Myanmar coup latest: Junta reportedly drops charges against 24 celebs

YANGON/BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country’s first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November. But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

Read our in-depth coverage:

— Myanmar faces COVID surge amid lack of medics and jabs

— Myanmar’s cash shortage casts shadow despite rise in activity

— Myanmar general’s visit to Russia keeps arms flowing to junta

— Escalating Myanmar bombings cause civilian casualties

— Myanmar junta’s solar power bid tests post-coup investor sentiment

— ‘Painful’ Myanmar engagement sows rage as ASEAN seeks envoy

Follow the latest developments here (Yangon time):

Wednesday, June 30

3:25 a.m. “The military coup in Myanmar and its violent aftermath have raised existential questions about whether the Association of Southeast Asian Nations really serves any useful purpose for the region’s 632 million people,” writes Michael Vatikiotis, Asia director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.

“Finding a way to retool the grouping to be more responsive may not seem all that hard based on the association’s rather liberal charter, which came into force in 2008,” Vatikiotis argues in commentary for Nikkei Asia. “But unlike the African Union, which has used a strong peacemaking and security enforcement mechanism to intervene in countries that have descended into violence and instability, the inertia to remain weak and toothless will be hard to combat.” Read more here.

3:10 a.m. Actors, athletes and social media stars are among 24 celebrities that have been cleared of charges of inciting violence against the government, Reuters reports, citing military-run Myawaddy television.

Scores of celebrities found themselves on a wanted list after the Feb. 1 coup for voicing opposition to the junta.

According to Reuters, Myawaddy television said the charges against the 24 had been dropped because their involvement “had been due to external factors.”

Tuesday, June 29

8:30 p.m. The judge in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi rejects a motion to dismiss evidence central to a case that could see Myanmar’s deposed de facto leader jailed for up to two years for incitement, her legal team says.

Khin Maung Zaw, who leads her legal team, tells Reuters the prosecution had entered evidence he believed was inadmissible, but the judge allowed it. The evidence includes letters the prosecution says were issued by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in the days after the coup, which were widely shared on social media.

8:10 a.m. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi meets Indonesia’s counterpart Retno Marsudi in Italy on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. Motegi said Japan will coordinate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to promote talks between the junta and pro-democracy parties.

Monday, June 28

11:20 p.m. Deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent a message to the people from detention urging them to be more careful of COVID-19, her lawyers say, as the number of daily cases in Myanmar hit the highest since mid-December.

Myanmar’s health system and its anti-coronavirus campaign have foundered since Suu Kyi’s government was overthrown on Feb. 1, with many health workers stopping work in protest against the junta, according to Reuters.

9:30 p.m. Myanmar reports 1,225 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily count since the Feb. 1 coup, the junta-appointed Ministry of Health and Sports says on state-owned TV network Myawaddy. The count is based on 6,586 laboratory samples tested within 24 hours. The country’s aggregate toll reaches 154,385 cases with 3,309 deaths.

10:00 a.m. Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who had been on a weeklong official visit to Russia, on Sunday night arrived back at the military airport in Naypyitaw.

Sunday, June 27

11:38 p.m. An American journalist recently deported to the U.S. from Myanmar is claiming security forces there punched, slapped and beat him during his more than three months in detention.

Nathan Maung, 44, editor-in-chief of the online news platform Kamayut Media, was seized for questioning on March 9 and freed on June 15. He says his colleague Hanthar Nyein, who is still in detention, has been tortured worse, as have others he met in prison.

A junta spokesman has not responded to a request for comment on Maung’s claim, which echoes those of some of the thousands of others who have been detained since the army overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.

“I was punched and slapped several times. No matter what I said, they just beat me,” recalls Maung, who was born in Myanmar and fled to the U.S. as a refugee in the 1990s.

Saturday, June 26

6:00 p.m. Young anti-coup protesters march in downtown Yangon to pay homage to the late student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo, who fought against the regime led by the dictator General Ne Win.

Salai Tin Maung Oo was hanged in prison at the age of 25 on June 26, 1976. His last words on the gallows were, “I will never kneel down to your military boots.”

Marking the anniversary of his death, protesters carry a massive banner that says, “We will never kneel under your military boots.”

9:00 a.m. A state-owned newspaper reports that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who is on an official visit to Russia, toured a shipbuilding plant in the southwestern city of Kazan on Friday. On Monday, the head of the junta met in Moscow the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu the following day. He left the capital on Thursday. Min Aung Hlaing has been in Russia almost a week so far, a much longer visit than his day trip to Jakarta in April, his first foreign trip after the Feb. 1 coup.

Friday, June 25

7:00 p.m. The junta will release some political prisoners on Saturday, local media outlet Mizzima reports. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the junta has detained 5,156 people since Feb. 1.

At least 72 children killed since Feb. 1 coup

4:50 p.m. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) says in a statement that at least 72 children aged 18 or younger have been killed since the 1 Feb. coup. The largest number of deaths was in Mandalay with 24 followed by Yangon with 20. Among the 72, 48 died in March, and 11 were shot in the head.

AAPP puts the overall civilian death toll since the coup at 881.

10:00 a.m. About 50 young anti-coup protesters stage a street protest in Yangon, chanting “annihilate the fascist army” and “revolution must prevail.” Their chants included references to low-ranked soldiers returning home on crutches while those in the upper ranks are building new houses.

Social media closely observed what junta chief Min Aung Hlaing wore when he attended a conference in Moscow, posting photos of him wearing an expensive watch and jade ring. Meanwhile, his soldiers fight against heavy odds. At the front in the Sagaing region, for example, resistance fighters killed at least 20 soldiers on Tuesday, according to local news agency Myanmar Now.

9:30 a.m. Myanmar’s daily COVID-19 cases hit an annual high of 787 on Thursday, the state-run Global New Light newspaper reports, citing the junta-appointed Ministry of Health and Sports. This brings the country’s total to 150,714 cases. Myanmar has also suffered 3,275 deaths.

Thursday, June 24

9:30 p.m. More than 225,000 people have been driven from their homes this year by violence in the country, the U.N. humanitarian agency says.

The bulk of the people, an estimated 177,000, are displaced in southeastern parts of Myanmar due to violence, armed clashes and insecurity since the democratically elected government was removed from power by the military, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says in a report.

Twenty thousand people are internally displaced in Chin state and the Magway and Sagaing regions from fighting that began in May, while in Shan state, about 17,700 people have been living away from their homes since January. Another 11,600 have been displaced in Kachin state since March.

Wednesday, June 23

Security forces brace for attacks in Yangon

7:00 p.m. Residents of Yangon are now seeing a heavier presence of security forces on city streets after last week’s bomb blast destroying a military truck. Unlike previously when soldiers and police would sit inside their vehicles, many this week are standing watch amid the heightened tensions.

6:30 p.m. Raymond, a popular rock singer in Myanmar and vocal critic of the country’s ruling junta, has reportedly passed away in an area controlled by ethnic armed forces in Karen State bordering Thailand. The cause of his death is unclear, but local reports and social media postings suggest it could be gastrointestinal bleeding or malaria. Raymond’s involvement in anti-coup protests led to an arrest warrant being issued against him under Article 505-A of Myanmar’s penal code, which prompted him to flee to the jungle.

2:45 p.m. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told visiting junta chief Min Aung Hlaing that Moscow is committed to strengthening military ties with Myanmar, Reuters reports citing Russia’s RIA news agency. “We are determined to continue our efforts to strengthen bilateral ties based on the mutual understanding, respect and trust that have been established between our countries,” RIA quoted Shoigu as saying at a meeting late on Tuesday.

2:30 p.m. The junta’s Ministry of Health reports 630 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number of daily infections since the February coup. More than 149,000 COVID-19 cases and 3,267 deaths have been reported in Myanmar, as of June 23.

Tuesday, June 22

8:20 p.m. Reuters reports Norwegian pension fund KLP will divest from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone over the Indian company’s links to the Myanmar military.

2:00 p.m. Reports surface of exchanges of fire in the morning between the military and the People’s Defense Force in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. The PDF is an increasingly bold urban guerrilla force. The Irrawaddy, a local news organization, quoted one of its members from social media: “The military got a smell of us and come to our base. When we found out they were coming, we fired back. It is the day we have been waiting for to start fighting.”

Posts on social media also said the junta troops used Russian developed rocket-propelled grenades during assaults on PDF positions.

Monday, June 21

10:00 p.m. The U.K. adds three Myanmar entities to its sanctions list: a pearl firm, a timber company and the State Administration Council — the junta attempting to run the country. London says the two state-owned businesses could be funneling funds to the military government while the council has undercut democracy in the nation.

9:00 p.m. Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing has met in Moscow with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Myanmar state media report. Topics of discussion included security cooperation between the two countries and current developments in Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing has also met with Alexander Mikheev, director general of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, to discuss technical cooperation. The senior general is in Moscow to attend an international security conference this week.

