The Myanmar government has cut off Internet access:
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s government appeared to have cut public Internet access and troops occupied key Buddhist monasteries on Friday, witnesses and diplomats said, in an effort to end demonstrations against the ruling junta.
The moves raised concerns that the military government may be preparing to intensify a crackdown on civilians that has killed at least 10 people in the past two days. The Internet in particular has played a crucial role in getting news and images of the pro-democracy protests to the outside world.
Police also sealed off a Yangon neighborhood after hundreds of protesters defied the government’s orders and the violence of previous days to take to the streets. They were quickly dispersed without bloodshed. Elsewhere, witnesses said the streets were mainly quiet.
Southeast Asian envoys were told by Myanmar authorities that a no-go zone had been declared around five key Buddhist monasteries, one diplomat said, raising fears of a repeat of a democratic uprising in 1988, when troops gunned down thousands of peaceful demonstrators and imprisoned the survivors.