Eight cases of the Covid-19 Omicron XBB.1.16 subvariant have been recorded in Myanmar, according to a May 3 announcement from the junta-controlled Health Ministry.

The Myanmar military has recently forced residents of Phayonechaung and Ngatpyawchaung villages in Arakan State to leave their homes.

Myanmar’s military regime on Wednesday pardoned 2,153 prisoners serving sentences under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, but reportedly no prisoners behind bars in Arakan State were released in the mass amnesty.

Press freedom has steadily waned in Myanmar in the two-plus years since the military takeover, journalists said on Wednesday as the country marked its third World Press Freedom Day under military rule.

Five civilians were bitten by vipers while fleeing junta raids in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township last month, with three of them, including two children, dying of the snake bites.

The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) announced that it has approved the registrations of the Arakan Front Party (AFP) and Rakhine State National Unity Party (RSNUP) for the election being planned by Myanmar’s military regime.

Environmentalists have called for not poaching birds in particular between April and August, when many species lay their eggs. They said the hunting of birds during their egg-laying season affects their reproduction, and puts them at risk of extinction.

A young man was found dead near View Point Beach in the Arakan State capital Sittwe at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the Shwe Yaung Metta Foundation.

Participants at the eighth Ethnic Media Conference condemned the role of the Myanmar Press Council under the country’ military regime and agreed that the council does not represent independent Myanmar media.

A local civil society organisation in Pyein Taw Village, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, is buying garbage in an effort to clean up plastic waste in the neighbourhood.

Business owners in the commercial capital Yangon are struggling due to restrictions on power usage set by the regime’s Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC).

A new port in Sittwe that is part of the US$500 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will be opened on May 9.

My Hidden City, a documentary film about Arakan State’s ancient royal capital Mrauk-U, won the award for best short documentary at a French international film festival.

About 2,000 Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand made their entreaty in front of the Thai government ministries office in Bangkok on Monday.

The precariousness and injustice facing workers and people in Myanmar is greater than ever, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a statement on the eve of May Day, which falls on May 1.

The Myanmar Oil Dealers Association and Arakan State Oil Dealers Association sell palm oil at a fixed price of K2,500 per litre. But Arakan State residents want to buy enough edible oil in their neighbourhoods.

The Bangladeshi government continues to dredge at the estuary of the Naf River, which marks the border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar, despite objections from Myanmar’s military regime.

Rice prices continue to increase in Arakan State despite the fact that the Myanmar Rice Federation has warned against rice price gouging.

The Myanmar Navy has launched basic and higher-level maritime training courses for basic education students at its naval bases in Arakan State’s Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships.