Myanmar releases Japanese executive convicted of selling rice above set prices

Myanmar releases Japanese executive convicted of selling rice above set prices
Aeon Orange is a part of Japan’s retail giant Aeon group, and operates several supermarkets in Myanmar. Above, an Aeon Orange outlet in Yangon. (Kyodo News via AP)
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Updated 13 August 2024
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Myanmar releases Japanese executive convicted of selling rice above set prices

Myanmar releases Japanese executive convicted of selling rice above set prices
  • Hiroshi Kasamatsu has been in custody since his June 30 arrest for selling rice at prices above the official regulations
  • Rice is vital in Myanmar, a country struggling to stabilize its economy as civil war disrupts efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic

TOKYO: A Japanese business executive who was detained in Myanmar for more than a month has been released after being convicted of violating rice pricing rules, officials said Tuesday.
Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a director of the Myanmar supermarket Aeon Orange, was in custody in Myanmar since his June 30 arrest for selling rice at prices above the official regulations. Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that the Japanese national was convicted of violating law related to daily necessities and service. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 500,000 kyat (about $150).
Kasamatsu was freed Monday afternoon, said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the Myanmar’s ruling military council.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it was unclear if Kasamatsu would stay in Myanmar or return to Japan. He was released from custody and is in good health, it said, but declined to give further details.
Rice is vital in Myanmar, a country struggling to stabilize its economy as civil war disrupts efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering nonviolent protests that have evolved into armed resistance.
Aeon Orange is a part of Japan’s retail giant Aeon group, and operates several supermarkets in Myanmar. Aeon said it had no immediate comment.
Kasamatsu was among a number of foreign executives arrested on similar allegations in Myanmar.
The state-run Myanmar Alin newspaper reported in early July that the arrests for allegedly overpricing rice — from 31 percent to 70 percent over official prices set by the Myanmar Rice Federation — involved 62 suspects, 102 warehouses, 53 supermarkets and superstores, 25 mills and seven other shops in major cities.
Japan has historically maintained friendly ties with Myanmar. Compared with many Western nations, it took a softer approach toward Myanmar’s military government over its poor human rights record and undermining of democracy. Tokyo has not imposed economic sanctions though it does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the current government and urges restoration of democracy, and limits Japanese aid to humanitarian purposes.


Britain committed to Israel’s security, PM Starmer tells Netanyahu

Britain committed to Israel’s security, PM Starmer tells Netanyahu
Updated 8 sec ago
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Britain committed to Israel’s security, PM Starmer tells Netanyahu

Britain committed to Israel’s security, PM Starmer tells Netanyahu
  • Starmer condemned Iran’s attack on Israel, which began during the leaders’ conversation, in the “strongest terms,” the spokesperson added

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday his country’s “steadfast commitment” to Israeli security and protection of civilians after Iran’s missile attack.
A spokesperson for Starmer’s office said the prime minister spoke with Netanyahu on Tuesday afternoon, and the leaders discussed the escalating situation across the Middle East.
Starmer condemned Iran’s attack on Israel, which began during the leaders’ conversation, in the “strongest terms,” the spokesperson added.
Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, and Israel vowed a “painful response” against its enemy.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley after Israelis piled into bomb shelters. Reuters journalists saw missiles intercepted in the airspace of neighboring Jordan.
Starmer also spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah, and they underscored the urgent need for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza.
“The prime minister said he will work alongside partners and do everything possible to push for de-escalation and push for a diplomatic solution,” the spokesperson said.

 


South Africa considers naming a street after a Palestinian woman who hijacked a plane

South Africa considers naming a street after a Palestinian woman who hijacked a plane
Updated 01 October 2024
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South Africa considers naming a street after a Palestinian woman who hijacked a plane

South Africa considers naming a street after a Palestinian woman who hijacked a plane

JOHANNESBURG: Officials in South Africa’s biggest city of Johannesburg have proposed renaming a major street after a Palestinian woman who was involved in a hijacking more than 50 years ago, sparking criticism from several political parties and the city’s Jewish community.

