Internally displaced people (IDPs) are in need of assistance as displaced camps in Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships, which were badly damaged by strong winds that swept through Arakan State on May 21. 

According to the Sittwe branch of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank, agricultural loan disbursements in Arakan State will amount to less than last year due to low loan repayment rates, with over K9 billion earmarked for farmers this year.

Residents from Kin Taung village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township are worried as the Myanmar military has stationed troops at their village and they are banned from going outside the village from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. 

Locals are worried that fighting could resume in Arakan State as tensions between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) have shown signs of escalating in recent days. 

The Arakan National Party (ANP) will hold an emergency conference to find solutions to its internal troubles, with the party forming a committee on May 18 to prepare for the gathering. 

As of next week, Myanma Railways (MR) in the Arakan State capital Sittwe will add one more coach to the train running between Pyitawthar and Yaychanpyin for the convenience of teachers and students at Sittwe University, according to a MR official. 

With the aim of promoting modern Arakanese poetry, a poem festival kicked off in the Arakan State town of Rathedaung on Saturday. 

Two detained village administrators in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township were released on bail on May 20 after being charged under the Forest Law, according to family members. 

A war of words between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) intensified this week, with the AA spokesman calling his regime counterpart’s latest remarks “a direct threat” to Arakanese people. 

Residents of Ale Kyun village in Dar Lat Chaung village-tract, in Arakan State’s Ann Township, were barred from tending to their farms on May 19 and were allowed to return the fields on Friday morning, according to locals. 

A local court sentenced two men from Arakan State’s Thandwe Township who have been accused of ties to the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) to three years in prison under the Counter-Terrorism Law on Friday, according to a lawyer involved. 

Civilians displaced by recent fighting in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region are in urgent need of medicines, according to humanitarian workers. 

Residents of Chin State’s Paletwa Township are facing severe economic and social hardships due to skyrocketing ferryboat fares when travelling from Paletwa to Kyauktaw in neighbouring Arakan State. 

Gold prices have increased steadily since the military coup, pushing down demand and increasing local pawning, according to gold shops in the Arakan State capital Sittwe. 

According to the Sittwe branch of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank, agricultural loan disbursements in Arakan State will amount to less than last year due to low loan repayment rates, with over K9 billion earmarked for farmers this year. 

Commodity prices have skyrocketed in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, which borders Arakan State, after months-long restrictions on the supply of food and other goods to the town imposed by the Myanmar military regime. 

A verdict in the case of five men from Kyaukseik village, Ponnagyun Township, and nearby who were detained in 2020 and charged on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army (AA) was postponed, according to family members. 

Peace talks with ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that have been proposed by junta chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing will continue until a positive outcome is achieved, a spokesperson for the State Administration Council (SAC) told reporters at a press conference in Naypyidaw on Thursday. 

Myanmar junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun has challenged the Arakan Army (AA), saying the armed group’s recent statements seem intended to provoke a fight.