2:15 a.m. A mosque in Ahlone Township of Yangon is set ablaze and burns for about two hours with no report of casualties. Locals presume the arson is intended to fan anti-Muslim sentiment amid the political and economic turmoil that has lasted over four months since a military coup on Feb. 1.

1:30 a.m. Myanmar national soccer team member Pyae Lyan Aung, who refused to return home from Japan with his teammates last week, will apply for refugee status there Tuesday, Kyodo News reports, citing his lawyer.

The goalkeeper has said he fears for his life after making the three-finger salute of defiance against the junta at a match in Japan. Sunday marked World Refugee Day.

Junta leader heads to Russia for security conference

12:53 a.m. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing has left Naypyitaw to attend this week’s Moscow Conference on International Security, Myanmar state media report. The three-day event starts Tuesday in the Russian capital.

This marks the junta leader’s second known trip abroad since the coup. He attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia this April.

Saturday, June 19

11:30 p.m. Myanmar social media users heat up discussion over a vehicle explosion near the United Nations office in Yangon. Users say the vehicle was a Kia with the license plate “1N-9000.” But the same Kia model with the same license plate was videoed at the site of the military truck explosion on Friday. In that incident, the car made a U-turn in the opposite lane of the same road as where the truck was burning after blast.

It is still unclear whether this was a coincidence or whether the two explosions had something in common.

5:18 p.m. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejects the United Nations resolution calling for an arms embargo on Myanmar.

The measure “is not only based on one-sided sweeping allegations and false assumptions which appears to be repeated and duplicated action on Myanmar but also targeting a country under the country-specific mandate,” the ministry says in a statement, adding that it has sent letters of objection to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir.

“While Myanmar embraces constructive advice by the international community in addressing the challenges that Myanmar is facing, any attempt infringing on the state sovereignty and interference in the internal affairs of Myanmar will not be accepted,” the statement says.

The U.N. resolution was adopted by a 119-1 vote of the General Assembly, with Belarus the only member voting against it. There were 36 abstentions.

“The participation and delivering statement as well as voting at the aforesaid meeting by the former Permanent Representative of Myanmar U Kyaw Moe Tun, who was dismissed from his assigned duty in the morning of 27 February 2021, and currently under an arrest warrant for committing high treason, under the banner of Myanmar, did not represent the country and was illegal,” the ministry statement says.

5:15 p.m. An explosion is heard near the United Nations office in Yangon. Photos and videos posted on social media show a car spewing smoke near the building. The vehicle appears to have blown up, leaving the frame and two front doors opened. It has yet to be confirmed whether the explosion was an accident or an intended blast, but local media say it was “a car bomb.”

2:30 a.m. Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun — whom the junta has tried to remove for his opposition to the coup — thanks member states for voting in favor of the resolution but says it does not go far enough.

“We are so disappointed that it took three months to adopt this watered-down resolution,” the ambassador says. More decisive and timely action against the military would have saved lives, he says.

He urges the Security Council to take the “strongest and most decisive action.”

2:02 a.m. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution that calls for blocking the flow of arms into Myanmar, among other steps to resolve the crisis following the Feb. 1 coup.

“The people of Myanmar deserve the full and unreserved support of the General Assembly,” the representative of Lichtenstein said in introducing the resolution.

Notably, the resolution was adopted not by consensus but by vote, as requested by Belarus, which said it opposed such country-specific resolutions.

Thailand was among the countries abstaining from the vote, saying it needed to do so in order to continue to play a constructive role in engagement with Myanmar.

China and Russia were also among the countries that abstained.

Friday, June 18

10:40 p.m. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, newly appointed for a second five-year term, urges action by the U.N. General Assembly on Myanmar.

“We cannot live in a world where military coups become a norm,” Guterres tells reporters.

The U.N.’s 193 member states are expected to vote Friday on a draft resolution calling for an international arms embargo on Myanmar.

4:30 p.m. At least seven bomb blasts were heard within an hour in Yangon Friday afternoon, according to social media posts. At around 3:30 p.m., a taxi in Yangon’s Tarmwe Township was blown up. Soon after, a parked military truck was hit by two bomb explosions. Some said in social media posts that they heard gun fires near the truck after the two explosions. At the same time, at least four explosions were heard in Hlaingthaya, another township of Yangon, near a business junction where government offices are located, a source told Nikkei Asia.

3:30 p.m. Myanmar’s cash shortage is continuing as banks toughen restrictions on withdrawals after February’s coup d’etat resulted in runs on banks. The shortage is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, as the central bank is reluctant to increase the supply of cash, fearing depreciation of the nation’s currency, the kyat, and inflation. Read more here.

10:30 a.m. The Myanmar junta has formed a new Ministry of Cooperatives and Development of Rural Areas on Thursday, according to the announcement on the state-run Global New Light newspaper. Though the exact purpose has not publicized, the junta is said to be focusing more on improving the agricultural sector by increasing exports of agricultural products, to which the new ministry may be assigned. Separately, the Ministry of Education has been reorganized into two ministries: the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

3:30 a.m. An ethnic rebel group pledges to investigate claims by the junta that its forces abducted 47 people and killed 25 of them last month, Reuters reports.

Media controlled by the junta reported this week that fighters belonging to the Karen National Defense Organization had committed the atrocity and published photos showing 25 bodies in a wooded area.

The Karen National Union, the group’s political wing, said in a letter dated June 16 its investigation would establish the truth. “The Karen National Union follows the Geneva Conventions which doesn’t accept killing civilians during armed fighting,” the letter says, according to Reuters.

2:00 a.m. U.S. consular officials are still being denied access to American journalist Danny Fenster, who is detained in Myanmar and appeared in a court hearing, State Department spokesman Ned Price says.

Another American journalist who was recently released in Myanmar, Nathan Maung, has returned to the U.S., Price tells reporters.

At the hearing, Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Magazine, is formally charged with incitement. “We are shocked and frustrated that he has been detained for no apparent reason,” Frontier says in a statement.

Thursday, June 17

UN voices alarm over burned village

9:30 p.m. The United Nations in Myanmar expresses concern over “recent acts of violence that illustrate a sharp deterioration of the human rights environment,” noting the discovery of two mass graves.

The graves in Myawaddy Township, Kayin State, contain the remains of 25 people who had reportedly been detained on May 31 by the Karen National Defense Organization, an ethnic militant group, according to a statement from the U.N. in Myanmar.

In another case of violence, security forces reportedly burned more than 150 homes in Kin Ma Village in Pauk Township, leaving two people dead and about 1,000 people homeless, the statement says.

3:30 p.m. A ward administrator for Yangon’s Sanchaung Township suffers an ear injury when he was shot Thursday morning. The administrator is reportedly a well-known pro-junta official who helped security forces during crackdowns against pro-democracy protesters. Attacks and bombings have been on the rise in the country’s urban areas since May.

12:30 p.m. A state-run newspaper has published an article on neighboring Thailand’s proportional representation system. The article states: “Even though there were 22 military coups in Thailand and [it] faced political turmoil, the country is being built to the best [standard] by Thai people who have tolerance, life-giving knowledge, finding the peaceful solutions to problems.”

The junta-appointed Union Election Commission is discussing a proportional representation system with political parties.

11:50 a.m. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato says the government will take “appropriate measures” for a Myanmar national team soccer player, Pyae Lyan Aung, 27, who is seeking refuge in the country. “We are aware of this matter, but we decline to comment on procedures for individual immigration and residency,” Kato said. Pyae Lyan Aung said early Thursday that he would seek refugee status in Japan after refusing to return home Wednesday night, fearing persecution in his home country. Read more here.

10:00 a.m. The government is tightening control over people’s movements. The junta-appointed Ministry of Transport and Communications announced in the state-owned Myanma Alin newspaper that vehicle license plates will have numbers representing the townships where owners live, and names of vehicle types, in addition to existing alphabetical signs showing the names of regions. The announcement said the new plates will make it easier for authorities to identify the township where the vehicle is from and easier to control the use of illegal vehicles.

Wednesday, June 16

Soccer player wants Japan refugee status

10:00 p.m. One of Myanmar’s national soccer players, who were in Japan for the qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, has refused to return home and expressed his wish to seek refuge in the country, Japanese media report.

Pyae Lyan Aung, a substitute goalkeeper for the team, raised a three-finger salute during a match against Japan in late May and wrote “we need justice” on his fingers. He was supposed to depart Japan from Kansai International Airport, but left the team and met with legal advisers, the reports say.

The Japanese government on May 28 announced that it would let Myanmar nationals extend their stay in the country if they wished to do so because of the unrest caused by the coup.

7:50 p.m. “China’s response to the Myanmar coup reveals how far ASEAN’s preeminent regional role has been eroded,” writes Jason Tower, Myanmar country director for the United States Institute of Peace, in commentary for Nikkei Asia.

