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Myanmar's military authorities have charged an Associated Press photographer and five other journalists over their coverage of anti-coup protests, their lawyer said Wednesday. AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was arrested on Saturday as he covered a demonstration in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon. The country has been in uproar since February 1, when the army detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders, ending Myanmar's brief experiment with democracy and sparking protests far and wide. Thein Zaw's lawyer said he and five other Myanmar journalists had been charged under a law against "causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee". The junta amended the law last month, to increase the maximum sentence from two years to three years in jail. "Ko Thein Zaw was simply reporting in line with press freedom law -- he wasn't protesting, he was just doing his work, the lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, said, adding that all six were being held at Insein prison in Yangon. The other five journalists are from Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet Online news and a freelancer, according to AP. AP's vice-president of international news Ian Philips called for Thein Zaw's immediate release. "Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution," he said. "AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw." Since the coup, authorities have steadily stepped up their tactics against anti-military protesters, deploying tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets, as well as isolated incidents of live rounds. Sunday was the bloodiest day since the military takeover, with the UN saying at least 18 protesters were killed across the country. AFP independently confirmed 11, adding to five killed in earlier incidents. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, more than 1,200 people have been arrested since the coup, with about 900 still behind bars or facing charges. But the real number is likely far higher -- state-run media reported that on Sunday alone more than 1,300 people were arrested. AAPP says that 34 journalists are among those detained, with 15 released so far. "This repression is obstructing the flow of accurate information and news," AAPP said, adding that journalists were being subjected to "violent attacks" despite having clear credentials. The most recent confirmed arrest came Monday, when a Myanmar journalist with broadcasting service Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) live-streamed a late-night raid on his home. The footage -- posted on DVB's Facebook page -- appeared to show loud bangs outside his apartment building as he pleaded with authorities not to shoot.

* Police break up protests in several places * "Like Tiananmen Square" - archbishop * ASEAN meeting on Myanmar makes no breakthrough * State media says "illegal organisations" creating unrest * Myanmar's ousted president faces new charges - lawyer Myanmar security forces opened fire on protests against military rule on Wednesday killing nine people, witnesses and media reported, a day after neighbouring countries called for restraint and offered to help Myanmar resolve the crisis. The security forces resorted to live fire with little warning in several towns and cities, witnesses said, as the junta appeared more determined than ever to stamp out protests against a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. "They marched towards us and fired tear gas, marched again and used stun grenades," Si Thu Maung, a protest leader in the central town of Myingyan, told Reuters. "Then they didn't spray us with water cannon, no warning to disperse, they just fired their guns." A spokesman for the ruling military council did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. One teenaged boy was killed in Myingyan but the heaviest toll was in another central town, Monywa, where five people - four men and one woman - were killed, said Ko Thit Sar, editor of the Monywa Gazette. "We've confirmed with family members and doctors, five people have been killed," he told Reuters. "At least 30 people are wounded, some still unconscious." Two people were killed in the country's second-biggest city Mandalay, a witness and media reports said, and one person was killed when police opened fire in the main city of Yangon, a witness there said. At least 31 people have been killed since the coup. "The country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities," the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, said on Twitter, alluding to the suppression of student-led protests in Beijing in 1989. The violence came a day after foreign ministers from Southeast Asian neighbours urged restraint but failed to unite behind a call for the release Suu Kyi and the restoration of democracy. Security forces also detained about 300 protesters as they broke up protests in Yangon, the Myanmar Now news agency reported. Video posted on social media showed lines of young men, hands on heads, filing into army trucks as police and soldiers stood guard. Reuters was unable to verify the footage. Images of a 19-year-old woman, one of the two shot dead in Mandalay, showed her wearing a T-shirt that read "Everything will be OK". Police ordered three medics out of an ambulance, shot up the windscreen and then kicked and beat the workers with gun butts and batons, video broadcast by U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia showed. Reuters was unable to verify the video independently. Democracy activist Esther Ze Naw told Reuters via a messaging app that the sacrifices of those who died would not be in vain. "We will continue this fight and win. We shall overcome this and win," she said. On Tuesday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) failed to make a breakthrough in a virtual foreign ministers' meeting on Myanmar. While united in a call for restraint, only four members - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore - called for the release of Suu Kyi and other detainees. "We expressed ASEAN's readiness to assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner," the ASEAN chair, Brunei, said in a statement. Myanmar's state media said the military-appointed foreign minister attended the ASEAN meeting that "exchanged views on regional and international issues", but made no mention of the focus on Myanmar's problems. It said Wunna Maung Lwin "apprised the meeting of voting irregularities" in November's election. The military justified the coup saying its complaints of voter fraud in the Nov. 8 elections were ignored. Suu Kyi's party won by a landslide, earning a second five-year term. The election commission said the vote was fair. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said the intervention was to protect Myanmar's fledgling democracy and has pledged to hold new elections but given no time frame. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday in an interview the coup was a "tragic" step back for Myanmar and the use of lethal force was "disastrous". Tuesday evening's news bulletin on Myanmar state television said agitators were mobilising people on social media and forming "illegal organisations". Suu Kyi, 75, has been held incommunicado since the coup but appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing this week and looked in good health, a lawyer said. She is one of nearly 1,300 people who have been detained, according to activists. Ousted President Win Myint is facing two new charges, his lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, said, including one for a breach of the constitution that is punishable by up to three years on prison.

An Indonesian volcano erupted on Tuesday morning spewing a spectacular column of ash thousands of metres into a powder blue sky. Vulcanologists recorded 13 separate blasts as Mount Sinabung leapt to life, belching debris up to 5,000 metres above Sumatra. There was no immediate danger to life or property, authorities said, with a five-kilometre ring around the volcano having been left unoccupied over recent years. No evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption. But locals are taking no chances. "The residents are scared, many are staying indoors to avoid the thick volcanic ash," Roy Bangun, 41, told AFP. Muhammad Nurul Asrori, a monitoring officer at Sinabung, said Tuesday's plume of smoke and ash was the largest he had seen since 2010, and warned that it could still get bigger. "The large lava dome at any time could burst, causing a bigger avalanche of hot clouds," he said. Sinabung, a 2,460-metre volcano, was dormant for centuries before roaring back to life in 2010 when an eruption killed two people. After another period of inactivity, it erupted again in 2013 and has remained highly active since. In 2014, an eruption killed at least 16 people, while seven died in a 2016 blast. Indonesia -- an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and islets -- has nearly 130 active volcanoes. It sits on the "Ring of Fire", a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs. Mount Merapi on Java island, one of the world's most active volcanoes, also erupted this week, spewing lava down one of its flanks.

* US push for 'intense' UN Security Council talks * Protest begins in city of Yangon * ASEAN to tell Myanmar it is 'appalled' - Singapore FM * Anti-coup groups say ASEAN legitimising junta with meeting Myanmar police opened fire to disperse protesters on Tuesday, witnesses said, as foreign ministers of neighbouring countries were due to hold talks with the military in a bid to quell violence and find a way out of the crisis. The talks will come two days after the bloodiest day of unrest since the military removed Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government a month ago, unleashing anger and mass street protests across Myanmar. Protesters, many wearing hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, had gathered behind barricades in different parts of the main city of Yangon to chant slogans against military rule. "If we're oppressed, there will be explosion. If we're hit, we'll hit back," demonstrators chanted before police moved in firing stun grenades to scatter crowds in at least four different places in the city. There were no reports of any injuries in Yangon but several people were wounded in the northwestern town of Kale when police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd, according to a democracy activist and a reporter in the town. "Several are injured, two are in critical condition," activist War War Pyone said. Hospitals and police in the area could not be reached for comment. The military spokesmen did not answer telephone calls. At least 21 protesters have been killed since the turmoil began. The army said one policemen was killed. The coup on Feb. 1 halted Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, and has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries, and growing concern among its neighbours. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would be frank when they meet by video call on Tuesday and will tell a representative of Myanmar's military they are appalled by the violence. In a television interview late on Monday, Balakrishnan said ASEAN would encourage dialogue between Suu Kyi and the junta. "They need to talk, and we need to help bring them together," he said. ASEAN groups Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The military justified the coup saying its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's party were ignored. The election commission said the vote was fair. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in remarks read on state television by a newscaster, said protest leaders and "instigators" would be punished and threatened action against civil servants refusing to work. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold new elections and hand power to the winner but has given no time frame. ASEAN's effort to engage with Myanmar's military has been criticised by supporters of democracy, with a committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers declaring the junta a "terrorist" group and saying ASEAN's engagement will give it legitimacy. Sa Sa, the committee's anointed envoy to the United Nations, said ASEAN should have no dealings with "this illegitimate military-led regime". The alumni of ASEAN youth programmes in Myanmar said the bloc should be talking to the international representatives of Suu Kyi's administration, not to the regime. "ASEAN must understand that the coup or the re-election promised by the military junta is utterly unacceptable to the people of Myanmar," it said it a letter to ASEAN. Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin indicated on Twitter that ASEAN would be firm with Myanmar and said the bloc's policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs "is not a blanket approval or tacit consent for wrong to be done there". Suu Kyi, 75, appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday and looked in good health, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, the lawyer said. The Nobel Peace laureate has not been seen in public since her government was toppled and she was detained along with other party leaders. Hundreds of people have been arrested since the coup, according to activists, the latest a journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma, who live-streamed security forces outside his apartment on Monday in the coastal town of Myeik, where he had been filming protests. DVB confirmed the arrest. The United States warned Myanmar's military on Monday that it would take more action if security forces kill unarmed people and attack journalists and activists, which State Department spokesman Ned Price called "abhorrent violence". White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was preparing further costs on those responsible for the coup.

* Suu Kyi makes court appearance via video conference * Protests resume after worst day of bloodshed * US condemns 'abhorrent violence' * 'The world must act' - UN rapporteur says A Myanmar court filed two more charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, a lawyer acting for her said, as protesters marched in defiance of a crackdown by security forces that killed at least 18 people the previous day. Suu Kyi looked well as she took part in a court hearing via video conferencing in the capital, Naypyitaw, and she asked to see her legal team, lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters. The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has not been seen in public since her government was ousted in a Feb. 1 military coup, when she was detained along with other party leaders. "I saw A May on the video, she looks healthy," the lawyer said, using an affectionate term that means "mother" to refer to Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi was initially charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a charge of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols was added. On Monday, a charge was added under a section of the colonial-era penal code prohibiting the publication of information that may "cause fear or alarm” or disrupt "public tranquillity”, Min Min Soe said. Another charge was added under a telecommunications law, the lawyer said, which stipulates equipment needs a licence. The next hearing will be on March 15. Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power after alleging fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's NLD in a landslide. As Suu Kyi appeared in the video conference court hearing, police in the main city of Yangon used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters, witnesses said, a day after the worst violence since the coup. There were no immediate reports of any casualties on Monday but the previous day, police opened fire on crowds in various parts of the country killing 18 people, the U.N. human rights office said. "We have to continue the protest no matter what," Thar Nge said by telephone after police firing tear gas forced him and others to abandon a barricade in a Yangon street. "This is my neighbourhood. It's a lovely neighbourhood but now we're hearing gunfire and we don't feel safe at home." The military has not commented on Sunday's violence and police and military spokesmen did not answer calls. Earlier, police with water cannon and military vehicles were mobilised at protest hotspots in Yangon as crowds gathered to chant slogans. Demonstrators marched in the northwestern town of Kale holding up pictures of Suu Kyi and chanting "democracy, our cause, our cause". Live video on Facebook showed a small crowd in hard hats gathered across a street in the northeastern town of Lashio, chanting slogans as police marched towards them. Protesters also marched in the central town of Bagan. The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he called "abhorrent violence" by security forces, while Canada's foreign minister, Marc Garneau, called the military's use of lethal force "appalling". Both urged a united response. Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said it was clear the junta's assault would continue so the international community should ratchet up its response. He proposed a global arms embargo, more sanctions from more countries on those behind the coup, sanctions on the military's businesses and a U.N Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court. "Words of condemnation are welcome but insufficient. We must act," Andrews said in a statement. "The nightmare in Myanmar that is unfolding before our eyes will get worse. The world must act." A committee representing lawmakers who won seats in the November election said at least 26 people were killed in the violence on Sunday, a tally Reuters was unable to verify. In a post dated Feb. 28, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper warned "severe action will be inevitably taken" against "anarchic mobs" that the military could not ignore, despite having previously shown restraint. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said at least 270 people were detained on Sunday, from a total 1,132 it said had been arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup. While some Western countries have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure with support from China and Russia. The junta has promised to hold a new election but not set a date.

