Wedding Photographer

43341398

Based on the West Coast, Alan Williams Photography provides professional photography to clients throughout Scotland and covers mainly surrounding areas of Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Ayrshire. Alan has built up his vast experience on the job and photographing a wide range of events. He has a bagfull of practical experience, his approach is professional and friendly, and works to the old adage, the customer is always right (mostly). No job is too small or project too big.

Alan offers comprehensive photography expertise to couples, designed to suit any budget and ensures that your special day, your memories will last forever.

If you were to ask Alan what he thinks makes him stand out from the crowd, he would tell you ?providing my clients with a high end quality product at a reasonable affordable price, bottom line, professional photography and value for money.?

There is no doubt that with his ever increasing wedding portfolio (viewing available online), coupled with his clients testimonials, Alan is seeing his business grow year on year. The wedding packages available and the pricing structure are designed to suit any and all budgets, designed to ensure you have choice. For example on your wedding day from bridal preparations up to speeches before the wedding breakfast and including a 10 page 12x10 Bellissimo Classico album, ?866.

Visit his website online alanwilliamsphotography.co.uk or give him a call for an information pack.

Source: http://services.vivastreet.co.uk/auditions+glasgow-g11/wedding-photographer/43341398

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China's growth ebbs in final quarter of 2011 (AP)

BEIJING ? China's economic growth slowed in the final quarter of 2011 to its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years as U.S. and European demand plunged and Beijing fought inflation.

The world's second-largest economy grew by 8.9 percent in the three months ending in December, data showed Tuesday. It was the slowest expansion since the second quarter of 2009, when the economy grew 7.9 percent.

China appears on track to avoid the "hard landing" of an abrupt slowdown but needs to do more to reduce reliance on exports and investment-driven growth by boosting consumer spending, analysts said.

"Today's outcome seems to confirm a `soft landing' scenario," said Frances Cheung of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

Slower Chinese growth could have global repercussions if its cuts demand for oil, iron ore, industrial components and other imports and hurts suppliers such as Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

In 2012, China faces "complexity and challenges" due to global malaise and domestic pressure for prices to rise, said Ma Jiantang, commissioner of the National Statistics Bureau.

"We will face a number of risks that affect the steady growth of the Chinese economy," Ma said at a news conference.

For the full year, the economy grew 9.2 percent, down from 2010's blistering 10.3 percent after communist leaders repeatedly hiked interest rates and tightened investment curbs to prevent overheating and inflation.

Hit by an abrupt plunge in Western consumer demand, regulators reversed course in late 2011 and tried to prop up growth by promising more bank lending to help struggling exporters and avert job losses and the threat of unrest.

The plunge in global demand, coupled with lending curbs, drove thousands of small Chinese exporters out of business and forced others to cut jobs, raising the threat of unrest.

Analysts expect Beijing to try to stimulate growth this year with an interest rate cut or other measures to free up money for lending.

Consumer inflation edged down in December to 4.1 percent, below July's 37-month high of 6.5 percent. That could give the government more leeway to stimulate the economy but it still was above the official 4 percent target for the year.

The central bank last week promised pro-growth efforts to support Chinese entrepreneurs and small companies, though its governor warned conditions were uncertain.

Also in 2011, China's urban population exceeded the number of rural dwellers for the first time, rising to 51.3 percent of the nation's 1.3 billion people, the National Bureau of Statistics announced.

The slowdown was in line with government plans to cool China's overheated economy, Ma said. He said the "ideal situation" would be to keep growth between 8.5 and 9 percent and to keep inflation low.

China's economic growth fell steadily over the course of the year, declining from 9.7 percent in the first quarter. Industrial surveys show manufacturing and exports contracted in November and December. A slowdown in real estate sales as the government tries to cool surging home prices has sparked concern about the impact on the overall economy.

In a positive sign, growth in retail sales rebounded to 18.1 percent in December from November's 17.1 percent.

"If we can rely more on domestic consumption, that will help the economy to sail through all these headwinds," said Credit Agricole CIB's Cheung. "In retail sales, there is quite an obvious pickup in growth, so that is where I think the comfort will come from."

Also in December, growth in factory output edged up to 12.8 percent from November's 12.4 percent.

"This all reaffirms our outlook on China for a soft landing in the second half of 2011 and in opening six months of 2012," said Moody's Analytics economist Glenn Levine in a report. "Export demand has cooled, but domestic demand is still running strong, led by public investment in housing and other infrastructure."

