The second court hearing of an Arakanese man who is the primary suspect in the murder of a Thai citizen on the Thailand-Malaysia border will be held on August 9, according to migrant rights activist helping the defendant.

Myanmar’s military regime has denied Arakan Army (AA) accusations that it fired upon a school ferryboat this week, killing two students.

The Myanmar junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation said a male elephant recently born in Arakan State’s Taungup Township is a white elephant.

Myanmar-Thai border trade has resumed through the Maw Daung border crossing in Tanintharyi Township, Tanintharyi Region, as the border crossing was reopened for transnational commerce on Tuesday, according to officials.

A Grade 5 student in Kudohseik village, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, was struck dead by lightning on Wednesday, according to locals.

Lieutenant Colonel Khaing Paw Lin, an executive committee member of Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), and a Grade 8 student were taken from their home by members of the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on August 2, an ALP official said.

A police sergeant was detained by members of the Arakan Army in Maei town, part of Arakan State’s Taungup Township, at about 9 p.m. on August 1, locals said.

The Arakan Army (AA) has corroborated earlier reports that two students were killed and others were injured when the Myanmar military fired shots at a ferry transporting students along the Kaladan River in Chin State’s Paletwa Township.

Oysters farmed in Arakan State are fetching good prices due to increased demand from Yangon and other parts of Myanmar, according to local oyster breeders.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has invited ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) in the country to peace talks for the third time since April.

The dead body of a teenage girl and a severely injured young woman were reportedly found along a road near Sharphyukwin village in Arakan State’s Gwa Township on Monday evening.

Family members have not been allowed to see four men from northern Maungdaw Township, including a village administrator and another local official, who were arrested by the Myanmar military some two weeks ago. 

The Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) clashed in Chin State’s Paletwa Township and Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township on Tuesday, according to local residents, with two students reportedly killed by artillery fire in the Chin State hostilities. 

Amid outbreaks of diarrhoea and malaria at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Taungpyauk area, part of Tanintharyi Region’s Thayetchaung Township, there is almost no medicine to treat them, according to healthcare workers who are treating the IDPs.

More internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are leaving displacement camps to seek jobs abroad as conditions at the camps have deteriorated and inhabitants view their futures in increasingly grim terms if they remain. 

Local residents and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State have reported a rise in crimes, saying the worrying trend is the result of weak rule of law.

Junta soldiers and police who have been stationed in the vicinity of the Mahamuni Buddha image in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw arrested a resident of Thayettapin village and two others at around noon on Monday, according to family members.

The Myanmar military has warned local residents in Arakan State’s Manaung Township to steer clear of the Arakan Army (AA), and not to support the ethnic armed group.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has acknowledged that ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar could not be implemented last year, with the coup leader citing the Covid-19 pandemic and political instability in the war-torn Southeast Asian nation.