Thai police shot rubber bullets and used water cannon and tear gas against pro-democracy protesters in Bangkok yesterday at a rally outside a military barracks housing the prime minister’s residence. A youth-led protest movement calling for the resignation of Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s government had lost steam in recent months following a second wave of coronavirus infections in Thailand. But the recent detention of four prominent protest leaders on royal defamation charges has given it a shot in the arm. The four are among 58 protesters facing lese majeste charges and the prospect of up to 15 years in jail per charge if convicted of insulting the monarchy. An estimated 2,000 demonstrators marched from the major Bangkok intersection Victory Monument on Sunday to a nearby military barracks where Prayut lives. Among the protesters were scores of migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar rallying against the coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. Some Thai protesters marched wearing hard hats and carried red flags. Hundreds later pushed through shipping containers and barbed-wire barricades, leading to a confrontation with riot police guarding the entrance of the barracks. Scuffles broke out between riot squad officers and protesters, while some demonstrators were seen pushing a police truck. “They are preparing everything, shields, baton, water with some chemical and rubber bullets,” one protester at the front line told Thai media. Amid the tense stand-off, officers used water cannon trucks and let off tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd — the first use of force, albeit non-lethal, at a Bangkok rally for several months. Protesters shouted for water and saline as they were sprayed. Some wore raincoats while others held their bare hands in the air or raised three figures -- a symbol of resistance. Officers later shot rubber bullets, according to an AFP journalist on the ground. “It doesn’t hurt too much,” a protester told Thai media, showing a red mark on his arm Some protesters threw glass bottles, rocks and bricks at officers while others took refuge inside a nearby Shell petrol station, which later closed early. Despite protest organisers sending a social media message at around 8:30pm local time (1:30pm GMT) urging demonstrators to go home, scores stuck around, many on motorbikes playing a cat and mouse game with advancing police. Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said 16 protesters were injured and a riot squad police officer lost consciousness. A nurse at Rajavithi Hospital told AFP the officer died but would not elaborate on the circumstances. At least two protesters were arrested, according to a live Facebook feed, however police have not confirmed the total number. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said 19 were arrested including a 16-year-old. A small group of protesters continued to clash with officers outside Din Daeng Police Station after midnight, in the wee hours today morning. Thailand’s pro-democracy movement kicked off last July and at its peak attracted tens of thousands of mostly young people.  Among the movement’s demands are a rewrite of the army-drafted constitution and reforms to the monarchy — a taboo-smashing stipulation in a country where the ultra-wealthy royal family has long been untouchable.

Thailand kicked off its Covid-19 inoculation campaign yesterday, with cabinet ministers, health officials and medical professionals among the first in the queue to receive vaccinations. The first doses of vaccine, developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, were given to Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the health minister, among others at an infectious diseases institute on the outskirts of Bangkok. “I hope that the vaccination will result in people being safe from the spread of Covid-19 and it allows Thailand to return to normalcy as soon as possible,” Anutin told reporters afterwards. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, 66, attended the event, although his age falls outside the range of 18 to 59 suitable to receive SinoVac’s CoronaVac vaccine, so he did not get it. Thailand received its first 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China and 117,00 imported doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine this week. CoronaVac has been distributed to 13 high-risk provinces, which will began injecting front-line health professionals and volunteers yesterday, the health ministry has said. AstraZeneca’s vaccine will be ready for use by the second week of March, after going through quality control tests, the company said in a statement. Thailand is expected to take delivery of a further 1.8 million doses of CoronaVac in March and April. A mass campaign to administer 10 million doses a month is set to begin in June, with 61 million shots of AstraZeneca vaccines produced by local firm Siam Bioscience. With a tally of just over 25,000 infections, Thailand has escaped the kind of fallout suffered by some other countries since the pandemic began last year.

The day before he was killed, internet network engineer Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing had posted on Facebook about the increasingly violent military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar. "#How_Many_Dead_Bodies_UN_Need_To_Take_Action,” he wrote, in reference to the United Nations. He was among the first shot dead in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on Sunday, the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 coup prompted daily protests against the junta and to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The United Nations Human Rights Office said at least 18 people had been killed and 30 wounded on Sunday, bringing the total number of protesters killed since the coup to at least 21. The army says one policeman has died in the unrest. Authorities did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday's violence. The state-run Global New Light Of Myanmar said the army had previously shown restraint, but could not ignore "anarchic mobs". It said "severe action will be inevitably taken" against "riotous protesters." With daily protests and strikes paralysing a country where the army had promised to bring order, soldiers and police intensified their crackdown at the weekend. Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing was shot a few hundred metres from Hledan Junction, a regular protest gathering point. Video from an apartment above records the sound of gunshots as Nyi Nyi lies slumped outside the gate of the Kamaryut township high school - dressed in a check shirt and with a builder's white hard hat, his phone in his hand. Several protesters sprint past the body before five gain courage to carry him away, crouching as they run, the video from website Myanmar Now that was republished by Reuters shows. It was too late to save him. A UN official speaking on condition of anonymity said Nyi Nyi was one of at least five killed people in Yangon. One had been shot in the eye. A middle school teacher died of a suspected heart attack from a stun grenade blast, her colleagues said. The teachers tried to assemble early, but police threw stun grenades and charged in to break up the protest. "Many were wounded. I have no weapon. I just came here to protest peacefully. Whatever they do, we just have to take it," said teacher Hayman May Hninsi. Across the country, protesters wearing plastic work helmets and with makeshift shields faced off against police and soldiers in battle gear, including some from units notorious for tough crackdowns on ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar's border regions. In the coastal town of Dawei, security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the middle of the road, witnesses said. Video footage shared on social media shows a protester clad in jeans and flip flops lying motionless after the crowd scatters. Soldiers walk past the body and begin beating another protester. In Myanmar's second city of Mandalay, a man was shot dead as he rode his motorbike. Protesters carried his lifeless body to an ambulance. The bullet pierced his red helmet, leaving it drenched in blood, images on social media showed. The live video and photos shared on social media, not all of which were verified by Reuters, showed medics rushing to retrieve the dead and injured, carrying them away on stretchers, stuffing cotton wool into gaping wounds. One front-line reporter posted on Facebook that police had told people they were not shooting because they had been ordered to. "We shoot because we want to. Get inside your homes if you don't want to die," she quoted one as shouting. Yangon echoed to the sound of stun grenades and rubber bullets and the occasional zip of a live round. Despite the crackdown, protesters moved to different districts, setting up roadblocks with wheeled garbage bins, lighting poles and concrete blocks. Some held riot shields homemade from tin sheet and stencilled with the word "PEOPLE" to contrast with those labelled "POLICE". Protesters wrote their blood group and a contact number for next of kin on their forearms in case they were wounded. Until nightfall, demonstrations flared and subsided. "Young people are resisting state oppression with anything they have," said youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi. "We won't let military rule us again. Never again."