___

National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese): http://www.stats.gov.cn

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_economy

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'Artist,' 'Descendants' score top Globe wins (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? The black-and-white silent film "The Artist" led the Golden Globes with three wins Sunday at a show that spread Hollywood's love around among a broad range of films, including best drama recipient "The Descendants" and its star, George Clooney.

Wins for "The Artist" included best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for Jean Dujardin. Along with best drama, "The Descendants" won the dramatic-actor Globe for Clooney.

The dual best-picture prizes at the Globes could set up a showdown between "The Artist" and "The Descendants" for the top honor at next month's Academy Awards.

Other acting winners were Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, and Octavia Spencer, while Martin Scorsese earned the directing honor.

"I gotta thank everybody in England that let me come and trample over their history," said Streep, earning her eighth Globe, this time as dramatic actress for playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Williams won for actress in a musical or comedy as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn," 52 years after Monroe's win for the same prize at the Globes for "Some Like It Hot."

The supporting-acting Globes went to Plummer as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in the father-son drama "Beginners" and Spencer as a brassy housekeeper joining other black maids to share stories about life with their white employers in the 1960s Deep South tale "The Help."

"With regard to domestics in this country, now and then, I think Dr. King said it best: `All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.' And I thank you for recognizing that with our film," Spencer said.

Scorsese won for the Paris adventure "Hugo." It was the third directing Globe in the last 10 years for Scorsese, who previously won for "Gangs of New York" and "The Departed" and received the show's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement two years ago.

He won over a field of contenders that included Michel Hazanavicius, who had been considered by many in Hollywood as a favorite for his black-and-white silent film "The Artist."

Williams offered thanks for giving her the same award Monroe once won and joked that her young daughter put up with bedtime stories for six months spoken in Monroe's voice.

"I consider myself a mother first and an actress second, so the person I most want to thank is my daughter, my little girl, whose bravery and exuberance is the example I take with me in my work and my life," Williams said.

Dujardin became the first star in a silent film to earn a major Hollywood prize since the early days of film. He won as a silent-era star whose career unravels amid the rise of talking pictures in the late 1920s.

It's a breakout role in Hollywood for Dujardin, a star back home in France but little known to U.S. audiences previously. His French credits include "The Artist" creator Hazanavicius' spy spoofs "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio."

While the musical or comedy categories at the Globes offer recognition for lighter films amid Hollywood's sober-minded awards season, the winners usually are not serious contenders for the Oscars. The last time the winner for best musical or comedy at the Globes went on to claim best-picture at the Oscars was nine years ago with "Chicago."

This time, though, "The Artist" and Dujardin have enough critical mass to compete at the Oscars with dramatic counterparts such as "The Descendants" and Clooney.

Both films have a good mix of laughs and tears. "The Artist" could be called a comedy with strong doses of melodrama, while "The Descendants" might be described as a drama tinged with gently comic moments.

Directed by Alexander Payne ("Sideways"), "The Descendants" provided a more down-to-earth role for Clooney, who's often known for slick, high-rolling characters such as those in his "Ocean's Eleven" heist capers and or the legal saga "Michael Clayton."

Adapted from Kaui Hart Hemmings' novel, "The Descendants" casts Clooney as Matt King, the scion of an aristocratic Hawaiian clan and a neglectful dad suddenly forced to hold together his two spirited daughters after his wife falls into a coma from a boating accident.

Along the way, Matt uncovers a staggering secret about his marriage and comes to reevaluate the principles under which he's lived his life.

Charming audiences since it premiered last May at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Artist" tells the story of George Valentin (Dujardin), a big-screen superstar known for adventurous comic capers alongside his adorable dog, who's always at his side on screen and in real life.

As talking pictures take over and the Depression hits, George loses everything ? his career, his marriage, his fortune and his home. Through it all, he has a guardian angel in Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo, a supporting-actress Globe nominee and Hazanavicius' real-life romantic partner). A rising talkies star, Peppy got her career going with help from George, and she now aims to repay the favor.

The only time silent films have won best-picture or acting Oscars was in the awards first year, for 1927-28, 16 years before the Golden Globes even started.

At that first Oscar ceremony, when the transition to the sound era was just under way, the silent winners included the war story "Wings" as outstanding picture and the marital betrayal tale "Sunrise" as most unique and artistic picture, the only time that category was used. Janet Gaynor won as best actress for "Sunrise" and two other silent films, while Emil Jannings was picked as best actor for the silent films "The Last Command" and "The Way of All Flesh."

