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Deep-seated prejudice, radical Buddhist monks fuel violence against Myanmar's Muslims
• LASHIO, Myanmar (AP) -- When a huge mob of Buddhist thugs crawled on the roof of Ma Sandar Soe's shop, doused it with gasoline and set it ablaze, the Buddhist businesswoman didn't blame them for burning it to the ground despite seeing it happen with her own eyes.
• Instead, her wrath was reserved for minority Muslims she accused of igniting Myanmar's latest round of sectarian unrest.
• "This happened because of the Muslims," she declared, sifting through charred CDs in the ruins of her recording studio.
• As Myanmar grapples with its transition to democracy, its Muslim minority is experiencing its perils in vivid, bloody fashion. Hundreds have died since last year as victims of sectarian strife.
• In the country's latest round of Buddhist-Muslim violence, swarms of Buddhist men roamed Lashio's crumbling streets this week, armed with rocks and sticks and machetes. Before police and army troops stepped in, anarchic crowds had torched scores of Muslim-owned shops, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. By the time it all ended, at least one person was dead and the town's Muslim community cowered in their homes in fear.
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Pension deal eludes Illinois lawmakers once again; session ends without fixing $100B crisis
• SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn had claimed he was "put on earth" to solve the nation's worst pension crisis, but the goal eluded him once again as lawmakers adjourned their session without addressing the $100 billion burden on the state's struggling economy.
• On a marathon final day when several other key measures were approved, including a compromise on concealed weapons, lawmakers couldn't find common ground on an issue that the governor and fellow Democrats who lead the Legislature labeled as the session's top priority. They even turned aside a relatively minor fix that would have chipped away at the problem by getting state universities and community colleges to pay their own retirement costs.
• "I will not stop fighting until pension reform is the law of the land," Quinn said Friday after the vote. "But ... I cannot act alone."
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