Tag - Myanmar
Burma's long and winding road
Thursday 22 November 2012 - Decoding
Stephen Collinson’s forays for AFP during the 1990s into Burma – renamed “Myanmar” by a brutal military junta determined to quarantine their nation from outside influence – offered veiled glimpses into one of the most repressive police states in the world. Twenty years later, Collinson returns as White House correspondent, trailing Barack Obama, to a country opening up at startling speed and moving, albeit fitfully, toward democracy. (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)
The Yangon kiss
Tuesday 20 November 2012 - Behind the image
AFP PHOTO/Nicolas Asfouri
The Yangon kiss
The image of President Barack Obama planting a firm kiss on the cheek of Myanmar opposition legend Aung San Suu Kyi caused quite a stir across much of the Asian region, where formal greetings between people are often limited to a prayer-like salute and a broad smile. AFP’s Bangkok photographer Nicolas Asfouri talks about he captured the historic image. (Nicolas Asfouri)
Myanmar thaw: a dissident stays in the shadows
Thursday 18 October 2012 - Debriefing
"I met him for the first time in 2007, while he was on the run from the secret police," recalls Hong Kong-based AFP reporter Anuj Chopra, speaking of a Burmese political activist long at odds with his country's military regime. They met in a Japanese restaurant in one of the swankiest hotels in Yangon, the country’s largest city. "It was an improbable venue for a rendezvous with someone atop the government's 'most wanted' list..." (AFP PHOTO / Mizzima News)