Other than some short silent films and one silent foreign-language nominee in 1983, it's been all talkies among contenders for top honors during Hollywood's awards season in the 83 years since the first Oscars.

"The Artist," which led the Globes with six nominations, also won the musical-score prize for composer Ludovic Bource.

Among its losses was for screenplay, a prize that went to Woody Allen for his romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris," the filmmaker's biggest hit in decades. Never a fan of movie awards, Allen was a no-show at the Globes.

Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" won for best animated film, while the Iranian tale "A Separation" was named the foreign-language winner.

Ricky Gervais, who has ruffled feathers at past shows with sharp wisecracks aimed at Hollywood's elite and the Globes show itself, returned as host for the third-straight year. He started with some slams at the Globes as Hollywood's second-biggest film ceremony, after the Oscars.

Gervais joked that the Globes "are just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem. The Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing's been proved."

He also needled early winners, saying the show was running long and stars needed to keep their speeches short.

"You don't need to thank everyone you've ever met or members of your family, who have done nothing," Gervais said. "Just the main two. Your agent and God."

___

Online:

http://www.goldenglobes.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_en_mo/us_golden_globes

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New details in Mont. teacher's disappearance?

Authorities investigating the reported death of a Montana school teacher planned to hold a news conference Monday as new details emerged about the 43-year-old Sherry Arnold's mysterious disappearance.

Law officers released the names of two men being held in the case. Lester Vann Waters Jr., 47, and Michael Keith Spell, 22, both of Parachute, Colo., were in the Williams County Correctional Center in Williston, N.D., awaiting extradition to Montana, authorities said.

On Sunday, authorities asked land owners in parts of Montana and North Dakota to check vacant farmsteads for signs of disturbed soil or matted grass, saying her body might be buried at such a site.

Story: FBI seeks possible burial site of missing teacher

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The FBI issued a statement late Sunday saying the body of the Sidney, Mont., woman might be buried in a "shelter belt," or a line of trees that protects soil from the wind.

The agency asked that property owners in three North Dakota counties ? Williams, McKenzie and Mountrail ? and in extreme northeastern Montana check vacant farmsteads for signs of disturbed soil or matted grass. Landowners who discover something unusual should not disturb the area, but call authorities, the FBI said.

"Based on investigative evidence gathered over the last few days, it is believed that Ms. Arnold may be deceased," FBI spokeswoman Debbie Bertram said in a statement. "Her body has not been recovered."

Williams County Sheriff's Deputy Jon Garrison said Walters and Spell face aggravated kidnapping charges in Montana.

Officials said Waters and Spell were brought to the Williston jail Friday. They declined to release where or how the men were taken into custody, but said earlier they had received a tip on a phone hotline.

The jail is about 46 miles from Sidney, where officials say Arnold disappeared while on an early-morning run along a truck route on the edge of the oil boom town of more than 5,500 residents.

Sidney school officials posted a statement online Friday saying they learned of Arnold's death that day. The statement provided no details.

Running shoe found
In the days after Arnold disappeared, hundreds of residents, police, firefighters and others combed the town and surrounding countryside without success.

The only clue that has been publicly released was that one of Arnold's shoes was found along her running route.

Arnold and her husband, Gary Arnold, have five children combined from prior marriages. Two live at home and attend the same school system where Sherry Arnold worked for the past 18 years.

Sherry Arnold's disappearance has taken a toll on the town, and "it's not over," Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser said Sunday.

"We're angry. We're frustrated," Smelser told The Associated Press. "But our concern is with Sherry's family and friends. And whatever support we can give to get them through this, that's what we'll do."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46013196/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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What's behind Europe's tough stance on Iran? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Paris ? Europe may give an impression of favoring diplomacy over sanctions on Iran, compared with American and Israeli approaches, but it has been early and consistent in pushing both. France in particular spearheaded robust action on Iran?s nuclear program, becoming one of the leaders of European Union sanctions in mid-2010 to ban investment and business activities with Iran, notably in the energy sector.

On Jan. 4, European powers agreed in principle to an oil embargo, expected to be implemented gradually after a Jan. 23 meeting of EU foreign ministers to work out the details.

?We don?t see sanctions as an alternative to negotiations but as part of them,? says Bruno Tertrais, of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. ?Even though there is little demonstrated hope for negotiations to resume, we haven?t given up.?

Q&A: What's with the war talk surrounding Iran?