* At least 18 dead, UN says, as police crack down * Protesters flee stun grenades * Rights group condemns escalation of lethal force * Hundreds detained in Saturday crackdown Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least 18 people were killed, the UN human rights office said. Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police. Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet in the chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified. "Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that - according to credible information received by the UN Human Rights Office - has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded," the UN human rights office said. Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide. The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries. Among the dead were three people in Dawei in the south, politician Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the town. The Myanmar Now media outlet reported two people had been killed in a protest in the second city of Mandalay. Security forces fired again later in the day and one woman was killed, Mandalay resident Sai Tun told Reuters. "The medical team checked her and confirmed she didn't make it. She was shot in the head," Sai Tun said. Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. The dead in Yangon included a teacher, Tin New Yee, who died after police swooped to disperse a teachers' protest with stun grenades, sending the crowd fleeing, her daughter and a fellow teacher said. Police also hurled stun grenades outside a Yangon medical school, sending doctors and students in white lab coats scattering. A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested. Police broke up protests in other towns, including Lashio in the northeast, Myeik in the deep south and Hpa-An in the east, residents and media said. Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said last week authorities were using minimal force to deal with the protests. Nevertheless, at least 21 protesters have now died in the turmoil. The army said a policeman has been killed. The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media. "The Myanmar security forces' clear escalation in use of lethal force in multiple towns and cities ... is outrageous and unacceptable," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. The Canadian Embassy said it was "appalled by a trend of increased violence and use of force against protesters" and Indonesia, which has taken the lead within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in efforts to resolve the turmoil, said it was deeply concerned. State-run MRTV television said more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday when police launched the nationwide crackdown. It was not clear how many were detained on Sunday. Youth activist Esther Ze Naw said people were battling the fear they had lived with under military rule. "It's obvious they're trying to instil fear in us by making us run and hide," she said. "We can't accept that." State television announced on Saturday that Myanmar's UN envoy had been fired for betraying the country, after he urged the United Nations to use "any means necessary" to reverse the coup. The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, remained defiant. "I decided to fight back as long as I can," he told Reuters in New York. While Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure. They have promised to hold a new election but not set a date. Suu Kyi's party and supporters said the result of the November vote must be respected. Suu Kyi, 75, who spent nearly 15 years under house arrest, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols. The next hearing in her case is on Monday.

Myanmar's junta fired its United Nations ambassador Saturday for breaking ranks to denounce the military's ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as police stepped up a crackdown on protesters across the country. The country has been shaken by a wave of demonstrations since a coup toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. Authorities have ramped up the use of force to suppress dissent, deploying tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse some protests. Live rounds have been used in isolated cases. In justifying its seizure of power, the military has alleged widespread fraud in the November elections, which Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide, and promised fresh polls in a year. But its ambassador to the United Nations on Friday broke ranks and made an emotional appeal to the international community for "the strongest possible action... to restore democracy". Kyaw Moe Tun also pleaded with his "brothers and sisters" in Burmese to keep fighting. "This revolution must win," he said, flashing the three-finger salute that has become a symbol of resistance against the junta. By Saturday night, state-run TV announced that Kyaw Moe Tun was no longer Myanmar's UN ambassador. "(He) didn't follow the order and direction by the state and betrayed the country," according to a MRTV broadcast. "That is why he is revoked from his position starting from today." - 'We want to fight until we win' -News of Kyaw Moe Tun's removal follows a day of crackdowns and mass arrests by Myanmar's security forces as the country enters its fourth week of daily protests against the generals' grip on power. Chaos unfolded across commercial hub Yangon, with police closing in early on peaceful demonstrators and deploying rubber bullets to disperse them from Myaynigone junction. Protesters scattered into residential streets and started building makeshift barricades out of stacked tables and trash cans to stop the police. Many wore hard hats and gas masks, wielding homemade shields for protection. "What are the police doing? They are protecting a crazy dictator," the protesters chanted angrily. Local reporters broadcast the chaotic scenes live on Facebook, including the moments when the shots rang out, which AFP reporters on the ground also witnessed. "We want to fight until we win," said protester Moe Moe, 23, who used a pseudonym. At nearby Hledan junction several rounds of stun grenades were fired, according to AFP reporters. At least three media workers were detained, including an Associated Press photographer, a video journalist from Myanmar Now, and a photographer from the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency. Another protest near a shopping centre in nearby Tamwe Township was broken up by police. Aye Myint Kyi, a distraught mother of one shopper, said she reached her daughter briefly on the phone, who said she was being taken. "I don't know where she was taken," she told AFP, crying. "She was unjustly arrested." - Mass arrests -In the central city of Monywa, a rally had barely started before police and soldiers moved in on demonstrators, said a medic with a local emergency rescue team. Htwe Aung Zin said his team had been "sent a man who was severely injured in his leg from the police crackdown", adding that they treated 10 others with minor injuries. He declined to say what kind of bullets caused the man's injury. Another medic -- who did not give their name -- told AFP that a woman with severe injuries had been sent to the intensive care unit. Meanwhile, two local media outlets saw their journalists arrested as they attempted to broadcast live video of protests on Facebook. Monywa Gazette's Kyaw Kyaw Win was beaten and arrested by plainclothes police, while Hakha Times' Pu Lalawmpuia was nabbed as he was filming authorities fanning out around him. More than 770 people have been arrested, charged and sentenced since the putsch, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, with some 680 still behind bars. But Saturday is expected to push the number up, said AAPP's Bo Gyi. "More than 400 were arrested (today)," he said, adding that only a fraction will make it into the group's daily updated list as they were not able to confirm the names of everyone. - 'Protection concerns' -Earlier in the day, MRTV also broadcast the arrival of more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals deported from Malaysia despite a court order halting the repatriation. The migrants -- whom activists say include vulnerable asylum seekers -- received a hero's welcome at Yangon's navy port, attended by military families and officials. Some of the returnees include ethnic minorities from Rakhine and Kachin state who may have "protection concerns", said John Quinley of Fortify Rights. "The military has been on an all-out campaign to crack down on protesters, journalists, activists, and anyone calling for democracy," he said. Since the coup, at least five people have been killed -- four of them from injuries sustained at anti-coup demonstrations that saw security forces open fire on protesters. The military has said one police officer has died while attempting to quell a protest.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has extended partial coronavirus curbs in the capital until the end of March, as the country awaits the arrival of vaccines, the presidential spokesman said on Saturday. With southeast Asia's second-highest tally of infections and deaths, the Philippines has suffered lengthy, strict lockdowns in Manila and provinces, hitting an economy that was among Asia's fastest growing before the pandemic. Curbs will stay for another month in Manila, which accounts for 40% of national economic output, the spokesman, Harry Roque, said in a statement. Also under partial curbs are Duterte's southern home city of Davao, and the northern city of Baguio. The curbs limit operations of businesses and public transport. The decision follows a report of 2,651 new virus infections, the highest daily increase in more than four months. Despite calls to further re-open the economy, the firebrand leader has pledged to maintain curbs in the virus epicentre of Manila until mass vaccinations begin. The Philippines will be the last regional nation to get its first shipment of vaccines, comprising 600,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech's vaccines donated by China, to be delivered on Sunday, and earmarked for healthcare workers and troops.    

