Myanmar frees political prisoners
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar freed some of its most famous political prisoners Friday, sparking jubilation among their supporters and signaling the government’s readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Among the 651 detainees released were political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, heads of ethnic minority groups, journalists and relatives of former dictator Ne Win. State media described the presidential pardon as allowing them to take part in “nation-building.”
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including the start of a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, legalizing labor unions and the signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents.
Angry crowd pelts Beijing Apple store
BEIJING (AP) — Raw eggs splattered and streaked the gleaming windows of Beijing’s Apple store Friday, hurled by angry and frustrated shoppers when the launch of the iPhone 4S was canceled due to fears over the size of the crowd.
The incident highlighted the role of Chinese middlemen who buy up wildly popular iPhones or smuggle them from abroad for resale at a big markup.
Hundreds of customers — including migrant workers hired by scalpers in teams of 20 to 30 — waited overnight in freezing temperatures outside the Apple store in a shopping mall in Beijing’s east side Sanlitun district.
When the store failed to open as scheduled at 7 a.m., the crowd erupted in anger. Some pelted the store with eggs and shouted at employees through the windows.
Group: Name all presidents Havel
PRAGUE (AP) — Vaclav Havel airport, Vaclav Havel library, Vaclav Havel street, Vaclav Havel school.
Numerous efforts to rename places to honor the former Czech president who helped bring down communism in his homeland have provoked a Facebook initiative designed to last generations: It demands that all the country’s future presidents bear Havel’s name.
Ridiculing the wave of renaming, the initiative calls on Parliament to adopt such a law. It also wants current President Vaclav Klaus, the late Havel’s political archrival, to “immediately” take Havel’s name.
Pakistan PM asks for help in standoff
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister appealed for support Friday from parliament in a standoff between his beleaguered government and the military, saying lawmakers had to choose between “democracy and dictatorship.”
Tensions between the armed forces and the civilian leadership have escalated in recent months, raising fears of a coup attempt or that the army might support possible moves by a partisan Supreme Court to oust the elected government.
The military and the government have been locked in a standoff for months, but a scandal that erupted last year after an unsigned memo was sent to Washington asking for its help in heading off a supposed coup has caused friction to spike this week.
Opposition parties have spoken out against any military takeover.
