Residents of Kyauktaung village in Mon State’s Thaton Township are worried that fighting between a coalition led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Myanmar military could escalate after artillery shells fired by junta troops hit a pagoda festival.

Junta soldiers and police subjected passersby to inspection in Kyay Taw Ywama village, part of Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, on Sunday evening, according to locals.

Contradictory testimonies on the side of the prosecution in the case of a Thandwe man accused of incitement led Monday to the summoning of a local police official to sort out the discrepancy.

A deep depression is expected to make landfall along the coasts of the northern Andaman Sea and southeastern Bay of Bengal on March 23, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH).

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have expressed concerns about the impacts of an impending cyclonic storm on their camps, after the Department of Meteorology (DMH) forecast strong winds and heavy rains as it is expected to make landfall on March 23.

A fire broke out in Ann town, Arakan State, on Sunday, destroying nine huts and nine homes in No. 3 ward and leaving about 90 people without shelter or food.

Ice manufacturers in Sittwe are struggling due to daily, lengthy power outages recently affecting much of Arakan State.

Locals that remain in the Kayah (Karenni) State capital Loikaw are concerned about a possible clash in the town as military tensions have grown between the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and Myanmar’s junta.

A police officer was killed and two others were injured in a shooting that took place at a security checkpoint near Chaung Hnitkhwa Bridge in Kyaikmaraw Township, Mon State, on Saturday morning, according to locals.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have yet to receive cash assistance pledged last year by the Tokyo-based Nippon Foundation.

Local salt farmers in Arakan State say they need government-subsidised loans and other assistance to continue their business and improve salt quality.

Rice prices, along with other basic commodity prices, have continued to rise in Arakan State since the military coup in February 2021, leaving many people struggling to make ends meet as the staple grain becomes increasingly unaffordable.

Myanmar’s military regime has recently sent its troops to some parts of southern Arakan State, in what observers say appears to be an attempt to contain the growing influence of the Arakan Army (AA).

The Arakan State military council has made it mandatory for shopkeepers at markets across Arakan State to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to continue their businesses.

The Myanmar Rice Federation has said it will provide technical assistance and loans to rice millers and rice companies in Arakan State to generate electricity from their rice husks and to produce edible oil from its by-product, bran.

Legal Clinic Myanmar (LCM), an organisation working to promote and strengthen the rule of law, democracy and human rights in the country, opened a labour support centre in Sittwe’s Kyaung Tet Lan ward on March 18 to address labour issues in Arakan State.

The Sittwe Technological University Students’ Union issued a statement on March 17 officially declaring Arakanese as its official language.

Many people in Arakan State’s Manaung Township are reverting to nipa palm leaves to roof their houses, according to local nipa leaf sellers.

The eighth Tankhoe Saya Tun Literary Awards presentation will be held in the village of Tankhoe, the hometown of Saya Tun in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, on April 9.