Myanmar pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi freed

YANGON: Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi walked out of her home to rapturous cheers from thousands of supporters on Saturday after the country’s military rulers released her from seven years of house arrest.

“People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal,” the Nobel Peace Prize-winner said, smiling as she clenched the tops of red-iron gates bordering her crumbling lakeside mansion, her hair pinned with flowers.

Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the past 21 years in detention due to her opposition to 48 years of military rule in Myanmar.

She had her house arrest extended last August, when a court found she had broken a law protecting the state against “subversive elements” by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home for two nights.

Her release gives Myanmar a powerful pro democracy voice just days after a widely criticised

China says European support for Nobel winner an affront

BEIJING: Any European nation’s support for Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo would be seen as an affront to China’s legal system, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Cui Tiankai, China’s key G20 negotiator, made the remarks in response to a reporter’s question at a briefing for the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul next week.

Liu, who is currently serving an 11-year jail term on subversion charges for his role in advocating democracy and an end to the Communist Party’s monopoloy on power, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that China was putting pressure on European governments to boycott the Nobel awards ceremony in December. AGENCIES

China trade ties unaffected by Nobel prize: Norway

SHANGHAI: Trade and economic ties between China and Norway remain strong, with ongoing negotiations between the two countries for a free trade agreement on track, Norway’s Fisheries Minister said on Friday.

“In trade, and seafood everything is fine. We have a very good relationship between China and Norway both in shipping and in seafood and in many other trade areas,” Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, told Reuters in an interview at the Shanghai World Expo.

Beijing has cancelled several official meetings with Norway after the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. AGENCIES

China detains Nobel Peace Prize winner’s wife-group

WASHINGTON: Chinese authorities are detaining the wife of jailed Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Price laureate Liu Xiaobo at her Beijing apartment, a U.S. human rights group said on Sunday.

In a statement, Freedom Now said that Liu Xia has not been charged with a crime but has not been allowed to leave her home or use her mobile telephone after visiting her husband in jail to tell him about his award.

When he heard the news, Liu Xiaobo cried and said the Nobel “award is for the Tiananmen martyrs,” according to the Washington-based group, which said it represents the Chinese dissident. The group works worldwide for the release prisoners of conscience and provides free legal counsel.

Freedom Now lawyer and spokeswoman Beth Schwanke said one of the group’s human rights specialists, Yang Jianli, obtained news of Liu Xia’s detention from a source in China they

China condemns Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo

China has condemned the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Beijing has summoned the Norwegian ambassador in protest and warned that it could damage relations with Norway.
China called Mr. Liu a criminal, saying the award violated Nobel principles. The Norwegian Nobel committee said Mr Liu was the foremost symbol of the struggle for human rights in China.
On the other hand, the last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner and US President, Barack Obama in a statement called on the Chinese government to release Mr Liu as soon as possible.
Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty he said. But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected.
Other Western countries have also urged China to release Mr Liu.

Mr Liu, 54, was a key leader in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Last year he received an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion after drafting Charter 08 – which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China.

Obama calls on China to free Nobel prize winner Liu

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama called on China on Friday to release imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo as soon as possible.

“Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty,” Obama, last year’s Nobel peace laureate, said in a statement.

“But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected,” he said. AGENCIES

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO: Jailed Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for decades of non-violent struggle for human rights, infuriating China, which called the award “an obscenity”.

The prize puts China’s human rights record in the spotlight at a time when it is starting to play a bigger role on the global stage as a result of its growing economic might.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China” and reiterated its belief in a “close connection between human rights and peace.”

Liu is serving an 11-year jail term for helping to draw up a manifesto calling for free speech and multi-party elections.

China said the award went against the aims of Alfred Nobel and would hurt ties between China and Norway, which are currently negotiating a bilateral trade

Obama calls for release of Suu Kyi on 65th birthday

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday called on the Myanmar regime to free Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a message sending best wishes for her 65th birthday.

Obama hailed the Myanmar opposition leader”s “determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change” as she marks her birthday Saturday under house arrest in Yangon.

The military regime has kept Suu Kyi in detention for almost 15 years and she has been barred from running in upcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham aimed at entrenching the generals” power.

“I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world”s only imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19,” Obama said in his message.

“I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens.”

Six rescued after three days in flooded China coal mine

BEIJING: Six miners have been pulled alive from a Chinese mine three days after it flooded, state media said Monday.

Two people died and three others are still missing after the flood in the coal-producing heartland of Shanxi province, in the north of the country.

The six survivors, all apparently in good health, were brought out of the mine on Sunday to the applause of rescue teams, local news agency reported. Efforts to find the three missing miners were ongoing, the report said.

There were 75 miners in the pit when it was inundated on Thursday, 64 of whom escaped safely.

Israel expels activists as Gaza pressure grows

JERUSALEM: Israel on Monday threw out the latest group of activists who had tried to breach its blockade of Gaza as pressure grew for an international probe into the naval raid that killed nine Turks.

Seven of the 19 activists from another aid ship, the Rachel Corrie, which tried to run the Gaza blockade last week were expelled from Israel to Jordan on Sunday. The remaining 12 were due to be flown home overnight, officials said.

Five Irish nationals, including Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire, were expected to leave on a flight to Dublin on Monday. Until then, they were waiting in a special section of the airport, but were not being allowed to use their mobile phones, immigration officials said.

Israeli forces took control of the boat on Saturday as it tried to reach Gaza, in a peaceful operation that contrasted with the May 31 raid when commandos stormed a Turkish boat packed with more than 600 passengers.

Next Page »