More than a thousand Buddhist monks marched peacefully in two Myanmar cities yesterday, as part of a rare wave of anti-government protests that have rocked the country over the past month, witnesses said.
More than 400 monks, chanting prayers and walking in rows of two and three, marched in the country's biggest city Yangon, said witnesses, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals. They were turned away from entering the famous Shwedagon pagoda by plainclothes officers and continued their march into the heart of the commercial district, witnesses said.
Hundreds of onlookers watching the protest paid respects to the passing monks, by raising their hands and putting them together.
In the city of Bago about 80km away, about 1,000 monks peacefully marched to the Shwemawdaw pagoda, residents said.
No one was arrested in either march.
The monks had given authorities a Monday deadline to apologize for beating hundreds of them two weeks ago as they marched peacefully in Pakokku, a center of Buddhist learning, to protest rising fuel and consumer prices. The apology never came.
As a result, monks threatened to launch nationwide marches yesterday, to cut off contact with the military and their families, and to refuse alms from them -- a humiliating gesture that would embarrass the junta.
The anti-government protests began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices by as much as 500 percent, putting the squeeze on already impoverished citizens. The protests have continued despite the detention of more than 100 demonstrators and the rough treatment of others.
Monks have been at the forefront of political protests in Myanmar since British colonial times. Because they are so revered by the public, repressing them is politically risky.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
RSS