible visit in July.

Correspondents say Mr Ban is wary of his trip being used by the generals to endorse their treatment of Ms Suu Kyi.

The trial has been widely condemned as a ruse to keep Ms Suu Kyi in jail during a general election which the ruling junta has scheduled for next year.

Progress stalled

After arriving in Rangoon on Friday Mr Gambari travelled to Burma’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, where he held talks with the foreign minister.

"Mr Gambari met Nyan Win on 26 and 27 June. They discussed Mr Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to Myanmar [Burma]," AFP news agency quoted state television as saying.

Mr Gambari has now visited Burma eight times as special envoy.

He has spent many of those visits trying to promote political reconciliation between the military government and the pro-democracy movement led by Ms Suu Kyi.

But critics say he has managed to change little.

And the position of Ms Suu Kyi, under house arrest for most of the past 19 years, seems to have become yet more precarious.

She has been moved to Rangoon’s Insein jail during her trial – sparked when a US man swam to her home and stayed the night, which the junta said amounted to her breaking the terms of her detention.

She faces five years in jail if found guilty.

But the trial was again postponed last Friday until 3 July – the latest in a series of delays over allowing more defence witnesses.

Burma’s military rulers have refused to recognise the results of a general election in 1990, won by Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.</p

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