With stoplights going dark in the Arakan State capital Sittwe during power outages — leading to traffic congestion and safety concerns — residents are calling for a battery-powered alternative or backup to the current system.

Heavy fighting broke out between the Myanmar military and anti-regime forces in Demoso Township, Kayah State, at about 10 a.m. on December 31.

With fighting reported near the Asia Highway in Kayin State’s Myawaddy and Kawkareik townships, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has tightened traffic restrictions and monitoring of the highway, according to local sources. 

In a message marking the Karen National New Year, which will fall on January 2, 2022, the chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU) said Myanmar’s ethnic nationalities must fight against the unjust political system as their rights have been violated. 

A total of 1,131,172 people in Arakan State — more than half of the state’s eligible population — had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of December 29, according to Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the Arakan State Public Health Department. 

A recent spate of pig deaths in some Arakan State townships is due to an outbreak of porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2), said U Win Soe, assistant director of the state’s Department Livestock Breeding and Veterinary, who cited lab test results. 

A court in Mrauk-U Township has again delayed an expected verdict in the case of more than 20 residents of Lekka village who have been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, marking the seventh time that a ruling in the trial has been deferred.

Arrests of political activists in Tanintharyi Region increased this month, according to sources in the region.

A healthcare worker in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, tested positive for Covid-19 on December 30. 

An “Entertainment Beach City” is being developed in southern Arakan State, according to an official from Min Htee Company, which is developing the project. 

The recent killing of 35 people in Kayah State’s Hpruso Township — including women, children and two staffers of the international humanitarian organisation Save the Children — is yet more evidence to bring against the Myanmar military in international justice forums, according to political analysts. 

The traffic accident rate in Arakan State ticked up in October and November, according to the state’s traffic police office, but Arakan State nonetheless looks likely to see an overall reduction in traffic accidents and deaths in 2021 compared with last year. 

A healthcare worker and an internally displaced person (IDP) in Paletwa Township, Chin State, were taken by police on December 28, according to family members of the detainees. 

A suspect is being questioned by the Arakan Army (AA) after bundles of paddy belonging to a Muslim farmer from Nagayar village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township were reportedly set on fire last week, according to local villagers. 

As fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) continued over the Christmas weekend in and around Lay Kay Kaw town and Mae Htaw Tha Lay village in Kayin State, more than 1,000 civilians are still stranded along the Thai-Myanmar border and thousands more have crossed into Thailand, according to aid workers. 

Some nurses who have joined the anti-regime Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and were working at private hospitals in Myanmar say they have gone into hiding as security personnel are targeting them. 

The Taungup Township Court on Tuesday postponed what was to be a decisive hearing in the case of Ko Aung Win Naing, chair of the Moe Pyinnyar Dana Philanthropic Association in Arakan State’s Taungup town, who was charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. 

Houses and shops in five villages are slated for removal as part of plans to widen the Sittwe-Palinpyin road in Bumay village-tract, Sittwe Township, said U Hla Thein, spokesperson for the Arakan State Administration Council. 

Thirty-three of 76 Muslims who were arrested last week in Taungup Township, Arakan State, were charged under the Immigration Act and sentenced to one year in prison by the Taungup Township Court on Tuesday.