Reporters from the Arakan State-based Western News went into hiding over the weekend after junta forces attempted to find the location of its office in Sittwe on Friday night, according to sources from the local news outlet.

The case of more than 20 Lekka villagers in Mrauk-U Township, who have been detained for more than two years, has been delayed again even as they appeared in court on November 19. 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is considering increasing funding for internally displaced people (IDPs) as basic food prices rise in Arakan State, Resident Representative of the UN agency in Myanmar Marcus Prior told DMG.

Manaung Public Company has submitted a proposal to the government to extend the runway at Manaung Airport in Arakan State. 

South Korea-based Posco International has reportedly begun work on Phase II of the Shwe gas field project A-1 off the Arakan coast. 

Arrangements will be made to help displaced Tinma villagers in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, who have repeatedly sought their own return, but only once their security is guaranteed, said U Hla Thein, a spokesman and attorney-general for the Arakan State Administration Council. 

The Japanese philanthropy Nippon Foundation will provide US$8.5 million for malnourished internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, according to Yohei Sasakawa, Japan’s Special Envoy for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, who visited Arakan State on Monday. 

The Arakan Army (AA) on Monday released 15 prisoners of war, who were captured during the ethnic armed group’s 2018-20 conflict with the military, on humanitarian grounds, according to AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha. 

Weak preservation of timber seized from illegal logging in Arakan State has resulted in about 30% of the wood decaying before it could be sold at auction, said Dr. Maung Maung Kyi, chairperson of the Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association (RCA).

The chairman of Nippon Foundation and Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, said he told the Arakan Army to maintain a situation of no armed conflict in Arakan State during an online meeting with the ethnic armed group.

The main road connecting Arakan State’s Ponnagyun and Rathedaung townships was reclosed in the first week of November, local residents said. 

Locals are worried about Myanmar military troops moving from village to village in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State. 

Construction work on a variety of development projects in Lay Taung town, Ramree Township, is only about 25% complete more than two years after Lay Taung was recognised as a town, its organising committee said.

The Shwe Min Thar Foundation (Myanmar) said healthcare services will be provided for people with disabilities in Arakan State’s Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships for the next 18 months. 

Domestic air travellers can get pre-departure testing for Covid-19 free of charge at the relevant township Department of Public Health (DPH), according to a statement released by the junta-controlled Ministry of Health. 

A young writer, who goes by the pen name Min Di Par and was arrested last month on suspicion of financing the anti-regime People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia, was formally charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law at the Mrauk-U District Court on November 12. 

US citizen Danny Fenster, managing editor of the magazine Frontier Myanmar, was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a military court on November 11. 

Arrangements are being made to reopen basic education schools in Gwa Township, Arakan State, which remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as soon as possible, according to the township administrator. 

Although the US dollar has fallen against the Myanmar kyat in the past few days from recent record highs, commodity and consumer goods prices are likely to remain elevated for some time to come, according to businesspeople.