Riot police in Myanmar on Friday dispersed hundreds of anti-coup protesters who have rallied daily in the country's largest city against a junta that toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The country has seen an outpouring of anger and defiance from hundreds of thousands of protesters who have gathered to call for Suu Kyi's release and a return to democracy. In some cities, security forces have steadily increased their use of force, but in commercial hub Yangon, authorities have exercised restraint, largely relying on barricades and troop presence to prevent gatherings around city landmarks and embassies. Protesters have bypassed restrictions by moving fluidly through the city, organising around central junctions Hledan and Myaynigone. But on Friday riot police advanced on the demonstrators -- mostly sitting and chanting pro-democracy slogans -- and warned them to disperse. At least two people were arrested after officers cleared the busy traffic artery. One was a Japanese freelance reporter, Yuki Kitazumi. ‘According to eyewitnesses, he was beaten on the head by baton but he was wearing a helmet,’ his assistant Linn Nyan Htun posted on Facebook, adding that he had reached out to the Japanese embassy. A police officer denied that Kitazumi was beaten, but confirmed the journalist had been detained at a local police station and would be released after giving a statement. On a smaller residential street off Myaynigone, some demonstrators assembled makeshift barricades -- using barbed wire and stacked tables -- to halt police. Wearing hard hats, protesters shouted the regular anti-junta refrain: ‘Failure to the dictatorship is our cause, our cause!’ And uptown off Hledan junction, demonstrators sprinted away in alarm as police warned: ‘If people do not disperse, we will have to disperse by force!’ One frightened protester ran into a nearby house to hide, telling AFP that police had deployed stun grenades. ‘We had to run,’ Nyo Hlaing told AFP, adding that some protesters retaliated by shooting projectiles using slingshots at the police. AFP reporters on the ground also heard several stun grenades go off with a sharp bang and saw police arrest more people. As police searched some apartments, residents around Hledan protested by banging pots and pans -- an act of defiance against the military regime. Back on the main traffic junction, officers allowed buses and cars to go through. Some passengers flashed a three-finger salute -- a symbol of resistance borrowed from neighbouring Thailand's pro-democracy movement. - Tensions high – Tensions in Yangon are high, with many rattled after a pro-junta rally was allowed to move through the city's downtown area Thursday. The pro-military supporters carried slingshots, knives and pipes, which they used to attack people living near the site of their protest, according to reporters and anti-coup residents. State-run media blamed the clash on pro-democracy demonstrators. By Thursday night, a Yangon township saw soldiers and police gather to break up a small rally against a junta-appointed municipal administrator, alarming residents who scattered home to avoid arrests after the 8 pm curfew. State-run media reported Friday that authorities had deployed stun grenades and fired live rounds in the air to disperse protesters in Tamwe township. Twenty-three people will ‘face action according to the law’, it said.    

