Around Asia: Pro-junta rallies, gay rights and democracy gaffes

• Burma junta holds rally, arrests 4 activists [AP]
  On Saturday, the Burmese junta organized a mass rally in Rangoon to denounce Western powers and the foreign media, whom the military regime accuses of fomenting the recent protests. Officials said 120,000 people attended the event, some of whom were paid to be there. Among some of the slogans the crowds were made to chant include "Down with BBC! Down with VOA! Down with Radio Free Asia!"
• Singapore's repeal 377A campaign gains momentum with new parliamentary petition [Fridae.com]
  Just a week after an online letter campaign was launched, a new parliamentary petition calling for the abolishment of Section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code which outlaws “acts of gross indecency” between men is now underway.
• Thousands march in Taipei for gay rights [AFP]
  Thousands from Taiwan's gay and lesbian community marched through the streets of Taipei Saturday demanding more rights for homosexuals.
• Hong Kong leader apologises for democracy gaffe [AFP]
  Hong Kong's leader has been forced to make an unprecedented apology after warning that democracy could lead to the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, in which millions of Chinese were persecuted.
• Revered Thai king hospitalised but improving [Reuters]
  Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest reigning monarch, was improving in hospital a day after being treated for eight hours.
• Twenty SKorean tourists injured in NKorean bridge accident [Channel News Asia]
  Twenty South Korean tourists were injured on Monday when they fell off an iron suspension bridge at North Korea's Mount Kumgang tourist resort
• India cinema blast was "terrorist" attack, police say [AFP]
  Indian police said that an explosion that killed six people and injured 32 in a packed cinema hall in northern India was a "terrorist" bombing. Hundreds of people -- mainly poor migrant workers -- were crammed into the theatre in the industrial city of Ludhiana in Punjab state to watch Sunday's late-night screening of a new Bollywood comedy.

More than a dozen prominent Singapore celebrities have come out in support of a new parliamentary petition to repeal Section 377A in the city-state's Penal Code which outlaws “acts of gross indecency” between men by appearing in a Youtube video uploaded recently.