Junta prepares for anniversary of protests in Burma

Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, is stepping up security before the anniversary of large protests that spread across the Asian nation in 1988.

"Truckloads of riot police with batons, shields and tear gas guns were stationed near large markets and important intersections in Yangon in an apparent effort to forestall any protests, witnesses said," the Associated Press reports. "Plainclothes police and civilian thugs employed by the junta also had a large visible presence."