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Popular Uprising in Myanmar
On the international front, there is news of political unrest in Southeast Asia. A small but growing number of citizens in the country of Myanmar are joining protests against the government. Their complaint? The rising cost of fuel is making everything too expensive!
Myanmar, which is still sometimes known by its old name Burma is a large country bordering Thailand and Laos. The former British colony is a military dictatorship where people take great risks to protest for things they believe in. Earlier this week demonstrators took part in a peaceful protest march in the capital city of Yangon. The military-controlled government arrested the leaders of a main opposition group called 88 Generation Students and threatened them with 20 years of prison. But the government also reduced some bus fares which were raised because of higher fuel prices.
Human Rights Watch in the United States issued a statement calling for the release of the activists. The group says that "The government's strategy of arbitrarily arresting its critics reinforces the severe hardship the people of Burma are going through ... Burma's military rulers run the country -- and the economy -- without any regard for human rights."
I'm Michelle and that's what happened in the world this week!
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