Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week called for a halt to construction of China's hydropower project on the Irrawaddy, an important river threatened by logging, pollution, and the construction of at least seven dams. Suu Kyi warned that the project would destroy the environment along the 1,300 mile river, flooding the rainforest with a reservoir the size of New York and displacing 10,000 people. The Burma River Network claimed to have released a leaked environmental assessment by Myanmar and Chinese authorities that warns of immense biodiversity damage and increased risk of earthquakes and recommends scrapping the project. The 3,600 megawatt Myitsone Dam, which sits on a biodiversity hotspot, recently caused the break of a 17-year-long cease fire from the Kachin Independence Organization, which warned it would fight to stop the dam. The dam is scheduled for completion in 2017 and would be the 15th largest in the world. For the full story, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/12/suukyi-china-dam-irrawaddy-conflict and http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/08/12/Suu-Kyi-wants-dam-project-halted/UPI-96151313151158/?spt=hs&or=tn.