Doctor-Activist Defiant Against Myanmar Military
Voice of America
MAE SOT, THAILAND - When Myanmar’s military shocked the world by announcing a coup earlier this year, many people inside the country were stunned at the news. After decades under military rule, they had enjoyed 10 years of a developing democracy until the armed forces took back control.
Initially, most of the country merely looked on, hesitant to begin a rebellion given Myanmar’s violent past. But as the junta installed its own Cabinet and detained members of the National League for Democracy, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an uprising began brewing. Residents banged pots and pans in anger in the first few days after the coup, signaling their disapproval of the military takeover. Major protests didn’t materialize until the influence of one doctor turned activist became apparent. Spring revolutionSlovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is being treated. FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Jan. 24, 2024.
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Ella Anthony, left, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons pose for a photo with their dog Paddy, during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. Ella Anthony and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons show photos of themselves during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. FILE - Chris Agiriga, 23, one of the Nigerian men arrested on charges of public display of affection with members of the same sex, walks with a friend on the streets of Mushin in Lagos, Feb. 14, 2020. Ella Anthony smiles during an interview in the supermarket where she works, in Rome, Italy, March 26, 2024.