With mounting tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, and increased invective and incidents between Tehran and the West, European states that do not want war see sanctions as a pragmatic alternative. The premise is that, with sanctions, the EU is doing everything possible to avoid a military outcome. Sanctions are also seen here as a step toward opening the issue at the UN Security Council. 

?France and the UK are concerned about unintended consequences of military action on Iran,? says Richard Whitman of Chatham House, an independent foreign-policy think tank in London. ?Like many in Europe, they support every effort to delay a military answer.?

Europe?s decision to punish Iran with oil sanctions stems directly from the November report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tehran?s nuclear program, which found that Iran had continued nuclear weapons development until as recently as 2009. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. 

The report was debated in nuclear watchdog circles, since there was no clear smoking gun. Yet EU officials saw the report as showing enough evidence of Iran?s intent to build a nuclear weapon to warrant global action. That the assertions came from the conservative, plodding IAEA ? and not US or Israeli intelligence leaks ? added to their credibility.

?The report shook people up, and Iranians were seen as dissembling,? Mr. Whitman says, ?while they blithely go along towards weaponization.?

Europe is Iran?s biggest trading partner, according to European Commission figures. About 90 percent of Iran?s exports to Europe are energy related, and Europe takes between 450,000 and 550,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day, rivaling China?s 600,000 barrels as Iran?s biggest buyer. Thus EU oil sanctions would exert significant leverage. European oil imports account for 18 percent of Iran?s oil sales abroad, while a US em?bargo simply keeps the United States from buying any oil from Iran.

Sanctions gained momentum after Iran?s Nov. 29 attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, and were reportedly sealed by EU assurances to the Greeks that any oil shortfalls resulting from a boycott of Iranian oil would be compensated.  

While about 6 percent of EU oil comes from Iran, debt-addled Greece gets about 30 percent of its oil from there, according to the IAEA. Italy and Spain each get 13 percent of their oil from Iran.

In the Jan. 23 meeting, EU ministers will work out the how and when of the embargo. Italy has proposed ?phased sanctions? to take effect over three to six months to allow for supply to adjust to an embargo, particularly important in struggling EU economies. Iran owes Italy?s energy giant ENI some $2 billion, which Iran is repaying in oil; the issue was suddenly in dispute days ago, but Iranian authorities have confirmed the contract terms. 

France may push the EU for collective sanctions on Iran?s Central Bank, the main conduit for oil revenues, following the lead of the US. 

Some critics say Iran is in political disarray, and that sanctions may aid forces there that want conflict, or create dynamics or cause mistakes that bring conflict. Rouzbeh Parsi of the EU Institute of Strategic Studies in Paris says the problem is that sanctions and a military response are portrayed as the only options for dealing with Iran.

?Our policy is on autopilot,? he argues. ?There is no creative thinking on where this ends up. The EU doesn?t know how to play the ball. There?s sanctions and nothing else, which plays to those that want a military solution.

?The EU is voluntarily cutting its [energy] imports, and there isn?t much else it can sanction from Iran, and we are now coming to the end of that game,? Mr. Parsi adds. ?The danger of sanctions ... is that people think there isn?t anything else to do.?

RELATED: Iran Sanctions 101

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20120115/wl_csm/450276

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Tricky transfer awaits tanker inching to Alaska

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard The Kigluaik Mountains can be viewed as the Russian tanker Renda transits toward the Port of Nome Jan. 13, 2012. The Renda has been assisted by the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy since the vessels left Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Now comes the tricky part: getting more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to shore through a mile-long hose without a spill. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard The Kigluaik Mountains can be viewed as the Russian tanker Renda transits toward the Port of Nome Jan. 13, 2012. The Renda has been assisted by the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy since the vessels left Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Now comes the tricky part: getting more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to shore through a mile-long hose without a spill. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard The Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy breaks ice in the Nome Harbor Jan. 13, 2012. The Healy has been escorting and breaking ice for the Russian tanker Renda since Jan. 3, 2012, on its way to Nome to deliver 1.3 million gallons of fuel. Now comes the tricky part: getting more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to shore through a mile-long hose without a spill. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the Kigluaik Mountains are visible as the Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice for the Russian tanker Renda near Nome Friday Jan. 13, 2012. The Healy and crew are approximately seven nautical miles away from Nome. Now comes the tricky part: getting more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to shore through a mile-long hose without a spill. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Coast Guard Rear Adm. Tom Ostebo, District 17 commander, along with Forces Valdez personnel assess the fuel transfer safety zone on snow machines in the Nome harbor Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Forces Valdez personnel will enforce a 50 yard zone around fuel delivery hoses and 100 yards from the tanker Renda. Now comes the tricky part: getting more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to shore through a mile-long hose without a spill. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard from the bridge camera aboard the Ice Breaker Healy taken at 8:01 p.m. EST shows the tanker Renda approximately one mile from Nome Alaska Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Nome's harbor is iced-in, preventing the 370-foot tanker from getting to the city dock. It will have to moor at this location offshore to transfer its 1.3-million-gallon payload across the ice and to fuel headers that feed a nearby tank farm. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? A Russian tanker is preparing to off-load more than a million gallons of diesel and gasoline to fuel-starved Nome, but first it must position itself near the Alaska town's iced-in harbor to send that cargo through a mile-long hose without a spill.