The city council is considering naming the street in its financial district of Sandton after Leila Khaled, a Palestinian militant and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group.

Khaled, who is now 80 years old, gained infamy in 1969 when she was part of a group who hijacked a Trans World Airlines flight on a journey from Rome to Tel Aviv, Israel. She became known as the first woman to hijack a plane.

She was also one of two people who attempted to hijack an Israeli Airlines flight from Amsterdam to New York City the following year, which resulted in the other hijacker being fatally shot by air marshals.

Israel considers Khaled a terrorist, but she is widely seen as a hero and freedom fighter by Palestinians and by some in South Africa who support the Palestinian cause.

The PFLP is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people. While the main PLO faction, Fatah, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, the PFLP doesn’t, and Israel, the United States and other Western allies of Israel consider it a terrorist group.

South Africa has historically close ties to the Palestinians and has accused Israel of committing genocide in the war in Gaza in a highly sensitive case that’s being heard by the top UN court. South Africa and Israel have been fiercely critical of each other over that case. Khaled has previously visited South Africa.

The street renaming controversy dates back to 2018, when it was first proposed and reportedly sparked a brawl among Johannesburg city officials, according to local media coverage at the time. It was initially proposed by Al Jamaah, a pro-Palestinian minority party in the Johannesburg council, and supported by the African National Congress.


French PM lays out plan for stricter immigration policy

French PM lays out plan for stricter immigration policy
Updated 01 October 2024
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French PM lays out plan for stricter immigration policy

French PM lays out plan for stricter immigration policy
  • “We no longer have satisfactory control over our migration policy,” Barnier said
  • “As a result, no longer are we meeting our integration objectives in a satisfactory manner“

PARIS: French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Tuesday said that France needed a stricter immigration and integration policy as he laid out his government priorities to parliament.
The conservative premier’s plan to tighten immigration policies and border controls is emblematic of the rightward shift in French politics following this summer’s legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.
“We no longer have satisfactory control over our migration policy,” Barnier said.
“As a result, no longer are we meeting our integration objectives in a satisfactory manner,” the 73-year-old told French parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly.
France has a long tradition of welcoming refugees and immigrants.
But a rise in the number of asylum seekers, a chronic affordable housing shortage and a cost-of-living crisis have worsened social tensions.
Speaking in parliament, Barnier vowed to be “ruthless” with people-traffickers, who he said “exploit misery and despair” and encourage migrants to illegally cross the Channel and the Mediterranean.
“We also want to better control our borders,” Barnier added, citing the example of Germany, which has recently tightened controls in response to several suspected Islamist attacks.
“For as long as necessary, France will continue to re-establish controls at its own borders, as permitted by European rules and as Germany has just done,” Barnier said.
By introducing tougher policies, France would be able to “integrate those we choose to welcome into our country in a proper and dignified manner,” the prime minister added.
Barnier delivered his speech following the recent rape and murder of a 19-year-old Paris student, which has further inflamed French debate on immigration after a Moroccan was named as the suspected attacker.
Prosecutors have said the 22-year-old suspect had been the subject of an expulsion order, while France’s far right has been accused of seeking to exploit the tragedy.
The prime minister said his government would seek to facilitate “the exceptional extension” of a detention period for undocumented migrants in order to better enforce expulsion orders.
“We issue more than 100,000 orders to leave the country, but tens of thousands of illegal immigrants remain on our territory,” Barnier added.
France routinely issues deportation orders, but only around seven percent of them are enforced, compared to 30 percent across the European Union.
Barnier on Tuesday said that the hot-button issue should be approached with humanity.
“Immigration is an issue that we must look at with lucidity and confront with pragmatism,” he added.
Every year, France receives more than 150,000 asylum applications and two-thirds are rejected, Barnier said, adding he wanted the government to process such requests more quickly.
Critics have accused Barnier of pandering to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, which could decide the fate of his minority government.
Last December, France passed a controversial immigration law.
The bill was hardened to gain the support of the RN and other right-wing MPs.
But the country’s highest constitutional authority censured most of the new amendments which were dropped before President Emmanuel Macron signed it into law.
On Tuesday, Le Pen said she wanted Barnier’s government to draft a “restrictive” new immigration law that would include measures previously struck down by the Constitutional Council.
“We will remain the tireless and vigilant guardians of the interests of France and the French people,” Le Pen, who hopes to succeed Macron in a 2027 election, said in parliament.


