In Burma, hundreds of monks marched in the temple town of Pakokku Wednesday. It was their first protest since the military junta’s crackdown on a mass uprising. Witnesses say the monks chanted prayers but refrained from political statements. The march comes ahead of a return visit from U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari. Speaking in Thailand, the exiled Burmese opposition leader Maung Maung called for increased international pressure on the military junta.

Maung Maung: “We have to stop the money going to the regime, and that is why we’re also calling for the Jade bill, and also we’re calling for that the action to be taken on oil and energy companies that are working in Burma, so that the money that goes to the regime is blocked, and the regime cannot — doesn’t have the money that will enable the military to move onto the democratic opposition. So this is what we’re asking for.”

The U.S. oil giant Chevron is among several international firms with close ties to the junta.