Led by and a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, the vessel plowed through hundreds of miles of Bering Sea ice to reach Nome. It was holding steady about eight miles off shore Friday night.

The problem is Nome's harbor is iced-in, preventing the 370-foot tanker Renda from getting to the city dock. It will have to moor offshore to transfer its 1.3-million-gallon payload across the ice and to fuel headers that feed a nearby tank farm.

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy can only get so close to shore because of shallow waters.

Officials want to place the Renda "where there's enough water around it that the Healy can then break the Renda free once the delivery is done," Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said.

"Out of the safety of the vessels, they're taking the time they need to evaluate where to put the Renda so the operation to shore can be done safely, but then so we can break them free and get them on their way afterward," he said.

For days, operations officials have looked at how best to lay the segmented fuel hose across the shore-fast ice for the transfer. The idea is to get the tanker as close to the harbor as possible to reduce the chance of a spill.

There has been a lot of anxious waiting since the ship left Russia in mid-December. It picked up diesel fuel in South Korea before traveling to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where it took on unleaded gasoline.

Late Thursday, the vessels stopped offshore and began planning the transfer.

A fall storm prevented Nome from getting a fuel delivery by barge in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline and home heating fuel Nome are expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.

Nome Mayor Denise Michels sat in her car Friday morning in record-breaking low temperatures and gazed past the harbor entrance. Her eyes focused on the lights coming from the tanker and the icebreaker just before dawn.

"It is right out there. You can see it," she said. "We are pretty excited."

It wasn't immediately clear when the fuel transfer would begin, but University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Greg Walker said a lot remains to be done before it can occur. Walker is in Nome providing information about ice conditions near the harbor. The tanker needs to get positioned securely in the ice and moored so it won't move during the process. Crews also need to finish removing large boulders of ice in a rubble field and leveling large pressure ridges to create a flat surface for the transfer hose.

Once the tanker gets as close as it safely can to the city dock, the ice will have to be allowed to refreeze to keep the ship stable. Then, the hose's segments will have to be bolted together and inspected before the fuel can begin to flow.

Personnel will walk the entire length of the hose every 30 minutes to check it for leaks. Each segment will have its own spill containment area, and extra absorbent boom will be on hand in case of a spill.

The state is requiring that the fuel transfer be initiated only in daylight hours. The transfer can continue in darkness if there is adequate lighting and other safety considerations, said Betty Schorr, industry preparedness program manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Nome's northern latitude leaves it mostly hidden from the sun this time of year, meaning that after Friday's 11:39 a.m. sunrise, there would be just 5 hours and 4 minutes of sunlight.

The transfer could be finished within 36 hours if everything goes smoothly, but it could take as long as five days, Schorr said. If successful, it would mark the first time fuel has been delivered by sea to a Western Alaska community in winter.

___

Online:

Coast Guard webcam, http://bit.ly/wEsemi

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-14-Nome%20Iced%20In/id-489a5d58d8534a1d9d6fea9f4bffd260

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Crowds greet famous Myanmar activist after release (AP)

PYAY, Myanmar ? Few convicts leave prison with their heads held high. Political detainees, like the several hundred released Friday under a presidential pardon in Myanmar, are a different matter. Unrepentant for the most part, they often leave jail toughened, if not energized.

Min Ko Naing is another case altogether.

His real name is Paw U Tun, but he is better known by his pseudonym, which means "Conqueror of Kings."

Joyous crowds greeted the nearly legendary leader of a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising after he was released from prison in Thayet, 345 miles (545 kilometers) north of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city and former capital.

At frequent stops during his journey back to his home in Yangon on Friday and Saturday, Min Ko Naing rallied his supporters, saying he would not give up the fight for democracy and freedom he launched 24 years ago.