“This leaves ASEAN effectively right where China and Min Aung Hlaing want it: using the group’s veneer of centrality to entice others into supporting a futile and divisive process that will delay efforts to prevent the junta from establishing rule by violence,” Tower argues. Read more here.

3:30 p.m. Four and half months after the junta seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, bombings are on the rise in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago and other cities in Myanmar, targeting government offices, schools and security forces. There were four times more bomb attacks in May than in April. Read more here.

Junta calls G-7 memo ‘fabricated and biased’

12:00 p.m. The junta-appointed Ministry of Foreign Affairs responds to the G-7 summit communique, saying the statement by the leaders of seven industrialized nations is based on “fabricated and biased information.” The junta denies that it staged a coup on Feb. 1. “The ministry strongly objects to the inaccurate and one-sided views regarding the situation of Myanmar,” the ministry says.

The G-7 leaders issued a communique that “condemn[s] in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar, and the violence committed by Myanmar’s security forces.” It goes on to say that the G-7 nations “pledge our support to those advocating peacefully for a stable and inclusive democracy.” It also says the G-7 governments will pursue “additional measures should they prove necessary,” hinting at the possibility of additional sanctions.

10:00 a.m. Myanmar records its first variant transmissions, according to a news release from the junta-appointed Ministry of Health and Sports that was released on Tuesday. The 11 infections were found in five cities, including Yangon and Mandalay. According to laboratory results from the Defense Services Medical Research Centre on June 3, two Alpha variants, five Delta cases and four Kappa infections were found.

8:00 a.m. Exports and imports took drastic year-on-year tumbles during the period from Oct. 1, the beginning of Myanmar’s fiscal year, to June 4, the state-run Global New Light newspaper reports. The value of maritime exports fell by $1.28 billion, to $4.45 billion, while that of imports dropped by $3.49 billion, to $7.82 billion, according to the junta mouthpiece, which blamed the pandemic and “political changes.”

1:10 a.m. The U.S. and the European Union “intend to work together to promote a swift return to democracy in Myanmar,” leaders from both sides say in a statement following a summit in Brussels.

Tuesday, June 15

Temporary ceasefire in ravaged Kayah State

7:15 p.m. A militia group in Kayah State announces a halt to attacks on military targets on Tuesday, after appeals from local communities to cease fighting that has damaged homes and displaced more than 100,000 people, Reuters reports. The Karenni National Defense Force, among the largest of several militias formed in recent weeks to oppose a Feb. 1 military coup, said it had temporarily suspended offensives but remains vehemently opposed to the military takeover.

7:00 p.m. Radio Free Asia’s Burmese service reports that a farmer accused of killing a junta informant died in Taungtha Township, Mandalay Region, on Sunday while in custody just hours after being arrested. His funeral was held on Monday. As of June 11, 22 people have been reported dead in custody, more than half of whom were killed within 24 hours of their arrest, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights group.

6:50 p.m. At a court in Naypyitaw, the capital, plaintiffs were heard in two cases against ousted State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer Min Min Soe told Nikkei Asia. Deposed President Win Myint and Myo Aung, chair of the Naypyitaw Council, appeared alongside. The trial will take place on June 21.

2:45 a.m. The United Nations secretary-general’s special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, meets with U.N. General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir.

Schraner Burgener visited Southeast Asia in April, meeting junta leader Min Aung Hlaing during her trip.

Monday, June 14

5:30 p.m. Prosecutors on Monday began examining witnesses in the trial of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a special court set up in the capital Naypyitaw, while the military appears to be taking steps to outlaw Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. Read more here.

2:30 p.m. U.S. citizen Nathan Maung has been released from detention in Myanmar and is due to fly out of the country on Tuesday, Reuters reports, citing his lawyer Tin Zar Oo. A court dismissed the case against the editor at Kamayut Media after the plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit, Tin Zar Oo said on Monday.

12:10 p.m. Htar Htar Lin, former head of Myanmar’s COVID-19 immunization program, was arrested on June 10 on charges of high treason, the state-run Global New Light newspaper reports. The junta mouthpiece says Htar Htar Lin and other doctors formed a core part of the Civil Disobedience Movement. It further claims she associated with “terrorists,” the junta’s label for the National Unity government.

Protesters in Yangon celebrate Che Guevara’s birthday

9:30 a.m. Anti-coup protesters take to the streets of Yangon and burn an ASEAN flag. They also mark Che Guevara’s birthday by using pictures of the Argentine revolutionary while yelling, “Eradicate the facist army!” and other slogans. According to locals in Yangon, Guevara, a key figure in the Cuban Revolution, has become “a revolutionary symbol” among young Burmese, especially since April, when peaceful protesters in cities began coming up against military troops wielding guns and artillery.

8:50 a.m. Myanmar on Sunday recorded 373 new cases, bringing the country’s total to 145,603, the state-run Global New Light newspaper reports, citing the Ministry of Health and Sports under the junta. It was the highest daily case total since late January, a few days before the coup.

Saturday, June 12

UN rights chief sees ‘no efforts’ to de-escalate by junta

1:40 a.m. Violence on the rise in Myanmar despite the junta’s commitment to ASEAN leaders, with reports of troop buildups and attacks on civilians, according to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

“There appear to be no efforts towards de-escalation but rather a buildup of troops in key areas, contrary to the commitments the military made to ASEAN to cease the violence,” Michelle Bachelet says in a news release.

Credible reports indicate that security forces have used civilians as human shields, shelled civilian homes and churches in Loikaw, Phekon and Demoso in Kayah state and blocked humanitarian access, including by attacking humanitarian actors, the news release adds.

A witness has told Nikkei Asia that troops fired on unarmed civilians near Demoso on Friday afternoon.

Bachelet’s comments come after the U.N. in Myanmar reported earlier this week that more than 100,000 people had been displaced by violence in the eastern state of Kayah. The high commissioner puts the figure at more than 108,000 over the last three weeks alone.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation in Myanmar by phone with China’s top diplomat, Politburo member Yang Jiechi, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

12:30 a.m. “Myanmar is at a point of no return,” writes historian Thant Myint-U in Foreign Affairs, arguing that the Feb. 1 coup has “unleashed a revolutionary energy that will be nearly impossible to contain.”

This poses a problem for Myanmar’s neighbors, including China, Thant Myint-U argues: “As the stalemate continues, the economy will crumble, extreme poverty will skyrocket, the health-care system will collapse, and armed violence will intensify, sending waves of refugees into neighboring China, India, and Thailand.”

Friday, June 11

6:30 p.m. Myanmar troops have reportedly fired on unarmed civilians near Demoso, a town in Kayah state in the country’s east, sending more than 10,000 villagers fleeing from their homes.

“SAC [the State Administrative Council, the official name of the junta] troops have been firing weapons since this afternoon near Demoso, including artillery fire. We have been taking one shelter after another. More than 10,000 people are fleeing,” Sai Khun Reh, a teacher at a local school, tells Nikkei Asia.

“Most of the internet service is cut off here. I would like to request humanitarian assistance to be delivered,” says the man, who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement after the Feb. 1 coup.

The shooting is said to have started after brief fighting between the military and armed anti-coup protesters. According to Sai Khun Reh, one person died during the shooting today.

1:50 a.m. French President Emmanuel Macron’s response to the Myanmar coup has “not matched the gravity of the situation,” Human Rights Watch officials say, calling on him to seek stiffer penalties at the Group of Seven summit in the U.K.

“This is an opportunity for Macron to be bold and work more closely with key governments for a stronger and more robust response to the junta’s serious crimes in Myanmar,” writes John Sifton, the rights group’s Asia advocacy director, and Benedicte Jeannerod, its France director, in commentary published in Le Monde.

France is home to Total, the energy group whose gas field venture provides a key source of revenue for the Myanmar government.

Total has suspended some dividends on its Myanmar operations while saying that cutting off gas supplies would hurt the Myanmar public more than it would the junta, but “Macron should not be swayed by these faulty arguments,” the Human Rights Watch directors say.

Thursday, June 10

11:10 p.m. The brother of detained Frontier Myanmar journalist Danny Fenster wants U.S. President Joe Biden to take direct action to free the American, thought to be held in Insein Prison since last month.

“We have heard from everybody with the exception of the White House,” Bryan Fenster says in an interview with NBC News.

Danny Fenster — managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, one of the country’s top independent news sites — was detained while preparing to fly to Malaysia.

10:00 p.m. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, speaking by phone with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, calls for the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar announced at the April summit of leaders from Association of Southeast Asian Nations members.

Motegi confirms Japan’s continued support for ASEAN initiatives toward Myanmar including humanitarian assistance, and he cites the importance of Myanmar’s junta releasing individuals held in detention, according to a readout from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two ministers also agree to work together in responding to Myanmar’s political situation.