* Students protest in Yangon * Pro-military group also gathers * Indonesia in diplomatic push   Students and doctors in Myanmar plan to hold new protests on Thursday against military rule, as the United States expressed concern about Malaysia's deportation of about 1,100 Myanmar nationals back to the strife-torn nation. The army seized power this month after alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 election swept by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), detaining her and much of the party leadership. There have been about three weeks of daily protests and on Thursday students pledged to rally in the commercial hub of Yangon, with demonstrators urged to bring text books promoting military education so they can destroy them at the protest. ‘Since the coup our lives have become hopeless, our dreams have died,’ said Kaung Sat Wai, 25, outside a university campus in the main city of Yangon. ‘We don't accept an education system that supports dictatorship.’ About 1,000 supporters of the military also gathered for a counter-protest in central Yangon. Residents banged pots and pans to show their disapproval and some scuffles broke out between the two sides, witnesses said. Many professionals and government workers have also joined a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup, with doctors due to hold a protest on Thursday as part of a so-called white coat revolution. The spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to a Reuters telephone call seeking comment. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) rights group said as of Wednesday 728 people had been arrested, charged or sentenced in relation to the pro-democracy protests. The security forces have shown more restraint compared with earlier crackdowns against people who pushed for democracy during almost half a century of direct military rule. Military chief General Min Aung Hlaing says authorities are following a democratic path in dealing with the protests and police are using minimal force, such as rubber bullets, state media reported. Nonetheless, three protesters and one policeman have been killed in violence at rallies. 'USE RESTRAINT' On the diplomatic front, Indonesia's foreign minister said on Wednesday she had held intensive talks with the Myanmar military and representatives of the ousted elected government in a bid to end the crisis over the Feb. 1 coup. Indonesia has taken the lead within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in efforts to resolve the turmoil. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met Myanmar's military-appointed foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, for talks in the Thai capital on Wednesday. But Indonesia's intervention has raised suspicion among Myanmar democracy activists who fear dealing with the junta would confer legitimacy on it and its bid to scrap the November election. Retno, speaking to reporters in Bangkok, said the wellbeing of the people of Myanmar was the top priority. ‘We ask for everybody to use restraint and not resort to violence,’ Retno said after talks with the Myanmar minister and her Thai counterpart, Don Pramudwinai. A Reuters report this week cited sources as saying Indonesia was proposing that ASEAN members send monitors to ensure the generals stick to their promise of fair new elections. The military has not given a time frame for the new election it has promised, although it imposed a one-year state of emergency when it seized power. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Thai embassy in Yangon on Wednesday with signs reading: ‘Respect our vote’ and ‘We voted NLD’. Retno did not mention the issue of the election but emphasised ‘the importance of an inclusive democratic transition process’. The crisis has restored Myanmar's reputation as the problem member of the 10-country ASEAN and the diplomatic scramble by its neighbours comes as wider international concern is growing. The United States, Britain and others have imposed limited sanctions aimed at members of the junta and military businesses. China has traditionally taken a softer line on Myanmar as have ASEAN neighbours. The United States has also expressed concern over Malaysia's deportation of nearly 1,100 Myanmar nationals and urged countries in the region to hold off on any repatriations in light of the coup. Malaysia is home to more than 154,000 asylum-seekers from Myanmar and several lawmakers and rights groups on Wednesday called on the government to explain the deportation, despite a court-ordered stay. The deportees are due to arrive in Myanmar on Saturday, the Myanmar navy said on its Facebook page.    

At least 75 inmates died Tuesday and several were injured in riots blamed on gang rivalry at three jails in Ecuador's overcrowded prison system, authorities said. As security forces battled to regain control, distraught family members waited desperately for news outside the prison in Ecuador's western port city of Guayaquil, where officials said 21 died. Another 33 died at the prison in Cuenca in the south and eight in Latacunga in the center of the South American country, according to Edmundo Moncayo, director of the government's SNAI prisons management body. ‘We want the death list given to us,’ said Daniela Soria, 29, one of about 40 women outside the Guayaquil prison, many of them in tears. ‘We know that the problems are not over because everyone there has a phone and my husband doesn't call me,’ she told AFP. Earlier, she received a WhatsApp voice message from her husband, Ricardo, which she played back for AFP. ‘They are going to kill me, get me out of here!’ he could be heard exclaiming, the last she heard from him. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno, on Twitter, attributed the riots to ‘criminal organizations’ engaged in ‘simultaneous acts of violence in several prisons.’ The authorities, he said, ‘are acting to retake control.’ The military was deployed to help police quell the uprising. The public defender's office, an entity akin to an ombudsman set up to defend human rights, called the violence ‘an unprecedented massacre’ and expressed its ‘concern over the lack of security in the country, which is reflected in the increase in crime and violence inside these prison facilities.’ - 'Like a market' -The prosecuting authority said several inmates were left injured in fighting between ‘criminal gangs,’ including two at Guayaquil in serious condition. Several police were also injured, said Moncayo, but no deaths have been reported among security personnel. Police commander Patricio Carrillo described the situation as ‘critical,’ while Interior Minister Patricio Pazmino created a centralized command post to respond to what he said was ‘concerted action by criminal organizations to generate violence in penitentiary centers.’ The prison authority described fierce fighting between organized gangs that go by names such as Los Pipos, Los Lobos and Tigrones. They rely on drug trafficking and operate their criminal enterprises from prison. Moncayo told reporters that on Monday, guards seized two firearms that were to be used to kill the leader of a group imprisoned in Guayaquil. ‘Inside, it is like a market. There is everything: drugs, arms, even puppies. Everything is sold,’ said Soria, the wife of prisoner Ricardo. In order to reduce prisoner numbers amid the coronavirus epidemic, the government commuted the sentences of people convicted of minor offences, reducing overcrowding from 42 percent to 30 percent. This still leaves Ecuador's prison system, with a capacity to house 29,000 inmates in 60-odd facilities, with a prisoner population of 38,000. There are 1,500 guards to oversee them. - Dearth of guards - The SNAI has said a dearth of personnel ‘hinders immediate response’ to prisoner revolts. Last year, inmate disputes left 51 dead, according to police figures. A 90-day state of emergency in the country's jails was ordered by Moreno last year to try to bring gang activity under control and reduce the violence. But just in December, prison unrest left 11 prisoners dead and seven injured. Tuesday's riots coincided with a march of hundreds of indigenous people on Quito to demand a vote recount after a first round of presidential elections this month saw their candidate left out in the cold.  

