Story Archive
2009-05-28
From the death of former Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang—accused of leniency toward China’s young protesters—to the lifting of martial law eight months later, see the events that shaped this key period in Chinese history, 20 years ago.
2009-05-28
A May 20 declaration of martial law failed to deter protesters, who managed to stop military trucks and speak with troops inside as they headed toward Tiananmen Square. Throughout all of this, Muriel Southerland kept taking pictures. Then, late on June 3, a deadly two-day crackdown began—leaving an untold number of dead and a government blackout on the incident in its wake.
2009-05-27
In May 1989, students went on hunger strike to urge the government toward a dialogue. During this time, Muriel Southerland photographed the hunger-striking students and their supporters
2009-05-27
In this video—never before released publicly—Muriel Southerland remembers life in Beijing during the historic events of May and June 1989.
2009-05-15
From mid-April until the end of May 1989, Muriel Southerland went out each day to photograph the student protests at Tiananmen Square. The protests grew into a nationwide pro-democracy movement, with more than a million Beijing citizens surging into the streets at one point to support the students.
2009-05-14
Pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be tried May 18 by the Burmese military junta for breaching the terms of her house arrest in an incident in which an American man swam across a lake adjacent to her home to meet with her. Video: AFP
2009-05-04
Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch denies killing several inmates with his own hands at his landmark international tribunal in Phnom Penh.
2009-05-01
The World Health Organization raised its flu alert on April 29, signaling a H1N1 virus pandemic is "imminent" as a toddler in the United States became the first to die of the disease outside of Mexico. The flu so far has mostly affected North America, where authorities have taken measures to contain its spread.