1:30 p.m. The junta has launched an ambitious scheme to build solar farms that can generate up to 320 megawatts across the heartland regions, areas dominated by the predominantly Buddhist Bamar population, in a major test of investor confidence in the new regime. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy on May 24 issued a tender to build solar power facilities at 12 sites across central Myanmar that would generate between 20MW and 40MW each, on a build-operate-own basis for 20 years, according to tender documents seen by Nikkei Asia. Read more here.

Military plane crash in Mandalay kills 12

12:30 p.m. Local media outlets start reporting details of a plane crash earlier in the day, saying the plane was a military-owned Beechcraft 1900D regional airliner, carrying military personnel, monks and some civilians. Myanmar military used to possess eight Beechcraft 1900D but lost one in another crash in 2016. The plane was flying from the capital Naypyidaw to Pyin Oo Lwin, in Mandalay.

10:45 a.m. Local media outlet Irrawaddy reports that a plane crashed in the Mandalay region’s township of Pyin Oo Lwin in the morning, killing 12 people. About 16 were on board, and one woman and a child were injured. The type of plane that went down and the cause of the crash remain unknown.

10:00 a.m. Khin Maung Zaw, one of lawyers in Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team, responds to a report in the official Global New Light newspaper, saying, “These accusations [of] bribery and corruption upon [Suu Kyi] are absurd. They are groundless,” adding that the detained leader “might have defects, but personal greed and corruption [are] not her traits.”

9:30 a.m. Myanmar’s state-run Global New Light newspaper reports that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with additional counts under the country’s anti-corruption law, with the Anti-Corruption Commission accusing her of “illegally accepted $600,000 and 7 visses (11.2 kg) of gold from the former Yangon region’s chief minister,” and adding that she “misused her authority in renting 1.86 acres (0.55 hectare) of land and a building” to open a charitable foundation, which she chairs, resulting in losses to the country of more than 5.2 billion kyat ($3,150). The newspaper, which is seen as a mouthpiece of the junta, also says that two other former officials have been charged under the law.

Wednesday, June 9

9:30 p.m. The top diplomats and defense chiefs of Japan and Australia “expressed grave concern about the situation in Myanmar” and agreed to work to ensure the Five Point Consensus agreed on at the ASEAN summit in April “leads to concrete outcomes,” according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

10:00 a.m. “Mass deaths from starvation, disease and exposure could occur in Kayah State,” following the Feb. 1 coup and the flight of more than 100,000 people from their homes to escape the civil conflict, Thomas Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, says in a statement posted on his Twitter account. “[M]any of the 100,000 forced to flee into forests from junta bombs are now cut off from food, water and medicine by the junta,” he writes, adding, “The international community must act.”

2:00 a.m. “Violence is spiraling” in Myanmar, says Kurt Campbell, U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy coordinator for the Indo-Pacific.

The Biden administration has “privately supported the efforts of ASEAN, particularly Indonesia and Singapore and other countries, trying to begin a process to move the country back to elections and to democracy,” Campbell says in an online event hosted by the Center for a New American Security, a think tank. “This is a relatively difficult and challenging path. It’s hard not to be discouraged, and the situation is getting worse.”

“And frankly, we’re asking other countries in the surrounding regions to take the necessary steps” to both isolate Myanmar and reach out to the military leadership, Campbell also says.

Noting reports of a bomb attack just before the start of the event, Campbell says the U.S. is “seeing not only challenges from the ethnic insurgencies, but increasingly, a much more organized and determined opposition on the Democratic side, that has refused to go down.”

Campbell, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under then-President Barack Obama, leads the largest team on Biden’s National Security Council.

Tuesday, June 8

9:20 p.m. Worsening conditions in southeastern Myanmar have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes, the United Nations office in the country says.

“Recent violence in Kayah state, including indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilian areas, has led to the internal displacement of an estimated 100,000 men, women and children,” according to a statement.

“Many of them are currently seeking safety in host communities and forests across Kayah and southern parts of neighboring Shan state,” the statement adds. “This crisis could push people across international borders seeking safety, as already seen in other parts of the country.”

The U.N. urges security forces “to allow safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel” and allow direct relief assistance.

9:00 p.m. China’s friendly policy toward Myanmar is not affected by changes in circumstances internal or external to the latter, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin.

Wang says China supports all parties in Myanmar to resolve their differences through political dialogue, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wunna Maung Lwin says Myanmar is committed to maintaining national stability and social tranquility, the statement says.

Their talks in Chongqing come the day after Wang’s meeting with foreign ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, during which the Myanmar crisis was discussed.

At that meeting, Wang said China is willing to continue to work with ASEAN to jointly urge all parties in Myanmar to put the interests of the people first, and keep calm to eliminate all kinds of violence, according to a separate Foreign Ministry statement.

11:00 a.m. The lower house of Japan’s parliament passes a resolution condemning the Myanmar military’s takeover. “The coup by the Myanmar Armed Forces on Feb. 1 is a trampling of democratization efforts and expectations,” it says, stating that the current regime’s legitimacy “cannot be recognized at all.”

9:00 a.m. Myanmar’s junta, the State Administration Council, will discuss changing the country’s financial year, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reports. This would follow a 2018 switch by the National League for Democracy government, to an October-September year rather than April-March.

The junta’s leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said during a council speech on Monday that the change had inconvenienced the government, businesses and farmers.

Monday, June 7

8:00 p.m. Foreign ministers from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members have met with their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Chongqing to discuss regional matters, including the ongoing turmoil in Myanmar. ASEAN has reached out to China for support on implementing a five-point consensus to resolve the Myanmar crisis.

This marks the first meeting of the foreign ministers in over a year, and the junta’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, also attended, according to Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-owned newspaper. Read more here.

4:30 p.m. A Myanmar court will hear prosecutor’s witnesses from June 14, the lawyer of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi told media in Naypyitaw after a special court hearing on Monday. The hearing will continue until June 28, after which the defendant’s witnesses will be called and heard until July 26, the lawyer said, adding that the court was likely to pass a sentence by mid-August.

The lawyer also said that Suu Kyi was now where she was moved before the previous court hearing on May 24, although neither she nor the lawyer were told of the location.

2:50 p.m. A special court hearing against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was held in Naypyitaw. The court has arranged all cases against Suu Kyi to be judged within 180 days starting from the date of the filing of each case at the court, ending by August. The trial will be held every week on Monday and Tuesday starting from next week. Suu Kyi was allowed to meet with her lawyers in person for the second time since the military arrested her in the Feb. 1 coup.

Sunday, June 6

11:00 a.m. Thailand is disturbed by the violence in many parts of Myanmar, and wants to see the implementation of steps agreed by Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta in late April with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing present to help end the turmoil since the Feb. 1 coup, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday. “We have been following developments in Myanmar closely with much concern, especially incidents of violence in many parts of the country,” Reuters reports, citing a statement by foreign ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat.

Saturday, June 5

7:00 p.m. Protesters in Mandalay voice criticism of Friday’s meeting in Naypyitaw, the national capital, between two ASEAN officials from Brunei and Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of Myanmar’s junta, the State Administration Council. Demonstrators took to the streets of the former northern royal capital to condemn the “useless” ten-member regional bloc and burn the ASEAN flag. “When we were young, we were told that ASEAN was an organization meant to cooperate fairly between countries, but now we realize that helping with injustice means destroying democracy in the region,” said one student leader. He said students in Mandalay will carry on fighting for national freedom “without expecting any help from ASEAN or the U.N.”

Friday, June 4

Suu Kyi’s whereabouts unknown, lawyers say

11:30 p.m. Ousted State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from her home in Naypyitaw, where she has been held under house arrest, and is now in an unknown location, her legal team says.

The National Unity Government, a parallel government set up in opposition to the coup, has issued a statement expressing concern about her safety.

9:00 p.m. Members of a Brunei delegation that met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing also held a meeting with election commission chairman Thein Soe on Friday, military-owned Myawaddy TV says.

Brunei’s Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof and compatriot Lim Jock Hoi, the current secretary-general of ASEAN, spoke with the election chief.

“Procedures for an upcoming election,” which the junta says it aims to hold in the future, and “ASEAN’s cooperation” were discussed at the meeting, according to the report.

8:30 p.m. More information on the internet shutdown.

Internet cut off during opposition news conference

5:00 p.m. Sources at internet service providers told Nikkei Asia that Myanmar’s internet access would be shut down until 6 p.m. Friday. The sources were not aware of the reason, but said it was likely an attempt by the junta to disrupt a press conference currently being held by the National Unity Government, the parallel government to the junta, which was scheduled between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Although there were nightly curfew-like internet access restrictions until late April, Friday’s interruption was the first full-scale shutdown since Feb. 6-7, spanning all mobile and fixed-line connections during daylight hours. Myanmar’s Telecommunication Act authorizes the government to direct telecom operators to suspend the services for “the public interest” in an “emergency situation.”

