“Everything will be OK,” read 19-year-old Angel’s T-shirt as the dancer and taekwondo champion joined anti-coup protesters in Myanmar on Wednesday.
But she had known it might not be OK - leaving details of her blood group, a contact number and a request to donate her body in the event of her death.

One friend, Kyaw Zin Hein, shared a copy of her last message to him on social media. It read: “This might be the last time I say this. Love you so much. Don’t forget”.

On Facebook, she had posted her medical details and the request to donate her body if she were killed. Messages of grief and acclaim flooded the page on Wednesday.

The incidents followed the bloodiest day since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with the United Nations special envoy on Burma saying 38 people had been killed on Wednesday.

The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, called on the security forces to halt what she called their “vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters”.

At least 54 people had been killed in total but the actual toll could be much higher, she said. More than 1,700 people had been arrested, including 29 journalists.

Myanmar’s military rulers attempted to move about $1bn held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) in the United States days after seizing power on February 1, prompting US officials to put a freeze on the funds, three people familiar with the matter, including one US government official, told Reuters news agency.

The transaction on February 4 in the name of the Central Bank of Myanmar was first blocked by Fed safeguards. US government officials then stalled on approving the transfer until an executive order issued by US President Joe Biden gave them legal authority to block it indefinitely, sources told Reuters.

The European Union has suspended its support for development projects in Myanmar to avoid providing financial assistance to the military after it seized power last month.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Armed Myanmar soldiers and police are using TikTok to deliver death threats to protesters against last month’s coup, researchers said, leading the Chinese video-sharing app to announce it was removing content that incites violence.
Digital rights group Myanmar ICT for Development (MIDO) said it had found more than 800 pro-military videos that menaced protesters at a time of increasing bloodshed - with 38 protesters killed on Wednesday alone according to the United Nations.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said MIDO executive director Htaike Htaike Aung, who said there were “hundreds” of videos of threatening uniformed soldiers and police on the app.

A spokesman for the army and junta did not respond to a request for comment.

Sporadic protests were staged across Myanmar on Saturday and local media reported that police fired tear gas shells and stun grenades to break up a protest in the Sanchaung district of Yangon, the country’s biggest city. There no reports of casualties.

More than 50 protesters have been killed according to the United Nations - at least 38 on Wednesday alone. Protesters demand the release of Suu Kyi and the respect of November’s election, which her party won in landslide, but which the army rejected.

The numbers of police resignations have risen sharply since the violent crackdown in late February.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch, Tourist Security Police, Security Police and training depots have left their duties to resist the military regime, according to an officer in Naypyitaw.

There were over 500 police participating in the CDM by Thursday and 100 more joined the movement on Friday. The officer said no police protests have been reported in Rakhine State.

He said Special Branch Major Tin Min Tun’s participation in the CDM has had a great impact in police circles.

The major posted on Facebook this week: “I no longer want to serve under the military regime. I have joined the civil servants participating in the CDM.”

He expressed respect for younger protesters who are leading the movement against the regime.

The company said Friday that it terminated channels of broadcasters Myawaddy Media, MRTV, WD Online Broadcasting, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar. The decision follows a February 1 military coup that ousted the country's elected government, provoking massive public protests.

"We have terminated a number of channels and removed several videos from YouTube in accordance with our community guidelines and applicable laws," YouTube said in an emailed statement.

The company said it was monitoring the situation for any content that might violate its rules.

An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s junta said on Saturday that the generals are keen to leave politics after their coup and seek to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China.

Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli military intelligence official who has previously represented Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Sudan’s military rulers, said Myanmar’s generals also want to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

In a telephone interview, Ben-Menashe said he and his firm Dickens & Madson Canada had been hired by Myanmar’s generals to help communicate with the United States and other countries who he said “misunderstood” them.

He said Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader since 2016, had grown too close to China for the generals’ liking.

“There’s a real push to move towards the West and the United States as opposed to trying to get closer to the Chinese,” Ben-Menashe said. “They don’t want to be a Chinese puppet.”

Myanmar authorities who exhumed Kyal Sin's body said she was shot in the back of the head so could not have been killed by police. Photos show the back of her head facing police moments before she was killed

Myanmar police fired tear gas to break up a sit-in demonstration by tens of thousands of people in Mandalay on Sunday, while protests were held in at least half a dozen other cities in some of the most widespread action against last month’s coup.

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades on protesters in the country’s main city Yangon and in Lashio town in the northern Shan region, videos showed A witness said police opened fire to break up a protest in the historic temple town of Bagan, and several residents said in social media posts that live bullets were used.