Myanmar junta targets paralysing strikes, as arrests near 500

Myanmar’s military junta has issued arrest warrants against six celebrities for encouraging strikes that have paralysed many government offices in protests against this month’s coup, with total arrests since then now nearing 500.

Late on Wednesday, security forces opened fire in Myanmar’s second-biggest city of Mandalay as they confronted railway workers who had stopped trains running as part of the civil disobedience movement. One person was wounded, residents said.