2:30 p.m. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar’s military, met Friday with Brunei’s second minister for foreign affairs, Erywan Pehin Yusof, and compatriot Lim Jock Hoi, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw. Sources in the Myanmar military told Nikkei Asia that the meeting between the military chief and the two ASEAN officials started at 2 p.m. Read more here.

2:00 p.m. New daily COVID-19 cases fell to 72 on Thursday, down from 122 the day before, the World Health Organization reports. But the seven-day average — commonly seen by health authorities as a trend indicator — through Thursday crossed 72, the highest since Feb. 11.

Thursday, June 3

10:15 p.m. International Committee of the Red Cross says its president, Peter Maurer, met with junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar, confirming a Nikkei Asia report.

“Caught between armed conflict, COVID-19 and the current situation, people in Myanmar are in need of urgent assistance and protection,” Maurer said in a statement.

“This visit aimed to share ICRC’s concerns on the current humanitarian situation and reinforce ongoing efforts to ensure space for neutral and impartial humanitarian action,” the statement added. Read the ICRC statement here.

8:30 p.m. The European Union will impose a third round of sanctions on Myanmar’s junta in the coming days, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell tells Reuters in an interview in Jakarta.

Brunei emissaries to meet junta chief on Friday

5:20 p.m. Brunei’s Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof and compatriot Lim Jock Hoi, ASEAN’s secretary-general, are scheduled to arrive in Myanmar this evening. The pair will meet with Min Aung Hlaing, chief of Myanmar’s junta, in Naypyidaw on Friday, according to diplomatic sources. Brunei is the chair of ASEAN this year.

4:30 p.m. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer meets with Min Aung Hlaing, chief of Myanmar’s junta, on Thursday, in the first visit by a senior western official to the capital, Naypyitaw, since the Feb. 1 coup. Read more here.

4:00 p.m. Shares in Amata Holding Public have made their debut on the Yangon Stock Exchange on Thursday. The exchange now lists seven companies. Amata was initially meant to list in March, but that was pushed back due to the Feb. 1 coup. Amata is the first hotel and tourism business in Myanmar to be listed on the exchange.

1:45 p.m. The court hearing at a district court against the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi under the country’s official secrets act in Yangon has been adjourned to June 17, according to San Marla Nyunt, a member of Suu Kyi’s legal team.

8:30 a.m. Up to 150 protesters stage a flash protest in the center of Yangon. The first large demonstration there since early May drew people from around the city, who typically demonstrate in groups of 20 to 30 close to home. It has been unusual to see such a relatively large demonstration downtown. “We want to show that our movement is still active downtown,” said Maung Saint, one of the organizers, in comments to Nikkei Asia. “We are not cold-blooded yet. As written in our banner, we want to show that we are all in this together. We are demanding that the 2008 constitution be dissolved and a federal democratic union be formed.”

Wednesday, June 2

10:10 p.m. More than 40 French lawmakers urge the country’s administration to declare support for Myanmar’s National Unity Government, a parallel government formed in opposition to the junta, and to increase pressure on energy group Total, Le Monde reports. The parliamentarians also want the European Union to go further in its sanctions against Myanmar by targeting the oil and gas sector, in which Total is invested.

9:50 p.m. The U.S. calls on Myanmar to release detained journalists Danny Fenster and Nathan Maung, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tells reporters in Bangkok. Both are U.S. citizens.

Fenster, managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, one of the country’s top independent news sites, was detained Monday while preparing to fly to Malaysia, the publication says. Maung, a co-founder of Myanmar news site Kamayut Media, was arrested March 9, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, citing accounts in Myanmar media.

6:00 p.m. Local media report that Aung Kyaw, a journalist belonging to the independent broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma, and Zaw Zaw, a freelance journalist working for Mizzima Media, were sentenced to two years in prison by a special court set up inside Myeik prison in the Tanintharyi region of Myanmar’s southeast. The two journalists have been charged for breaching section 505(a) of Myanmar’s penal code, which prohibits publishing or circulating any statement, rumor or report that might “deprive, affect, hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health, conduct” of civil servants and the military.

After the verdict, Aung Kyaw Ko said he has no faith in the judiciary under the junta, the State Administration Council, and does not plan to appeal.

2:10 p.m. Around 40 Burmese expatriates in Japan demonstrate outside the Myanmar’s embassy in Tokyo. They called for deposed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and detained civilians to be freed. “We are here to pressure people who haven’t clearly expressed their will against the military,” an organizer told Nikkei Asia, naming Japan as a leader that can influence the junta.

Some of the 35,000 Myanmar citizens in Japan will benefit from a rule change that came last week, extending their visas for up to a year. But Japan has so far declined to impose sanctions or cut diplomatic or economic ties with the junta, insisting on maintaining communication and influence with military leaders. Although small compared to a protest in February in several parts of Tokyo that drew thousands, police showed up in force due to the embassy’s location in an upscale residential neighborhood.

AIIB says it deals with ‘de facto governments’

11:30 a.m. The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has left open the door to funding projects in Myanmar even if the Southeast Asian nation does not return to its democratic path. AIIB Vice President Joachim von Amsberg told the Financial Times that while the bank did not have any new projects under consideration for Myanmar, it did have a framework for dealing with “de facto governments.” “We would not take a view on the form of government, we would go through our checklist,” he said.

Junta removes ‘Aung San’ from bridge name

7:00 a.m. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing yesterday attended a renaming ceremony of a bridge in Mon State that in 2017 was named after Gen. Aung San, Myanmar’s pre-independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi. The bridge is now the Than Lwin Bridge (Chaung Sone). In 2017, Mon residents protested naming the bridge after Suu Kyi’s father rather than after an ethnic Mon.

Tuesday, June 1

4:36 p.m. The chair and secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to travel to Myanmar this week even as the 10-nation bloc remains divided on how to respond to the military coup there, reports Reuters, citing four diplomatic sources.

ASEAN, a grouping that includes Myanmar and has a policy of non-interference in the affairs of members, has led the main diplomatic effort to resolve the violent turmoil gripping the country following the overthrow of a democratically-elected government four months ago.

1:00 p.m. Olympic-qualifying swimmer Win Htet Oo tells Nikkei Asia he is calling on the International Olympic Committee to ban the Myanmar Olympic Committee from representing the country in the upcoming Tokyo Games. It “does not share Olympic values,” he said, adding that “the Myanmar Olympic Committee cannot be a part of the Olympic movement because it is essentially operating as an extension of the military’s rule.” Read more here.

Factory index shows ‘softer yet still marked decline’

12:30 p.m. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for May issued by IHS Markit has improved slightly to 39.7 from 33.0 the previous month, although it remains below the neutral reading of 50. The latest result showed “a softer yet still marked decline in operating condition,” the statement said, while adding, “Political instability and strong inflationary pressures weighed heavily on the growth outlook.”

IHS analyst Shreeya Patel said that “although there are signs the most challenging period has passed, data continues to highlight concerns over the longer-term implication of the coup.” The PMI poll asks companies about changes in output, new orders and other business conditions, compared with the previous month. Any number below 50 indicates a contraction, while a reading above 50 means the opposite.

Schools reopen to low attendance amid boycott

9:00 a.m. Students returning to primary school for the first time in a year are showing up in their street clothes, which likely reflects fears of recrimination amid a boycott movement. At one school in Yangon, “around 50 students went inside to attend classes,” far fewer than usual, a street vendor said. “And 20 of them were wearing plain clothes, so it seems they will change into their uniforms later.”

8:00 a.m. Primary schools in Yangon are receiving fewer students as schools reopen after one year and the junta braces for potential bomb attacks at schools. Many students across the nation have said they will boycott classes to protest what they call “military slave education.” According to one mother visiting an elementary school: “This area is more stable than other areas, so [attendance] at this school is better, but still lower than last year.” A small truck with what looked like security personnel had previously checked the area. “They come every day,” the mother told Nikkei Asia.

7:30 a.m. Estimates show that at the end of May, there were between 100,000 and 120,000 more internally displaced persons than in January, after armed minorities — including the Kachin, Chin, Shan, Karen and Karenni — resumed actions against the military. “We have already seen tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of people leave [urban] areas and return to their rural homes, for both security and economic reasons,” said Richard Horsey, senior adviser on Myanmar for the International Crisis Group, in comments to Nikkei Asia. But there is no guaranteed safe place for them, as “junta forces even fire at churches where people are sheltering and white flags are flying,” a relief worker said. Read more here.

Monday, May 31

Tatmadaw uses heavy weapons on Karenni

6:00 p.m. A spokesperson for the Karenni People’s Defence Force told local media that Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, has used helicopter gunships and artillery barrages to attack Demoso in the northern part of Karenni State. There has been fighting in this area near the border with Shan State since May 21.

It has also been reported locally that the Three Brotherhoods Alliance — which brings together the Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army — launched an attack on a military outpost in Kutkai, northwest of Lashio in Shan State, killing 11 Tatmadaw troops and seizing some drugs.