A year ago, such scenes would have been unlikely. But Myanmar is a different place now, with freedom starting to take root since the installation of a military-backed but elected government that has embarked on a series of reforms. An independent but censored press is flourishing, and front pages of newspapers feature once-taboo news of the country's democracy movement and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Calendars, T-shirts and other paraphernalia of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party are sold openly on the streets of Yangon.

But the adoring reception Min Ko Naing received as he traveled to Yangon was the kind one might encounter on a campaign trail of a sure winner, with crowds of up to 1,000 people turning out along the route and tying up traffic.

After a ferry ride on the Irrawaddy River, he set out from Pyay, also known as Prome, 180 miles (280 kilometers) north of Yangon, in a brown, 12-seat van with family and relatives. Serving as an escort was a pickup truck carrying youths from Suu Kyi's party, flying the party flag of a fighting peacock gazing at a white star. Nearly 50 horn-honking motorcycles ran on ahead.

Along the route, many shouted "Good health" and "Long live Min Ko Naing." They came out of their houses to give bouquets of flowers to the student leader, with loud cheers and applause erupting whenever Min Ko Naing came out of his van to greet the crowds.

Addressing a group of about 200 people near Shwe Myet Hman pagoda in Shwe Taung town, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) north of Yangon, Min Ko Naing shouted through a loudspeaker that the students who fought for democracy and freedom in 1988 will continue their struggle, and asked for their support.

"I was given 65 years' imprisonment. If I have to serve all the 65 years, I will have to continue to serve them in my next life," he said to the cheering crowd. "I'm now free because of the support of the people."

Myint Kyi came on his bicycle to see Min Ko Naing paying respects at a temple in Pyay.

"I have heard a lot of good things about Min Ko Naing and I want to see him in person. I am very proud of him and I can call it my day after I've seen him," said the 67-year old retired lawyer.

It is unlikely the generals who still are the ultimate arbiters of power in Myanmar see things the same way. Elections and reforms notwithstanding, they don't react well to their rivals' shows of popularity.

When Suu Kyi drew vast, enthusiastic crowds during a political tour of central Myanmar in 2003, pro-government thugs ambushed her entourage, killing several of her supporters, and she spent the next seven years under house arrest.

Min Ko Naing rose to prominence when, as a university student majoring in zoology, he was president of the clandestine Universities Student Union of Burma (Myanmar), as students spearheaded the popular rebellion against the 26-year autocratic rule of strongman Gen. Ne Win.

His bold speeches fired up the public ? but also assured that he would be targeted by the military when it gained the upper hand. Arrested in March 1989, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having delivered anti-government speeches and agitating unrest. His sentence was later commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty, but he was kept behind bars anyway until 2004.

On his release, he and his comrades, collectively known as the "88 Generation Student Group," plunged right back into political organizing, and in short order were sent back to prison in 2007 after he led a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes and economic hardship. The small protests helped spark the bigger ? but failed ? "Saffon Revolution" demonstrations later that year. He was given a 65-year prison sentence.

Min Ko Naing doesn't have quite the prestige as Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Gen. Aung San and holder of the Nobel peace prize. But he is only 49 years old, in a country led by much older men.

He and his comrades are the face of Myanmar's future ? if the military is agreeable.

Thein Sein, who took office last year, has initiated a series of reforms, including the start of a dialogue with Suu Kyi, legalizing labor unions and the signing of a cease-fire agreement in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents. Friday's prisoner release won them a long-coveted prize: Washington's announcement that it would upgrade diplomatic relations to posting an ambassador again in Myanmar. The last U.S. envoy was withdrawn after the violent crushing of the 1988 uprising.

Myanmar still wants to see a lifting of economic and political sanctions by the United States and other Western nations. Meanwhile, for all the reform efforts, underlying Thein Sein's government is a constitution ensuring that the military retains ultimate political power.

Suu Kyi has described the president as sincere, but in an interview with The Associated Press last week, she acknowledged that the reforms are not "unstoppable" and will succeed only if the powerful military accepts the changes.

Min Ko Naing shares both Suu Kyi's optimism and her caution.

The reforms that are currently taking place in the country are encouraging, but "there are elements that do not want reforms," he told the AP in an interview Saturday morning in Pyay. "We are willing to work with anyone for democracy, but there could also be challenges from those who are keen to backtrack."

He said that the government has shown its eagerness to be accepted by the international community, but that it still must free whatever political prisoner remain behind bars and make further efforts for peace and stability with the ethnic minorities who continue to struggle for greater autonomy.

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Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_hero_s_welcome

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