Myanmar’s military regime has lifted its travel ban on local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), but aid agencies are not yet allowed to operate freely to assist displacement camps.

Time and time again, courts have postponed these trials, often citing the absence of plaintiffs and prosecution witnesses, according to family members of the affected defendants.

Businessmen are planning to provide part-time jobs to university and college students in Arakan State, taking their cue from a local businessman in Thandwe who provides employment opportunities for students of the Government Technical Institute (GTI) in the town.

Salt produced in Arakan State will be exported to Bangladesh this year for the first time in more than a decade, according to those engaging in salt production.

All domestic flights to and from Loikaw Airport in the Kayah State capital have been suspended until further notice, according to locals. The stoppage of flights followed a rocket attack at the airport earlier this month.

A doctor from Taungup who was charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act was slapped with an additional count under Section 8 of the Export and Import Law during a hearing on Thursday, according to family members.

An event to honour three Arakan State philanthropists was held at New World Hall in the state capital Sittwe on Thursday.

A total of 2,500 tonnes of rice from Arakan State was directly exported to Chittagong, Bangladesh, for the first time on January 9, according to the junta-controlled Myanmar Alinn newspaper.

More than 100 pigs including piglets have died in some villages in the north of Arakan State’s Mrauk-Township since last month, according to local residents.

The joint statement was made in a congratulatory message sent by the Kokang and Arakanese ethnic groups to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Ta’ang National Revolution Day on January 12.

Local residents in Arakan State are calling for the release of family members detained by the military on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) during the latest round of clashes between the two sides, which came to a halt with an informal ceasefire on November 26.

A growing segment of fishermen who depend on Arakan State’s rivers, streams and creeks for their livelihoods have halted their work due to decreasing catches and increases in the price of fishing equipment.

Myanmar’s military has reportedly forced some internally displaced people (IDPs) from displacement camps in downtown Paletwa, Chin State, to serve as porters, transporting food rations for troops.

Three Myanmar military jets dropped bombs on the Mt. Victoria headquarters of the Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), killing the five and wounding at least 10 others, according to a source close to the CNF.

Local residents have criticised municipal authorities and traffic police for failing to handle irresponsible parking by auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and other vehicles on the roads near Sittwe’s central market. The lack of regulation has frequently caused traffic chaos, these residents say.

The bamboo handicrafts industry is fading and may one day be non-existent in many Arakan State townships, locals have warned.

Local residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have complained about authorities’ lack of action to keep clean a major lake that supplies water to around 10 wards.

Complaints to the relevant anti-trafficking units about human trafficking among local people in Arakan State remain unreflective of the extent of the problem, according to the No. 5 Anti-Trafficking Task Force (Sittwe).

Myanmar’s military regime has begun conducting a population census in townships across Arakan State in order to facilitate the compiling of voter lists, according to village administrators and local residents.