Myanmar dissidents yesterday held a Buddhist ceremony in Yangon to mark the 18th anniversary of the military's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests that left hundreds, if not thousands, dead.
Amid tightened security in Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, more than 200 veterans of the so-called "8-8-88" crackdown and opposition politicians participated in an early-morning robe offering ceremony to Buddhist monks at the Tharthanatheikpan temple.
The ceremony, also attended by several Western diplomats, was led by former student leader Min Ko Naing, who spent more than a decade in jail for playing a key role in the nationwide anti-military demonstrations that rocked Myanmar 18 years ago and came to a bloody end on Aug. 8, 1988.
PHOTO: EPA
On that date Myanmar's military launched a brutal crackdown on increasingly belligerant pro-democracy protesters, killing hundreds -- possibly thousands -- and placing thousands more in jail.
The date, 8-8-88, was reportedly deemed auspicious by Myanmar's notoriously superstitious military hierarchy who have ruled the Southeast Asian nation since 1962 and continue to do so today.
In Bangkok, a dozen Burmese protesters gathered outside the Myanmar embassy to mark the anniversary and light prayer candles for the 8-8-88 victims.
Thailand, which neighbors Myanmar, has been the main refuge for Myanmar dissidents, with mixed treatment from various Thai governments, since Aug. 8, 1988.
Waving posters reading "8-8-88, Don't Forget, Don't Give Up," and pictures of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the protesters dispersed peacefully.
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in her family's Yangon compound since May, 2003. Myanmar's ruling junta decided to extend Suu Kyi's imprisonment by another year last May, claiming her freedom would pose a threat to national security.
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
The administration of US President Donald Trump has appointed to serve as the top public diplomacy official a former speech writer for Trump with a history of doubts over US foreign policy toward Taiwan and inflammatory comments on women and minorities, at one point saying that "competent white men must be in charge." Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior US Department of State official said, a role that determines the tone of the US' public messaging in the world. Beattie requires US Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis. "Thanks to
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
‘IMPOSSIBLE’: The authors of the study, which was published in an environment journal, said that the findings appeared grim, but that honesty is necessary for change Holding long-term global warming to 2°C — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper appears in the journal Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development and concludes that Earth’s climate is more sensitive to rising greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Compounding the crisis, Hansen and colleagues argued, is a recent decline in sunlight-blocking aerosol pollution from the shipping industry, which had been mitigating some of the warming. An ambitious climate change scenario outlined by the UN’s climate