Sunday, May 30

Military again unilaterally declares ceasefire

9:00 p.m. Military-owned Myawaddy television reports that the office of the commander in chief says the military will extend a nationwide ceasefire from June 1 to June 30 in order to negotiate with armed ethnic organizations for lasting peace. The office is also looking forward to a peaceful reopening of schools on June 1. All military operations will cease unless the defense, security or administrative functions of the state are encroached upon, it said.

Saturday, May 29

2:15 a.m. “Food prices have rocketed” in Myanmar under the junta’s tightening controls on transportation and distribution, says Thelma Tun-Thein, country facilitator for Myanmar for the U.S.-based Bush Institute’s Liberty and Leadership Program.

For Myanmar’s poor, already hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, “there are no safety nets, no food banks, no stimulus checks,” she says.

Friday, May 28

US calls for release of detained journalist

11:00 p.m. The U.S. expresses concerned for detained Frontier Myanmar editor Daniel Fenster and calls for his immediate release.

“We have pressed the military regime to release him immediately and will continue to do so until he is allowed to return home safely to his family,” a State Department spokesperson is reported as saying.

10:30 p.m. Sunset in Yangon.

10:15 p.m. The United Nations is wary that Myanmar’s massive illicit drug trade is receiving a boost from the economic and security crises that have engulfed the nation since the military coup almost four months ago.

“We are concerned that already very high levels of drug production and trafficking will increase,” says Jeremy Douglas, regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, or UNODC. Agencies in neighboring countries “are also expecting a jump.” Read more.

9:00 p.m. New daily COVID-19 cases fall to 72 on Friday from 96 the day before, junta’s health ministry reports.

8:00 p.m. South Korea’s Posco International says it is reviewing dividend payments on a gas project in Myanmar. If suspended, it would place additional financial pressure on the military government.

Posco International has a majority stake in Myanmar’s Shwe gas project. It also has a stake in the pipeline that transports the gas to China.

France’s Total and America’s Chevron have already suspended some payments from a similar gas joint venture that is also part-owned by the state-owned gas enterprise.

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne tells shareholders the energy group will comply with any further sanctions imposed on Myanmar by the U.S. and the European Union.

7:45 p.m. Myanmar’s World Cup qualifying match against Japan has ended in a 10-0 loss for the visiting Southeast Asian team, which played without some veteran members who refused to step onto the pitch under the junta government.

Reuters photographer Soe Zeya Tun captures some of the action at Fukuda Denshi Arena, near Tokyo.

6:30 p.m. A military tribunal has sentenced 28 individuals to 20 years in jail with hard labor for arson attacks on two Chinese-linked factories — a shoe plant and garment factory in the Yangon area — Reuters reported earlier, citing state media. A series of attacks hit mainly Chinese-backed factories in March. No one claimed responsibility, but Beijing is widely seen as being supportive of the junta.

4:45 p.m. A group called Revolution Tokyo Myanmar stages a flash protest outside the stadium where the national soccer teams of Japan and Myanmar are meeting to play a World Cup qualifier match tonight. “No to military dictatorship,” they shouted. “We do not want a team that does not represent Myanmar.” At least one substitute in the Myanmar squad flashed a three-finger salute that has been adopted by Myanmar’s widespread civil disobedience movement.

4:00 p.m. Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. secretary general’s special envoy to Myanmar, holds a press conference on Friday in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. “I would encourage [U.N.] member states to support people and talk to the NUG because they need our support,” she said. The NUG is the National Unity Government of Myanmar set up mostly by politicians elected in November’s general election, and operates underground or in exile. It has appointed ministers in a parallel entity to the State Administration Council, the junta of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power on Feb. 1.

The U.N. special envoy conceded that officially recognizing the NUG has its problems. According to Myanmar’s 2008 military-drafted constitution, appointments of ministers would require endorsement by President Win Myint, who along with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested. “So clearly it is a difficulty,” the envoy said. “It’s up to the member states if they accept NUG as a legally appointed government.” Schraner Burgener, a former Swiss ambassador to Bangkok who has not been allowed entry into Myanmar, said the U.N. has the NUG’s contact details.

9:00 a.m. The number of reported daily COVID-19 cases surged to 96 on Thursday, according to the health ministry under the junta. This is the highest count since Feb. 9, which could reflect hospitals’ inability to conduct tests, as many are still operating at under capacity. After the Feb. 1 coup, official reports of daily infections had mostly not exceeded 30, likely due to fewer health workers available to administer tests.

1:30 a.m. Amid a crisis in their home country, Myanmar’s national soccer team members are set to face Japan in a men’s World Cup qualifier. The match starts at 7:20 p.m. local time at Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba, near Tokyo.

The Myanmar Football Federation announced the squad just the day before. The Associated Press reports that star players such as defender Zaw Min Tun, striker Kyaw Ko Ko and goalkeeper Kyaw Zin Htet have refused to participate in international matches for Myanmar in protest of the military coup.

Kyaw Zin Htet told AFP: “It would be good if some of [the Myanmar players] came out and gave the three-fingered salute to an international audience.”

FIFA rules prohibit slogans, statements or images related to “any local, regional, national or international political party/organization/ group, etc.” and “any specific political act/event.”

Japan leads the five-team Group F in the Asian Football Confederation qualifiers, followed by Tajikistan, with Myanmar in fourth.

Air passengers departing country need 10-day prior booking

12:30 p.m. The U.S. embassy informs Americans in Myanmar that the junta requires all international air travelers — both citizens and foreign nationals — to book flights at least 10 days in advance of departure. Airlines and travel agents are already implementing the requirement. The embassy also advises people to share the content of the notice on its website with “all U.S. citizens” still in the country and with their neighbors.

10:00 a.m. Energy companies Total of France and Chevron of the U.S. suspend some payments to Myanmar’s junta from a joint gas business in a bid to ease pressure from human rights groups and the international community to stop financing the junta.

twitter:https://twitter.com/TotalPress/status/1397582400834752515

But some social media influencers are not satisfied; they point out the joint venture is only one of Total’s businesses in the country and the move does not necessarily mean the French oil and gas group has completely halted its financial support to the Myanmar military.

2:30 a.m. “Japan must position itself as a bridge between the Tatmadaw and the United States and other democratic countries rather than blindly aligning itself with the Western policy of regime change,” argues Yusuke Watanabe, secretary-general of the Japan Myanmar Association.

Watanabe argues in The Diplomat that, given the two countries’ background, “Japan’s cordial relationship with Myanmar’s government under the ongoing national emergency is not at all antithetical to the Western desire for the country’s democratic future.”

“Rather, they complement each other,” he says.

The Japan Myanmar Association describes itself as promoting a wide range of bilateral exchanges, particularly trade, investment and technological cooperation.

Wednesday, May 26

10:30 p.m. Japan is poised to allow Myanmar citizens to legally stay in the country even after their visas have expired, in response to deteriorating conditions in the Southeast Asian nation following its February coup.

The exemption would apply to Myanmar students and technical interns who could face trouble returning home. If they wish, they will be able to study or work here for another six or 12 months, under plans outlined by Japan’s Immigration Services Agency on Wednesday to ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers.

8:00 p.m. Myanmar’s National Unity Government, a parallel government set up by lawmakers elected in November’s general election, has had to adopt a more realistic approach to the way companies like Norway’s Telenor and the investment community conduct business.

“The military has been using various means to threaten and extort money,” Tu Hkawng, the NUG’s environment and natural resources minister, tells Nikkei Asia in an interview from an undisclosed location. “Companies such as Telenor have no choice but to follow these instructions due to security concerns.” Read the full article here.

Yangon to suffer ‘more explosions,’ say sources

4:00 p.m. Yangon, the largest city and commercial hub of Myanmar, will face more bomb attacks in the coming days and weeks, sources told Nikkei Asia.

There were at least five incidents on Tuesday alone, with one at a wedding in Thingangyun Township where four people, including the bride, were reportedly killed by a bomb hidden in a present for the couple. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Unconfirmed reports on social media suggest the couple or some of the wedding attendees were close to the junta.

Sources told Nikkei that Yangon’s administrative offices and schools, where security forces can be targeted, are likely to see more attacks.

Fighting is also ongoing between the military and the People’s Defence Force — a resistance group against the junta — in Kayah State bordering Thailand, after days of battle in Mindat, the city of Chin State by India.

Nation faces its ‘darkest hour,’ opposition minister says

Tuesday, May 25

9:30 p.m. Myanmar faces “the darkest hour in our history,” Dr. Sasa, minister of international cooperation for the junta opposition National Unity Government, tells the U.K. Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in a video meeting.

Sasa outlines four goals for the unity government, beginning with the “total eradication of military dictatorship once and for all.” He adds that the government is “inviting everyone to come together under that umbrella.”