‘Everything black’: Russian strike kills six at Kherson market

‘Everything black’: Russian strike kills six at Kherson market
Updated 01 October 2024
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‘Everything black’: Russian strike kills six at Kherson market

‘Everything black’: Russian strike kills six at Kherson market
  • Deadly strikes are frequent and locals live on edge
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine abandon the entire Kherson region

KHERSON, Ukraine: When Russian artillery pounded a market in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, a safe was blown from the windowsill of the pharmacy where Anya works, hitting her in the head.
She believes it was a stroke of luck.
“The safe hit me and saved me at the same time, because on the other side of the safe there were a lot of holes,” she told AFP, suggesting the metal box had shielded her from other projectiles that had been blasted toward her.
Six people were killed by the Russian strike, which hit a market in the city of Kherson around 9:00 am (0600 GMT), according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
It was the latest attack on a city that has borne the brunt of Moscow’s war for more than two and a half years.
Captured in the first weeks of the invasion in early 2022, residents that stayed there spent more than eight months living under Russian occupation.
In September 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed the entire Kherson region, despite not having full control over it.
Facing military setbacks and stretched resources, it then withdrew its forces from Kherson city, the regional capital, in November 2022, retreating across the Dnipro river.
The waterway now serves as a de facto front line snaking through southern Ukraine — one that puts Kherson well within reach of Russian artillery stationed on the opposite bank.
Deadly strikes are frequent and locals live on edge.
“Everything happened very quickly. We didn’t understand anything. We only heard an explosion. It went dark, there was dust and something hit me on the head,” said Anya, recalling the blast.
She had stuck a plaster to her forehead where the safe had struck her.
When an AFP video journalist arrived at the market after the strike, debris and broken glass were strewn across the ground and pools of blood were congealing under the autumn sun.
Crates of fruit and vegetables lay on the pavement, abandoned as their sellers fled for cover.
“All those people who suffered, they worked here,” Anya told AFP. “They were our clients, people we knew.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine abandon the entire Kherson region — as well as parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk that Ukraine still controls — as a precondition to peace talks
Kherson local Gennady was in a hardware kiosk when the artillery hit.
“I didn’t even notice I’d fallen to the floor,” he told AFP.
“Everything here was black. And what was outside — I was afraid to go out.”


Indian doctors resume strike over colleague’s rape and murder

Indian doctors resume strike over colleague’s rape and murder
Updated 01 October 2024
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Indian doctors resume strike over colleague’s rape and murder

Indian doctors resume strike over colleague’s rape and murder
  • The discovery of the 31-year-old’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in August rekindled nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women
  • Protesting Indian doctors had briefly returned to limited work in emergency departments last month but later decided at a union meeting to cease work again

KOLKATA: Indian doctors in Kolkata said on Tuesday they had resumed a strike to protest against the brutal rape and murder of a colleague because their demands for hospital safety improvements had not been met.
The discovery of the 31-year-old’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the eastern city in August rekindled nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.
Doctors briefly returned to limited work in emergency departments last month but decided at a union meeting to cease work again.
Union spokesman Aniket Mahato said the West Bengal state government had failed to deliver on its promises to upgrade lighting, CCTV cameras and other security measures in hospitals.
“The state government has failed to provide safety and security in the workplace,” he told AFP.
Mahato said doctors would return to the streets on Tuesday night to insist the government meet its pledges and to demand justice for their murdered colleague.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians joined in the protests following the August attack, which focused anger on the lack of measures for female doctors to work without fear.
One man has been detained over the murder but the West Bengal government has faced public criticism for its handling of the investigation.
Authorities sacked the city’s police chief and top health ministry officials.
India’s Supreme Court ordered a national task force last month to examine how to bolster security for health care workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation.”
The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.