Burmese democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi has been presented with the US Congress’ highest civilian honour – which she was awarded while under house arrest in 2008.
Aung San Suu Kyi has advised the Irish government not to “look the other way” in relation to human rights abuses carried out by trading partners like China.
The General Secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma will arrive in Ireland on 18 June. Today, she will speak in Geneva at the UN’s International Labour Organisation.
“I came here to see Jedward carry the Olympic torch. It was awesome because, like, they’re Jedward. I didn’t know it would be a big thing with a fire on top, I thought it was a torch you would shine stuff on.”
The Burmese pro-democracy leader will visit Ireland next month as part of a trip that will take in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991.
Japan is to take steps to forgive about 300 billion yen (€2.8 billion) of Burma’s debt and resume development aid in a bid to support democratic and economic reforms in the country.
The electoral win will change little but marks a new era in the 24-year politicla career of the democracy activist who had spent much of the past two decades under house arrest.
Some 651 political activists, bloggers, a former prime minister and heads of ethnic minority groups were released yesterday under a presidential pardon allowing them to take part in “nation-building.”
The leader of the opposition in Burma, who was under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years, has ended her boycott of elections in military dictatorship.
MINISTER JAMES REILLY has started a campaign to control the costs of health insurance this week with the appointment of an independent expert to chair a forum of providers.
The Fine Gael TD has voiced his disappointment at rising premium prices in recent weeks but insurers insist they have been forced into the increases because of higher charges for public hospital beds and a government levy.
Regardless of where the expenses originate, the customer has experienced annual hikes in their payments, to the point where many have reduced their cover or cancelled it entirely. Last month, figures from the Health Insurance Authority showed the percentage of the population with cover fell to 45.3 per cent.
Today, we ask about your own experiences. Have you given up your health insurance in recent years?
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Rather cloudy with a couple of showers
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