Tens of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar on Sunday to denounce last week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The demonstrations are the biggest protests seen in the country since the 2007 Saffron Revolution helped lead to democratic reforms.
In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD).
"We don't want military dictatorship! We want democracy!" they chanted.
They came as the junta ended its day-long blockade of the internet which caused further inside the country and outside.
A line of armed police with riot shields set up barricades, but did not try to stop the demonstration. Some marchers presented police with flowers as a sign of peace.
"We don't want a dictatorship for the next generation," said 21-year-old Thaw Zin.
"We will not finish this revolution until we make history. We will fight to the end."
© Provided by Evening StandardGetty Images
There was no comment from the junta in the capital Naypyitaw, more than 350 km (220 miles) north of Yangon and state-run television news carried no mention of the protests.
Video: Myanmar woman collapses in tears while pleading with police not to harm protesters (Newsflare)
Myanmar woman collapses in tears while pleading with police not to harm protesters
-
Scores of protesters join torch-lit anti-lockdown protest in Netherlands Scores of protesters marched with torches through the city of Tilburg in the Netherlands on Friday (February 5) to voice their anger at ongoing measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. The marchers reached the city centre where they were forced to turn back by police. According to local media, police detained one person after the end of the protest. The Netherlands faced violent protests against coronavirus measures last month. 
Newsflare -
Couple throws baby shower for pregnant pet dog in southern India A southern Indian couple threw a baby shower for their pregnant pet dog last week. Footage filmed in Hyderabad in the state of Telangana showed owners Nutakki Asha and Navakumar sitting on either side of their beloved labrador Steffi as friends and relatives gathered around. In keeping with Indian tradition, they placed garlands around Steffi's neck and took turns to rub pigment onto her brow. The couple's son Saneet, an engineering student, brought Steffi home when she was just 21 days old. Since then, the couple says they have taken care of her as if she were their daughter. Newsflare -
Anti-lockdown protester in Cape Town arrested for allegedly attacking journalist An anti-lockdown protester was arrested in Cape Town in South Africa today (February 6) after allegedly attacking a journalist. Craig Peiser, one of the organisers of the demonstration against continuing lockdown measures, was taken away by police after he allegedly pulled off the mask of reporter Monique Mortlock and assaulted her when she tried to interview him. When he returned to the beach, Peiser was confronted by a contingent of journalists. Peiser was then placed under arrest by a detective from Fish Hoek police station. Peiser tried to resist arrest but the large group of police was able to get him into the police vehicle. Debbie Els, a leader of the Stop Farm Murders group, who was there to support the protests spoke to the media and condemned the attack on Monique Mortlock and supported the arrest of Peiser. Peiser is a member and organiser of the We Are More movement which propagates COVID-19 conspiracy theories and is calling for an end to the COVID-19 lockdown measures in South Africa. Newsflare
![UP NEXT]()
UP NEXT
An internal note for U.N. staff estimated that 1,000 people joined a protest in Naypyidaw while there were 60,000 in Yangon alone.
Protests were reported in the second city of Mandalay and many towns and villages across the country of 53 million people that stretches from Indian Ocean islands to the Himalayas.
The demonstrations have largely been peaceful but shots were heard in the southeastern town of Myawaddy as uniformed police with guns charged a group of a couple of hundred protesters.
Pictures of protesters afterwards showed what appeared to be rubber bullet injuries.
"Anti-coup protests show every sign of gaining steam. On the one hand, given history, we can well expect the reaction to come," wrote author and historian Thant Myint-U on Twitter.
"On the other, Myanmar society today is entirely different from 1988 and even 2007. Anything's possible."
Suu Kyi, 75, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkies and is being held in police detention for investigation until Feb. 15. Her lawyer said he has not been allowed to see her.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for campaigning for democracy, and spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during decades of struggling to end almost half a century of army rule before the start of a troubled transition to democracy in 2011.
Army commander Min Aung Hlaing carried out the coup on the grounds of fraud in a Nov. 8 election in which Suu Kyi's party won a landslide.
The electoral commission dismissed the allegations of malpractice.
More than 160 people have been arrested since the military seized power, said Thomas Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar.
The generals are now attempting to paralyse the citizen movement of resistance - and keep the outside world in the dark - by cutting virtually all internet access," Andrews said in a statement on Sunday.
"We must all stand with the people of Myanmar in their hour of danger and need. They deserve nothing less."