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.

The Ministry of Education has announced that it will release 2020 matriculation exam results via its website on August 9. 

The Arakan Army detained six security personnel and confiscated weapons after the ethnic armed group clashed with their units near Kyaukpandu village in Maungdaw Township on August 3, the AA said in a statement on August 4.

At least 20 civilians have gone missing in Paletwa Township, Chin State, amid armed conflict in the region, said Salai Kyaw Aung, secretary of the Chin IDP Support Committee.

Security and police personnel, as well as an immigration officer, were killed as fighting flared in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township this week.

A teenage girl was killed in a landmine explosion near a military checkpoint in Ann Township’s Kazu Kaing village on August 3, according to a local administrator and residents.

Six women from the Arakan National Party are scheduled to contest the upcoming 2020 general election, according to the candidate lineup unveiled by the ANP on August 2.

Mobile internet connectivity that had been cut off for more than a year in seven Arakan State townships and Paletwa Township, Chin State, was restored on August 1, according to residents of the affected townships.

At least seven civilians were killed and 17 were wounded in western Myanmar last month due to clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, according to reporting compiled by DMG.

The All Arakanese Solidarity Committee has suggested that Arakanese political parties approach the 2020 general election in a coordinated fashion in order to avoid a competition for votes that might be detrimental to Arakanese solidarity.

The Arakan League for Democracy does not have candidates to field for the upcoming general election in northern Arakan State townships where fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army is ongoing, said ALD Secretary U Myo Kyaw.

Two remnant weapons of war exploded in Katchaung village, Rathedaung Township, at about 4 p.m. on August 1, leaving two children dead and four other minors injured, according to the village administrator.

An Arakanese couple from Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, were found dead and presumed murdered inside their apartment in Ward-7 of Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township on July 31.

A crowd amassed in a Maungdaw Township ward on Friday as thousands of Muslims turned up to purchase cows for Eid al-Adha despite instructions from the Ministry of Health and Sports to avoid large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.