With all witnesses having been examined in the case of a young author from Pan Maw village in Mrauk-U Township accused of illegal ties to the People’s Defence Force (PDF), both sides’ lawyers will plead at the next court hearing, according to the defendant’s legal council.

Myanmar’s military regime on December 1 brought Anti-Corruption Law charges against the country’s former deputy minister for Construction, as well as three directors-general and a former Bago Region minister for Transportation.

More than 20 residents of Lekka village in Mrauk-U Township who were arrested on suspicion of having links to the Arakan Army (AA) were arraigned on December 3, and a second appeal was presented to the court as the presiding judge did not rule in the case, according to a lawyer. 

The Arakan State regime council is keeping a watchful eye on motorways, waterways and air travel to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, said U Hla Thein, spokesperson for the state’s military government, as concerns grow over the global rise of a new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

At least 1,300 people have been killed in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, according to a press release from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) on December 1.

Fires blamed on Tatmadaw troops have again decimated neighbourhoods in the town of Thantlang, Chin State, with dozens of homes, churches and other buildings burnt down on November 27. 

A man who was attacked by a wild elephant in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, is in need of medical treatment, family members said. 

With swine breeding in decline in Arakan State, the price of young pigs has increased nearly fivefold compared with two years ago, swine breeders said. 

A total of 573 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), including several senior party figures, were arrested and 13 were killed in the 10 months between when Myanmar’s military seized power on February 1 and November 30, the NLD Central Working Committee said in a statement on December 1. 

Five former Arakan State ministers, including former Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, were formally charged under Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law on December 1. 

The number of visitors to Point Beach in Sittwe is reportedly increasing on weekends, with the Arakan State regime council reminding beachgoers that they are expected to adhere to Covid-19 preventive regulations. 

Out of 100 hotels, motels and guesthouses in Arakan State that closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 66 have been allowed to resume operations, the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism (DoHT) said.

Electric fencing is being erected in Kanbyin village, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, to support livestock farmers there. 

A court in Naypyidaw has postponed a verdict in two cases filed against former State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. 

Victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) during some two years of fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) are facing food, shelter and livelihood insecurities more than a year after the guns fell silent in Arakan State.  

Schools in Gwa Township, Arakan State, that were closed due to the country’s third wave of Covid-19 were reopened on November 30, according to the Gwa Township Education Department. 

Arakan State’s two border trader centres reported trade volume with Bangladesh totalling more than US$5.2 million over the 45 days from October 16 to November 29, according to the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI). 

Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund, is significantly invested in companies that do business with Myanmar’s military regime, the advocacy group Justice For Myanmar announced on November 29. 

Illicit drug use in the vicinity of the ancient pagodas, walls and temples of the Mrauk-U cultural zone and its Let Sel Kan ward is on the rise significantly, according to some locals in the Arakan State township.