Rakhine: new Chinese power plant opens amid conflict

Today's headlines: at least 8 children die in Cambodia sinking; protests in Kazakhstan over Putin's visit; rice and wheat stocks fall in India; the yen falls to a low against the US dollar; In Iran Khamenei pardons almost 1,900 prisoners but the repression of protests continues.

MYANMAR

A power plant opened this week in Rakhine State as part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative. The project was developed by Kyauk Phyu Electric Power, a joint venture between the Chinese state-owned company Power China Resources and the Myanmar Supreme Group. Beijing is one of the largest investors in Myanmar and the main supplier of electricity.

CAMBODIA

At least eight children died and three are still missing after a boat taking them home from school sank in the Mekong River. The boat sank yesterday about 50 metres from its destination. The students were between 12 and 15 years old.

JAPAN

The Japanese yen has hit a 32-year low against the US dollar. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said the government will take "appropriate action" against currency volatility. Last month Japan spent nearly billion to support the yen.

INDIA

Indian government data show that stocks of rice and wheat have fallen to their lowest in five years while inflation has been rising for five months and was over 7% last month. India has banned the export of several grains this year to control prices in the domestic market. Despite this, Indian consumers are spending almost twice as much as in 2019 and 25% more than last year.

IRAN

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "granted pardons and commuted sentences to 1,862 detainees" on the birth anniversaries of Islam's prophet Muhammad and Imam Sadeq, the sixth of the 12 imams of Shia Islam. The judiciary's website, Mizan Online, also says that among them are 95 women and 123 detainees. Meanwhile, the crackdown on anti-government protests continues: the head of Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, has told judges to avoid leniency and "unnecessary compassion" when it comes to prosecuting "the main elements of the uprisings".

KAZAKHSTAN

Protest actions against Putin's upcoming visit to Astana are increasing in Kazakhstan, with some arrests in the street in front of the Russian consulate in Almaty and many interventions on social networks by activists, political scientists and ordinary people, but the country's authorities insist on the great importance of this visit.

RUSSIA

News is spreading about the biography of the new head of the Russian air force, General Surovikin, the organiser of the Russian bombings of the last few days, who is said to have begun his career on the night of 20-21 August 1991, the days of the attempted coup against Gorbačëv, when he allegedly killed some defenders of the Yeltsyn White House with his own hand, fleeing immediately afterwards.

• AsiaToday