The second goal is “the complete nullification of the 2008 constitution created by the military generals, for the military generals,” Sasa says. It also seeks to abolish the 1982 citizenship law, which has been blamed for providing a basis for the discrimination against Rohingya Muslims.

The third goal involves “building a federal democratic union of Myanmar for all people of Myanmar, including our Rohingya brothers and sisters,” he says, while the fourth calls for imagining a “people’s government.”

6:15 p.m. Nikkei Asia has obtained internet whitelists distributed by the junta to telecommunications companies. From Tinder to WhatsApp to celebrity.land, over 1,200 sites and services are allowed. But Facebook and Twitter — both widely used by protesters — have been left off. Read the full story.

1:30 a.m. The United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote this week on a resolution that includes a call for an international arms embargo on Myanmar.

The vote was postponed last week.

Monday, May 24

11:50 p.m. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand says it is “deeply concerned” about the arrest of Frontier Myanmar managing editor Danny Fenster.

“Before joining Frontier just before last November’s general election, Fenster worked for the independent news organization Myanmar Now,” the FCCT says in a statement posted on social media. “Both Frontier and Myanmar Now have produced courageous original reporting of exceptional quality in recent years.”

Separately, celebrity.land reports that Danny Fenster’s brother, Bryan Fenster, said the journalist was flying home to the U.S. to see his parents when he was arrested.

American journalist detained in latest media arrest

7:00 p.m. Local media outlet Frontier Myanmar says its managing editor, Danny Fenster, has been arrested.

Fenster was “detained at Yangon International Airport this morning shortly before he was due to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur,” according to a Frontier Myanmar social media statement.

He is believed to have been transferred to Insein Prison in Yangon, the statement says, adding that Frontier Myanmar has no information on the reasons for his arrest and has been unable to contact him since this morning.

Fenster is said to hold U.S. citizenship, according to a source who spoke with Nikkei Asia. He ranks in the second-highest position in the editorial team.

3:00 p.m. Despite junta restrictions on media and internet access, ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi knows the current situation her country is in, to some extent, from conversations with police officers, said Khin Maung Zaw, one of her lawyers who met her at the special court on Monday.

She is familiar with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and the National Unity Government, from speaking with the police, according to the lawyer. The committee and the unity government were set up after Suu Kyi’s arrest.

However, she did not offer any opinions as “she doesn’t have any broad and exact picture,” the lawyer said. In the meeting, Suu Kyi said “our party grew out of the people, so it will exist as long as people support it.”

It is unclear if she knows that the junta-appointed election commission last week suggested the possibility of dissolving her National League for Democracy.

Where Suu Kyi is now held has been kept a secret, even from her. Her lawyers told reporters that she does not know where she is being holed up now. Until Sunday, she was held at her house in Naypyitaw but was moved to another location a day ahead of the court hearing, according to the lawyers. Whether she has been taken back to her own house or kept in a different place is unknown.

1:32 p.m. Hundreds of thousands of students, including those in university, along with their teachers are set to boycott classes as the academic year begins on June 1. Their move is seen as a way to back up their slogan, “No need military slave education.” Read more.

12:00 p.m. Military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun tells Nikkei Asia that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s court hearing took place today at a “special court” set up near her house in the capital Naypyitaw from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It was the first time she has appeared in court since she was put under house arrest after the coup on Feb. 1. Suu Kyi’s lawyer confirmed the court appearance. Five lawyers met Suu Kyi, ousted President Win Myint and Myo Aung, the detained chairman of the Naypyidaw Council, for 30 minutes each. “She looks healthy,” the lawyer said of Suu Kyi.

11:30 a.m. More than a hundred pro-democracy protesters stage a flash protest in Yangon, raising the flags of Palestine and Columbia in a show of solidarity to people in those countries as well as Rohingya, who for years have been oppressed in Myanmar, with many fleeing to neighboring countries.

Sunday, May 23

Clashes intensify in anti-junta conflicts

10:00 p.m. Fighters opposed to Myanmar’s military junta clash with troops in the east of the country, claiming to have killed more than 13 members of the security forces.

Members of the People’s Defense Force, set up since the coup, told the Irrawaddy news service that they had killed the security force members when they overran a police station near the town of Mobye.

An alliance of four ethnic armed groups which are also against the coup battled early Sunday with security forces in Muse, one of the main crossings to China, according to Myanmar media.

3:30 a.m. Myanmar’s national soccer team is in Japan for World Cup qualifiers.

The team arrived Saturday, according to the Japan Football Association. They will play against Japan next Friday in Chiba, in a match originally scheduled for March but delayed because of the coup and other reasons.

Saturday, May 22

11:00 p.m. Myanmar aims to create a “federal state based on multiparty democracy,” if possible “within a year,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing tells a Hong Kong-based, Chinese-language broadcaster in an interview, according to media reports based on interview excerpts which aired today.

In the Phoenix Television interview, the general also says Suu Kyi is in good health and will appear in court in a few days.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy is accused by the junta of engaging in voter fraud during last year’s general election — allegations Min Aung Hlaing reiterates in the interview excerpt. This accusation is disputed in a recent report by The Asian Network for Free Elections.

The National Unity Government, formed in opposition to the coup, has put forward its own proposal for a federal democracy.

Friday, May 21

10:45 p.m. The United Nations says it is alarmed at the violence in Chin State, in the country’s northwest, after reports of indiscriminate attacks by security forces leading to the deaths of civilians and the displacement of thousands.

Heavy fighting in the town of Mindat since May 12 has forced nearly 4,000 to flee their homes, the U.N. in Myanmar says.

“The United Nations calls on security forces to urgently take all necessary measures and precautions to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to adhere to the fundamental principles of distinction, necessity, proportionality and protection,” it says in a statement.

10:30 p.m. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks out on the Myanmar crisis on the second day of Nikkei’s Future of Asia conference.

“They see some instability in the country and think, by taking over power from the people, they can solve problems,” Mahathir said of military regimes like Myanmar’s. “Of course, that’s a wrong assumption. Once they take power, power corrupts.”

Read more of Nikkei Asia’s coverage of the meeting here.

4:00 p.m. The junta-appointed head of the Myanmar’s election commission suggests that Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy might be dissolved, news outlet Myanmar Now reports.

Commission chair Thein Soe reportedly tells a meeting in the capital Naypyitaw: “How shall we take action on the NLD party for their intentionally committed unlawful acts? Shall we dissolve the party? Shall we take action on the people who committed these acts of betraying the state?” He added that “we shall consider and carry out” any actions.

The junta has accused the NLD of fraud in the November election, which Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide. The military has yet to provide evidence of any wrongdoing and the election commission at the time of the vote rejected the allegation.

Thein Soe spoke at the commission meeting attended by political party representatives. Among more than 90 parties registered, 59 parties attended. The NLD did not.

12:56 p.m. News outlet Myanmar Now says on Twitter that the country’s junta-appointed election commission will dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party because of what it called electoral fraud.

12:20 a.m. Japan will consider cutting off all official development assistance to Myanmar, even for ongoing projects, if the situation there does not improve, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi tells Nikkei in an interview.

“We don’t want to do that at all, but we have to state firmly that it will be difficult to continue under these circumstances,” Motegi says. “As a country that supported Myanmar’s democratization in various ways, and as a friend, we must represent the international community and convey that clearly.” Read more.

Thursday, May 20

10:45 p.m. “The path back to normalcy in Myanmar will be long and difficult” despite last month’s special Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, tells Nikkei’s Future of Asia conference on Thursday

“ASEAN member states have consistently stressed that engagement, rather than isolation, will go further in resolving the current crisis,” says Heng, who is seen as a contender to become Singapore’s next prime minister.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says a carrot-and-stick approach is needed from the international community to improve the situation in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha does not comment on the Myanmar coup — the region’s most pressing matter — in his first appearance at the annual conference.

10:30 p.m. PetroChina International Singapore supplied jet fuel to Myanmar in April, Reuters reports, citing government import data.

7:30 p.m. As fighting intensifies between local armed forces and the military in Myanmar’s western state of Chin, at least 3,000 people living in towns have escaped to the jungle. Water supply interruptions and the military’s occupation of residential areas are said to be factors of these evacuations.

6:00 p.m. The Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank is offering farmers loans from May 26 to Sept. 30 for the coming monsoon season, according to an official advertisement in Thursday’s edition of Global New Light of Myanmar, the state-owned newspaper.

It advises farmers to contact bank branches “as soon as possible in order to pay off old loans and get new loans.” The advertisement comes ahead of the rice planting season.

Myanmar’s economy has been struggling since the Feb. 1 coup, particularly with less cash available in banks and in general circulation. Though there are doubts over whether MADB is able to disperse those loans should farmers take up the offer, the ad is seen as the junta’s way of shoring up confidence in food supplies.

The United Nations World Food Program recently warned that, over the next six months, up to 3.4 million more people in Myanmar will suffer from hunger, especially in cities, because of the coup.

