Suu Kyi delivers historic UK parliament address

Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday urged the world to help Myanmar complete its journey towards democracy as she became the first foreign woman to address both houses of Britain's parliament.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said it was an "extraordinary honour" to speak in parliament's Westminster Hall in London, a rare privilege few foreign dignitaries are afforded.
Since World War II, US President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, South African president Nelson Mandela and French president Charles de Gaulle are the only other foreigners to have addressed both houses in the 11th-century hall.
"I am here in part to ask for practical help, help as a friend and an equal," Suu Kyi told around 2,000 lawmakers and guests, who gave her a standing ovation that echoed around the cavernous hall.
"Our own determination can get us so far; the support of the people of Britain and the peoples around the world can get us so much further," added Suu Kyi, who was wearing a purple longyi skirt and white scarf.
The opposition leader was freed from nearly two decades of house arrest in November 2010 and became a lawmaker earlier this year as part of a gradual transition towards democracy after years of military rule in Myanmar.
The speech was the climax of her first visit in 24 years to Britain, where she studied and lived for several years until she answered the call of duty in Myanmar, leaving her children and her English husband behind.
Suu Kyi earlier held talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron at his office, and with heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla at their Clarence House official residence, where she planted a tree in the garden.
John Bercow, speaker of parliament's lower House of Commons, called Suu Kyi "the conscience of a country and a heroine for humanity".
Suu Kyi said that the progress of democracy in Myanmar was still fragile.
She asked for "support for the reforms which can bring better lives, greater opportunities, to the people of Burma who have been for so long deprived of their rights and their place in the world."
Suu Kyi will head to France on June 26 for the last leg of her European tour.