* More protests in Myanmar * Indonesian ministry will not visit as time 'not ideal' * Protesters demand November election be recognised Myanmar was set for more street protests on Wednesday against military rule while Indonesia's efforts steer a path out of the crisis with the help of other Southeast Asian countries appeared to falter with a proposed diplomatic visit scrapped. This week saw huge rallies and a general strike on Monday to denounce the military's Feb. 1 coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a warning from authorities that confrontation could get people killed. On Tuesday, gatherings were smaller overall but a rally by members of members of different ethnic minorities was taking place in the commercial hub of Yangon, with civil servants from the energy ministry joining in. ‘We ethnic minority people haven't had the chance to demand our rights but now we do,’ said San Aung Li, 26, a member of the Kachin minority. ‘So I'm supporting the protest as all ethnic people are, with one voice.’ With the protest and a civil disobedience movement paralysing life in Myanmar, Indonesia has been trying to find a way out. Sources said it proposed a plan centred on members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) sending monitors to ensure the generals stick to their promise to hold fair elections. The military has not given a time frame for a new election but it imposed a one-year state of emergency when it seized power so it would likely be after that. But Suu Kyi's party, which swept a Nov. 8 election that the military says was marred by fraud, and its supporters want its victory recognised. Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, is in Thailand and had been expected to fly to Myanmar but that trip was off, her ministry said. ‘After taking into account current developments and the input of other ASEAN countries, this is not the ideal time to conduct a visit to Myanmar,’ Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, told a briefing in Jakarta. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Indonesia's embassy in Yangon to voice opposition to a new election, demanding that the votes they cast in November be recognised. The army seized power after alleging fraud in the November elections, detaining Suu Kyi and much of the party leadership. The electoral commission dismissed the fraud complaints. The Future Nation Alliance, a Myanmar-based activist group, said earlier in a statement a visit by Retno would be ‘tantamount to recognising the military junta’. The group demanded foreign officials meet Htin Lin Aung, a member of a committee representing ousted lawmakers, who has been appointed the ‘sole responsible official for foreign relations’. 'HELD TO ACCOUNT' Indonesia's efforts to resolve the crisis comes as international concern is growing. The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations on Tuesday condemned intimidation and oppression of those opposing the coup. ‘Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account,’ group foreign ministers said in a statement. Western nations sought to increase pressure on the junta this week with the European Union warning it was considering sanctions that would target businesses owned by the army. The United States imposed sanctions on two more members of the junta and warned it could take more action. China, which has traditionally taken a softer line, said international action should contribute to stability, promote reconciliation and avoid complicating the situation, media reported. Military chief General Min Aung Hlaing has called for state spending and imports to be cut and exports increased to revive what he called an ailing economy. He did not link the protests to economic problems but said the authorities were following a democratic path in dealing with them and police were using minimal force, such as rubber bullets, state media reported. Security forces have shown more restraint compared with earlier crackdowns against people who had pushed for democracy during almost half a century of direct military rule. Even so, three protesters have been shot and killed. The army has said one policeman died of injuries sustained during the protests.    

The Philippines has approved Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, but will not give it to healthcare workers at risk of exposure due to its varying levels of efficacy, its Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) said on Monday. Late-stage trial data of Sinovac's vaccine showed it had a lower efficacy when used for healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 compared with healthy individuals age 18-59, said FDA chief Rolando Enrique Domingo. The Philippines has about 1.4 million health workers. ‘According to our experts, (Sinovac's) vaccine is not the best vaccine for them,’ Domingo said in a briefing, referring to health workers. He cited results of clinical trials of Sinovac's CoronaVac in Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia. CoronaVac is the third candidate to get emergency approval for use in the Southeast Asian nation of over 108 million. That clears the way for the delivery of 600,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines that China has agreed to donate, which were due to arrive on Tuesday but had been delayed because of the absence of the authorisation. The Philippines, which has the second highest of coronavirus infections and deaths in Southeast Asia, has yet to begin its immunisation campaign. It was banking on 117,000 Pfizer-BioNTech shots secured through the international vaccine sharing facility COVAX to kick off its vaccine programme. However, the unresolved question of who would pay for claims for damages in the event of adverse effects from the inoculations has delayed the delivery. A bill is pending in Congress that seeks to grant indemnity to coronavirus vaccine makers. ‘We ask for your patience because the vaccines were delayed by a few days, but we can finally begin the vaccination,’ Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a separate briefing.    

* Call for people to stop work and protest * Authorities say confrontation could cost lives * Two killed at weekend in bloodiest spell of protests * Government criticises foreign comments Businesses shut in Myanmar on Monday in a general strike called to oppose the military coup and thousands of protesters gathered in towns and cities despite a chilling message from the junta that confrontation would cost more lives. On Sunday, hundreds of people attended the funeral in the capital Naypyitaw of Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, a young woman who became a symbol of resistance after being shot in the head on Feb.9 while protesting. On Saturday, two more protesters were killed when police opened fire in the city of Mandalay, marking the bloodiest day in the campaign for the restoration of democracy. Yet, three weeks after seizing power, the junta has failed to stop daily protests and a civil disobedience movement calling for the reversal of the Feb. 1 coup and release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Everyone is joining this," said San San Maw, 46, at the Hledan junction in the main city of Yangon, which has become a rallying point for the protests. "We need to come out." State-owned media MRTV warned protesters against action on Monday. "Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a path of confrontation where they will suffer loss of life," it said. Htet Htet Hlaing, 22, said she was scared and had prayed before joining Monday's demonstration, but would not be discouraged. "We don’t want the junta, we want democracy. We want to create our own future," she said. "My mother didn't stop me from coming out, she only said 'take care'." In a country where dates are seen as auspicious, protesters noted the significance of the date 22.2.2021, comparing it with demonstrations on Aug. 8, 1988 when a previous generation staged anti-military protests which were bloodily suppressed. The response of security forces this time has been less deadly. Aside from the three protesters that have been killed, the army has said one policeman died of injuries in protests. The deaths in Mandalay did not discourage protesters on Sunday, when they turned out again in tens of thousands there and in Yangon and elsewhere. Author and historian Thant Myint-U said the window for a peaceful resolution was closing. "The outcome of the coming weeks will be determined by just two things: the will of an army that's crushed many protests before and the courage, skill and determination of the protesters (much of society)," he said on Twitter. As well as local stores, international chains announced closures on Monday, including Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and delivery service Food Panda, owned by Delivery Hero. Southeast Asian company Grab stopped delivery services too, but left its taxis running. Protesters were also out in various towns around the country including Myitkyina in the north, Bhamo near the Chinese border and in the central town of Pyinmana, according to media reports. Authorities were "exercising utmost restraint", the foreign ministry said in a statement. It rebuked some countries for remarks it described as flagrant interference in Myanmar's internal affairs. Several Western countries have condemned the coup and decried the violence against protesters. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter the United States would continue to "take firm action" against authorities violently cracking down on opponents of the coup in the Southeast Asian country that is also known as Burma. "We stand with the people of Burma," he said. Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore have also condemned the violence and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said lethal force was unacceptable. Residents in Yangon said roads to some embassies, including the US embassy, were blocked on Monday. The diplomatic missions have become gathering points for protesters calling for foreign intervention. UN special rapporteur on human rights to Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said he was deeply concerned by the junta's warning to protesters. "Unlike 1988, actions by security forces are being recorded and you will be held accountable," he said on Twitter. The army seized power after alleging fraud in Nov. 8 elections that were swept by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), detaining her and much of the party leadership. The electoral commission dismissed the fraud complaints. Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 640 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup - including former members of government and opponents of the army takeover.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Thailand’s parliament after Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and nine ministers survived a parliamentary no-confidence motion yesterday after a four-day censure debate. “It was a disappointment, but expected,” protest leader Attapon Buapat said. Over 1,000 protesters rallied outside the parliament gates. Organisers gave assurances the protest would not turn violent. “We want a peaceful protest,” protest leader Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul told reporters after speaking to the police. “There is no reason for police to break up this demonstration.” Earlier, lawmakers voted in favour of Prayuth and other ministers, which had been widely expected. Opposition lawmakers have taken aim at what they say is a slow government roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine and at its economic policies, vowing to continue investigating. “We’ve opened a wound and now will pour salt on it,” Pita Limjaroenrat, head of the Move Forward Party told reporters after the vote. Prayuth, a former chief of the armed forces, overthrew an elected prime minister in 2014 and stayed in office after a 2019 election that his rivals said was badly flawed. The government has said the elections were free and fair. Prayuth was expected to survive Saturday’s vote due to his coalition government’s majority in the lower house. “The debate went well, but the government must continue its work,” Prayuth said in a podcast after the vote. “I would like to ask all Thais to work together to bring the country forward.” The no-confidence motion came as pro-democracy protests returned after a lull brought on by a second outbreak of Covid-19. “Some 4,000 officers have been prepared,” police deputy spokesman Kissana Pattanacharoen said, adding that the rallies were violating an emergency decree to control the coronavirus outbreak.

