***************************************************** BURMA RELATED NEWS - JULY 20, 2009 ***************************************************** AFP - Southeast Asia approves long-awaited rights body AP - Asia will witness 21st century's longest eclipse AP - S. Korea plans how to inspect N. Korean ships ISIS - Report: Smugglers Assist North Korea-Directed Illicit Trade to Myanmar IRIN - MYANMAR: Taking bets on increased poverty Bernama - ASEAN Not In Favour Of Sanction On Myanmar Bernama - No Truth In Indonesia Abandoning Asean - Thai FM VOA News - ASEAN Foreign Ministers Discuss Regional Challenges, Burma's Human Rights Thaindian News - Krishna to represent India at India-ASEAN Ministerial meeting The Manila Times - Human rights Asean's top priority Kyodo News - ASEAN renews pressure on N. Korea, Myanmar The Irrawaddy - Burmese FM: Ban's Proposals Not Off the Table The Irrawaddy - Rangoon Electricity Cut to Six Hours a Day The Irrawaddy - NLD's Win Tin Unwell Mizzima News - Tornado injures three in Rangoon Mizzima News - Junta beefs up military presence in Kachin State Mizzima News - Now or never - the UN must act on Burma DVB News - An enduring byproduct of war ***************************************************** Southeast Asia approves long-awaited rights body by Martin Abbugao - Mon Jul 20, 6:34 am ET PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) - Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia endorsed the region's first human rights watchdog Monday, rejecting criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as Myanmar. Officials were also to express grave concern over North Korea's nuclear programme and condemn the hotel bombings in Jakarta after meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of Asia's main security forum this week. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will officially launch the long-awaited rights commission at a summit in October after years of claims that it is too soft on military-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos. But rights groups said the proposed watchdog lacks teeth to punish violators, has no monitoring powers and would merely make the bloc's members provide internal reports on rights conditions inside their countries. ASEAN officials confirmed that the foreign ministers had endorsed the terms of reference for the rights body at their meeting on Monday. It's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all, Thai premier and ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said, adding that the body would focus on the promotion and protection of human rights. What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection, he said. Myanmar has been a thorn in the side of ASEAN since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of more than 2,000 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta caused fresh headaches for the bloc by putting the Nobel peace laureate on trial following an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail. ASEAN has been hamstrung throughout its 42-year history by its guiding principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs. The rights commission is being set up under a new ASEAN charter agreed in December. Rights groups said the new body's remit fell short of international standards. The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless, Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy, told AFP. Splits emerged in ASEAN's normally placid facade on Sunday as Indonesia _object_ed to the final terms for the rights body and Myanmar protested against changes wanted by the Indonesians, diplomats said. Meanwhile the ASEAN ministers were set to issue a statement urging North Korea to return to six-party talks on its weapons programme and to express grave concern over the recent nuclear explosions , an ASEAN official said. Pyongyang's foreign minister has declined to attend Thursday's ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket, which groups 27 nations including the United States. North Korea quit the talks with the US, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan after the UN Security Council censured its April 5 long- range rocket launch. It staged its second nuclear test on May 25. The ASEAN statement was also set to include a condemnation of the bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday which left up to nine people dead and dozens more wounded, the official told AFP. In the Indonesian blasts, they will condemn the bombings and ASEAN will also offer help to bring the perpetrators to justice, he said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for the ARF. Thousands of police and troops are on duty to prevent a repeat of anti-government protests that derailed an Asian summit in April. ***************************************************** Asia will witness 21st century's longest eclipse By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer - 31 mins ago BANGKOK (AP) - Millions of people across Asia will witness the longest total solar eclipse that will happen this century, as vast swaths of India and China, the entire city of Shanghai and southern Japanese islands are plunged into darkness Wednesday for about five minutes. Streams of amateur stargazers and scientists are traveling long distances to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event. Astronomers hope the eclipse will unlock clues about the sun, while an astrologer in Myanmar predicts it could usher in chaos. Some in India are advising pregnant relatives to stay indoors to follow a centuries- old tradition of avoiding the sun's invisible rays. The eclipse will appear first at dawn in India's Gulf of Khambhat just north of the metropolis of Mumbai. It will move east across India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China before hitting the Pacific. The eclipse will cross some southern Japanese islands and be last visible from land at Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati. Elsewhere, a partial eclipse will be visible in much of Asia. For astronomers, it will be a chance for a prolonged view of the sun's corona, a white ring 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) from the sun's surface. The previous total eclipse, in August 2008, was two minutes and 27 seconds. This one will last 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point. Solar scientist Lucie Green is aboard an American cruise ship heading for that point near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where the axis of the moon's shadow will pass closest to earth. Passengers paid $2,599 to $3,643 for the cruise run by Mayhugh Travel Inc., a California company that specializes in astronomy vacations, according to the company's Web site. The corona has a temperature of 2 million degrees but we don't know why it is so hot, said Green of University College London. What we are going to look for are waves in the corona. ... The waves might be producing the energy that heats the corona. That would mean we understand another piece of the science of the sun. Scientists are hoping data from the eclipse will help explain solar flares and other structures of the sun and why they erupt, said Alphonse C. Sterling, a NASA astrophysicist who will be following the eclipse in China. We'll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it's a very special opportunity, said Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. Man has been recording solar eclipses for 4,000 years, and even today they inspire a combination of fear, fascination and wonder. One astrologer in Myanmar, also known as Burma, predicted in a magazine that the eclipse would trigger wars, instability and natural disasters for the next several months. Liang Wei is among more than 40 members of a Chinese solar eclipse fan club traveling to Shanghai to see the event. Even though I'm not a scientist, it's an experience I've waited all my life for, said the 29-year-old Guangzhou native, who works at a lighting company and operates an online fan site for eclipse enthusiasts. In India, hundreds of scientists are gathering in the village of Taregna in Bihar state. One team, led by Dr R.K. Sinha of Patna University, will study bird behavior. The researchers will observe whether they suddenly move back to their nests, sound differently and behave in an unusual manner due to sudden darkness, he said. A travel agency in India is running a charter flight to watch the eclipse by air. Some families have advised pregnant relatives to confine themselves to curtained rooms, following long-held fears that the invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect. I've been told to lie straight on the bed with my eyes open and to chant prayers and verses from the Hindu holy texts during the eclipse, said Sonya Chadha, a New Delhi accountant who is seven months pregnant and plans to take the day off. If even a tiny sliver of light falls on me, it could harm my child. In Japan, where the last total eclipse happened in 1963, people are flocking to the small southern island of Yakushima, which is holding a a two-day festival with fireworks, dancing, grilled squid and cotton candy. The island's 180 hotels are fully booked. A partial eclipse will be visible in Tokyo. ***************************************************** S. Korea plans how to inspect N. Korean ships By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer - Mon Jul 20, 3:17 am ET SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's coast guard said Monday it is drawing up guidelines on how to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items