Two out of three Department of Public Health employees detained at a military checkpoint on August 9 were released the following day after undergoing questioning, while their colleague is being held at the Myoma police station in Ann Township, Arakan State, according to locals.

Officials from Arakan State-based ethnic political parties say they will contest the 2020 election with the aim of preventing the dissolution of their parties, mindful of a requirement that they field candidates in at least three races to remain viable under election law.

Six Muslim men from Arakan State’s Sittwe and Maungdaw districts have registered to contest the 2020 general election for state and Pyithu Hluttaw seats, according to the candidate list released by the Arakan State election subcommission. 

Preliminary lists of eligible voters could not be posted publicly in 36 villages across five townships of northern Arakan State, the state’s election sub-commission has said.

 Farmers report facing difficulties transporting fertilisers in some townships of northern Arakan State due to ongoing conflict between government troops and the Arakan Army (AA). 

The All Arakanese Solidarity Committee (AASC) released a statement on August 8 urging culpable individuals and organisations to immediately end the inhumane treatment of Arakanese people. 

Two men who allegedly killed a married couple living in Yangon Region’s South Okkalapa Township were arrested in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, Yangon Region police said on Saturday. 

A resident of a village in Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township was arrested at a military checkpoint in Myebon Township on August 4, family members said. 

Residents from about 50 villages in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu and Ann townships who earn their living by fishing are experiencing difficulties due to pollution in the Thanzit and Laungchaung rivers.

A Manaung Township resident is facing a lawsuit under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for a Facebook post criticising Amyotha Hluttaw lawmaker U Kyaw Than over a question that the MP posed to parliament last month.

With the government no longer providing any food to people under facility quarantine in Ann Township, Arakan State, medical staff are having to collect donations from philanthropic groups and among the general public, residents said. 

A driver and his coworker were injured when their passenger car was fired upon in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on August 6, according to the victims.

To date only two basic education high schools have been able to reopen in Paletwa Township, Chin State, though there are plans to reopen 15 schools for the 2020-2021 academic year, according to the office of the township education officer. 

Total acreage of unploughed fields in Arakan State this year is expected to exceed the 2019 figure due to ongoing fighting in the state’s north, according to U Kyaw Zan, chair of the Arakan State Farmers’ Union.

With the consequential exception of the Arakan Army, non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement will be invited to the next iteration of the 21^st Century Panglong Conference, presidential spokesman U Zaw Htay has said. 

The in-charges of some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the town of Rathedaung, Arakan State, are concerned about the potential for diarrhea and influenza outbreaks due to inadequate toilet facilities.

Family members are worried about two brothers from Yaw Chaung (Ywathayar) village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township who went missing 10 months ago.

Two Muslim men were shot, with one dying, near Atwin Myaung village in Sittwe Township on August 3, according to family members.

The government said it would disburse K100 billion (US$73 million) loans to entrepreneurs across Myanmar to help them resume their coronavirus-hit businesses amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will be the second of its kind.