A police raid on a shipyard in Myanmar's second-largest city turned violent Saturday when authorities fired rubber bullets at protesters gathering to stop arrests, according to AFP reporters on the ground. Five people were injured with rubber-bullet wounds, a photographer at the scene reported. Much of the country has been in uproar since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1, with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets to protest against the junta. Authorities have arrested hundreds of people since the putsch, many of them civil servants who had been boycotting work as part of a civil disobedience campaign. On Saturday, hundreds of police gathered at Yadanarbon shipyard in Mandalay, on the Irrawaddy river. Their presence sparked fears among nearby residents that authorities would try to arrest workers for taking part in the anti-coup movement. Banging pots and pans in what has become a signature gesture of defiance, protesters started yelling at the police to leave. But police opened fire with rubber bullets and slingshot balls, dispersing the alarmed protesters and leaving at least five injured. One woman received a head wound and emergency workers quickly administered first aid to her. "Shooting is still ongoing. Some people are injured," the city's rescue service chairman told AFP. A Facebook video streamed live by a resident on the scene appeared to carry non-stop sounds of gunshots. "They are shooting cruelly," said the resident, who appeared to be taking shelter on a nearby construction site. "We have to find a safer place." An AFP reporter on the ground heard multiple gunshots. Since the nationwide protests started two weeks ago, authorities in some cities have deployed tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against demonstrators. There have been isolated incidents of live rounds in the capital Naypyidaw. An anti-coup protester who was shot in the head during a February 9 demonstration in Naypyidaw died on Friday.

Washington has urged the leaders of Myanmar's new military regime to refrain from violence and relinquish power, after the death of a young anti-coup protester sparked new anger against the junta. Much of the country has been in uproar since troops deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, with large street demonstrations in both urban centres and isolated villages. Security forces have responded with increasing force, deploying troops against peaceful rallies and firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. Condemnation of the violence has been fierce, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held talks with allied countries in recent days to press for a firm international response. "We reiterate our calls on the Burmese military to refrain from violence against peaceful protesters," spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Friday. "We will work with partners and allies to press the Burmese military to reverse its actions." A doctor in Naypyidaw had earlier announced the first confirmed death in the protests. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, who turned 20 last Thursday as she lay unconscious in a hospital bed, was shot in the head during a demonstration in the capital last week. She has since become a symbol of resistance for protesters, who have hoisted her photos high in demonstrations and even unfurled a massive banner of artwork from a bridge showing the moment she was shot. "We will regard you as our Martyr," said one social media tribute to the young grocery store worker. "We will bring justice for your loss." A memorial has since appeared in the streets of Yangon, with residents of the commercial capital laying flowers and messages to the victim. Her sister Poh Poh told reporters on Friday: "Please all join this protest movement to be more successful. That's all I want to say." Nearly 550 people have been detained since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Among those arrested are railway workers, civil servants and bank staff who have walked off their jobs as part of a civil disobedience campaign aimed at crippling the army's ability to govern. The country emerged from its sixth straight overnight internet curfew on Saturday, a measure imposed as neighbourhoods around the country began setting up watch groups to guard against evening arrests. Internet monitor Netblocks reported that Wikipedia had been blocked in the country, joining a list of banned content that includes Facebook and other social media services. A small group of protesters were forcefully dispersed by police and military wielding batons in the northern city of Myitkyina on Friday, according to video posted online and witnesses. One teacher at the scene said she saw dozens arrested in the scuffle, including two of her colleagues. "They arrested those who tried to take photos and videos," she told AFP. The military regime has so far weathered a chorus of international condemnation. The US, Britain and Canada have all announced sanctions targeting the country's top generals. The junta has justified its power seizure by alleging widespread electoral fraud in November's elections, which Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide. The Nobel laureate -- who has not been seen since she was detained in dawn raids -- has been hit with two charges, one of them for possessing unregistered walkie-talkies. Her hearing is expected on March 1.