Myanmar releases about 2,000 inmates, including three political prisoners.

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Myanmar on Friday freed about 2,000 inmates, including at least three political prisoners, to mark its Independence Day, officials and activists said.

"More than 2,000 prisoners were released today with 1,800 from Insein Prison in Yangon and another 230 from Mandalay prison," said Hla Maung Shwe, an adviser to President Thein Sein.

The presidential amnesty was granted to commemorate Independence Day on Saturday. Myanmar, formerly called Burma, was granted independence from Britain on January 4, 1948.

Chinese firms sign ₦117,280,000,000 ($733m) cement deal in Nigeria, Myanmar

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Two Chinese firms, Sinoma and CITIC Heavy Industries, have agreed deals totalling $733m to produce cement in Nigeria and Myanmar, respectively, as they expand in emerging markets overseas.

Reuters reported that Sinoma International Engineering Company Limited, a unit of China National Materials Company Limited, signed a $536m contract with Nigeria’s Dangote Cement Plc, Sinoma and National Materials said in separate statements on Thursday.