MANILA - The Philippines, for the first time in 40 years, was scheduled last night to air the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos' full television broadcast declaring martial law that led to two decades of brutal rule. Showing the speech in full will ensure the public will "never forget" the atrocities during Marcos's rule, which was marked by widespread human rights abuses that saw hundreds of activists killed, jailed or abducted by the dictator's forces, the office of President Benigno Aquino said. The speech was to be aired on the government's official interactive portal as well as the website of ABS-CBN television. AFP
NEW YORK - Myanmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has expressed a wish that her country will complete its transition to democracy and become a nation of hope. "I came today to thank you all and to ask all of you to stay with us until we have completed the journey to democracy, and we get to the point when we, too, can help others," she said in a speech at Queens College in New York. Her desire, the 67-year-old Nobel peace laureate said, is that "Burma can once again become the country it was way back before the military regime took over, a country of hope". Burma is the old name for Myanmar. AFP