Huge rallies in Myanmar for ninth day as army steps up arrests

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Myanmar’s big cities for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations, as the country’s new military rulers rolled back laws protecting freedom and stepped up the arrests of politicians and activists.

Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, on Sunday, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the military overthrew her elected government on February 1.