Myanmar: arrests for 'inflated prices', a Japanese man also detained

Today's news: On the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China John Lee extols 'national security', Beijing gives away two pandas; Five dead in explosion at fireworks warehouse in Zamboanga; New banknotes in Japan with bigger numbers to help the elderly and tourists; On Google Translate 110 new languages including Cantonese and Punjabi.

MYANMAR-JAPAN

Four supermarket chain executives, including a Japanese official of the Aeon Orange joint venture, were arrested in Myanmar on charges of selling rice at inflated prices as the war-torn country's ruling junta struggles to stabilise the economy. Authorities said they had arrested 11 people, including rice traders and mill officials and retailers, accusing them of inflating prices by 31% to 70% over prescribed levels. Tokyo said it was working to secure the release of its citizens as soon as possible.

HONG KONG-CHINA

Hong Kong today celebrates 27 years of its return under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee used the occasion to extol the passage of the new National Security Law in March, which would be a 'sharp sword' against the 'small minority' who 'undermine' the 'one country, two systems' formula. On the occasion of the anniversary, Beijing announced that it would donate a new pair of pandas to Hong Kong and extend permission for visa-free entry to mainland China to permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macao who are not Chinese nationals.

PHILIPPINES

Five people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed in a massive explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Zamboanga in the southern Philippines. The explosion caused a 20-metre crater, dismantled the walls of the warehouse and rained rubble on a nearby soft drink factory, a grain and flour warehouse and houses in the area. The city's disaster office confirmed the death toll and said another 38 people were injured in the accident, eight of them seriously.

SRI LANKA-RUSSIA

Sri-Lanka demanded compensation from Russia for the 17 citizens killed during the war in Ukraine who were recruited under false pretences, raising the issue of the payment of adequate sums to the families of the fallen and wounded, and the return of the others, during a visit to Moscow by a delegation led by Colombo Deputy Foreign Minister Tarak Balasurya.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund has launched a .5 million partnership to support young conservationists. The organisation - an expression of one of the world's largest oil producers - said the funds will provide financial support over the next three years to those fighting to protect and preserve the environment and wildlife in developing countries.

JAPAN

Japan will begin issuing new banknotes on 3 July that it says use state-of-the-art holography for the first time in the world that makes portraits of historical figures look as if they are rotating in 3D on the banknotes, in an anti-counterfeiting measure. In the first design change in 20 years, the 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen banknotes will have numbers of their value printed larger than the current versions, so that all people, regardless of age and nationality, can recognise them more easily.

ASIA

110 new languages have been added to the Google Translate service, thanks to the contribution of generative artificial intelligence. This brings the number of available languages to 244. Among the new idioms are Cantonese, Punjabi and several languages of the native peoples of the Volga area in Russia and other minor Russian peoples such as Udmurto, Bashkiro, Kuwaiti, Lugovo-Marijskaya, Buriata, Chechen, Komi, Ossetian, Tuvino, Kukotskaya, Jakutskaya and one of the Saami languages.

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