In the same edition of the newspaper, there was another official ad warning owners of restaurants and eateries that they were “responsible for collecting commercial tax from their customers.” Many restaurants and coffee shops have not collected the tax as a way of showing support for protesters.

3:30 p.m. Local media outlet Irrawaddy reports that the age limit of 65 years for the posts of commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief have been lifted, paving the way for incumbent military chief Min Aung Hlaing to remain in his position. His term was expected to end in July when he will turn 65. The report says the change was implemented by the Defense Department Council just days after the military coup on Feb. 1.

2:45 a.m. Myanmar will send a military delegation on a visit to Moscow on Thursday, led by Air Force chief Maung Maung Kyaw, The Moscow Times reports, citing a Myanmar Embassy representative.

Maung Maung Kyaw is the target of Western sanctions over his involvement in the Feb. 1 coup.

1:30 a.m. Two diplomats at Myanmar’s Embassy in Tokyo were dismissed by the junta after they joined a boycott in opposition to the military takeover, Kyodo reports, citing diplomatic sources.

If confirmed, this would mark the latest reprisal by the junta against members of the diplomatic corps who have voiced support for ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar’s ambassadors to the United Nations and to the U.K. have already run afoul of the junta.

Myanmar’s junta-controlled foreign ministry revoked the two diplomats’ passports and access to the embassy compound where they had been living until early March, Kyodo reports.

Wednesday, May 19

10:50 p.m. UNICEF says it is aware of media reports that soap bars and cloth masks supplied by the United Nations children’s aid agency have allegedly been used by local militias to recruit civilians in Myanmar’s Kachin state.

UNICEF supplies are “distributed for the express purpose of promoting the health and well-being of children and the use of these supplies for any other purpose is unacceptable,” according to a statement.

Exports from US plunged 60% after coup, data shows

7:00 p.m. Unsurprisingly, Myanmar’s international trade started shrinking in the month of February, preliminary trade data obtained by Nikkei Asia shows.

Total exports to Myanmar from eight trading partners — including the U.S., Canada and New Zealand — fell 38% on the year in February, while their imports from Myanmar dipped 9%, according to trade statistics reported to the United Nations. These eight nations usually make up roughly one-tenth of Myanmar’s total trade.

Of the eight partners, the U.S. retreated the farthest. Its exports to Myanmar contracted 60% and its imports from there shrank 12%, owing to Washington’s relatively quick imposition of sanctions. With other countries following suit and the U.S. introducing additional sanctions in later weeks, trade figures for March and April are expected to show sharper contractions, reflecting further damage to the military-run economy.

6:00 p.m. App-based food delivery service provider Foodpanda remains committed to Myanmar despite the ongoing political unrest that has disrupted internet services in the country, the company’s chief executive tells Nikkei Asia. Read more.

Tuesday, May 18

7:30 p.m. A United Nations General Assembly vote on a draft resolution calling for the suspension of arms supplies to Myanmar has been postponed, according to a U.N. diplomat.

A spokesman for the General Assembly president had said on Monday that a vote on the draft resolution was due on Tuesday. Some diplomats said the vote had been delayed in a bid to win more support, according to Reuters.

Yangon official shot after mysterious bombings

3:00 p.m. Local media report that two bombs exploded this morning around 5:40 a.m. near a ward administrator’s office in downtown Yangon, injuring two security officers. The newly appointed ward administrator, who came to check the scene, was shot dead en route; his body was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head. It remains unclear who was responsible for the explosions and the shooting.

According to Yangon residents, there have been no major pro-democracy protests on streets in the past three days, while bombings are becoming more frequent. Though most say they still believe in peaceful demonstrations, youth sentiment in particular appears to be shifting toward at least considering armed rebellion as the only hope for ending the junta’s rule.

The military has killed over 800 people and arrested more than 5,200 since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the latest tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.

1:00 a.m. The United Nations General Assembly will vote Tuesday on a draft resolution seeking an international arms embargo on Myanmar.

The resolution, to be put before all U.N. member states, “calls for an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons, munitions and other military-related equipment to Myanmar,” according to a draft published online.

The resolution, which does not use the word “coup,” calls on Myanmar’s armed forces “to respect the will of the people as freely expressed by the results of the general election of 8 November 2020, to end the state of emergency, to respect all human rights of all the people of Myanmar and to allow the sustained democratic transition of Myanmar.”

12:20 a.m. More on the 16 officials targeted in a new round of U.S. sanctions: Besides four members of the State Administrative Council — the junta government — the list includes key figures in carrying out Myanmar’s economic and monetary policy.

One of them is Than Nyein, who was installed by the junta as central bank governor after the Feb. 1 coup.

Commerce Minister Pwint San and Win Shein — the minister for planning, finance and industry — have been sanctioned as well, according to a Treasury Department statement.

The list also includes two adult children of State Administrative Council member Gen. Maung Maung Kyaw and one of Adm. Tin Aung San. These two junta figures were themselves blacklisted in February.

Monday, May 17

US sanctions junta itself in latest move with allies

10:30 p.m. The Biden administration has added Myanmar’s State Administrative Council — the body created by the junta to replace the ousted government — to a list of U.S. sanctions targets.

“Today, the United States is announcing new sanctions against Burma’s military regime in response to its continued violence and repression against the people of Burma, most recently in Mindat, Chin State, and its failure to take any steps to restore Burma’s democratic transition,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken says in a statement.

Sixteen officials have also been added to the U.S. list. They include technocrats and civilians in charge of economic ministries and the central bank, according to a Treasury Department statement. All property and interests in property of those people named in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked.

A U.S. analyst says it is “highly unusual to sanction the council as an entity but leave some names out including foreign minister.”

The U.S. move is part of coordinated new sanctions actions with the U.K. and Canada. The U.K. announces sanctions on Myanmar Gems Enterprise, a state-owned firm now under the junta’s control. Canada sanctioned 16 individuals and 10 entities.

9:30 p.m. The U.K. announces sanctions on Myanmar Gems Enterprise, a distributor of jade and other precious stones that has already been blacklisted by the U.S.

6:00 p.m. The 2020 Myanmar general election reflected “the true will of the electorate,” according to a final comprehensive report by The Asian Network for Free Elections, an international monitoring group, which counters the junta’s allegation of electoral fraud.

ANFREL says it hopes Myanmar will “soon return on the rightful path to an elected civilian government.”

The report, titled “The 2020 Myanmar General Elections: Democracy Under Attack,” is available in English and in Burmese.

3:30 p.m. The Mindat People’s Administration announces on Facebook that fighting between the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) — a newly formed ethnic militia — and the military is ongoing in the western state of Chin, bordering India. The administration is acting as the CDF’s political unit. It added in its post that seven locals had been killed during the recent fighting. The State Administration Council, as the junta is formally known, declared martial law in the northwestern town of Mindat on Thursday.

Miss Myanmar urges everyone to speak out

10:30 a.m. Thuzar Wint Lwin, Myanmar’s Miss Universe contestant, who has made it to the finals, used the pageant on Sunday to urge the world to speak out against the military junta. “Our people are dying and being shot by the military every day,” she said in a video message for the competition in Hollywood, Florida, according to Reuters. “I would like to urge everyone to speak about Myanmar. As Miss Universe Myanmar since the coup, I have been speaking out as much as I can,” she said.

Sunday, May 16

10:10 a.m. During a special Mass for the Myanmar community in Italy, Pope Francis says the people of the country must not despair in the face of evil or allow themselves to be divided. “Your beloved country of Myanmar is experiencing violence, conflict and repression,” the pope said at St. Peter’s Basilica. He urged drawing inspiration from the final hours of Jesus Christ. Francis visited Myanmar in 2017 and has been outspoken against the junta since the Feb. 1 coup. The predominantly Buddhist country is home to fewer than 800,000 Roman Catholics.

3:20 a.m. A total of 63 people have been killed in recent attacks by junta opponents, according to junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun. “Terrorists are planting bombs in public areas and there are some injuries among the people,” he told a news conference, while asking for information on the attackers.

Saturday, May 15

11:45 p.m. Fighting breaks out between the army and local militia fighters in the northwestern town of Mindat, residents say, in some of the heaviest fighting since the military seized power three months ago.

The fighting underlines the growing chaos as the junta struggles to impose order in the face of daily protests, strikes and sabotage attacks after it overthrew Suu Kyi.

“We are running for our lives,” a resident tells Reuters from Mindat, a hill town just over 100 km from the border with India.

“There are around 20,000 people trapped in the town, most of them are kids, old people,” the resident says. “My friend’s three nieces were hit by shrapnel. They are not even teens.”

The junta imposed martial law in Mindat on Thursday and then stepped up attacks on what it called “armed terrorists.”

9:10 p.m. Sai Kan Nyunt, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, has been found dead with many stab wounds, according to local media reports.

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To catch up on earlier developments, see the last edition of latest updates.