World’s oldest elephant dies at 69 in Japan

Tokyo: The world’s oldest elephant that once sparked a petition drive to improve its living conditions has died at 69 in a Japanese zoo. Hanako, which means “Flower Child”, was found lying on her side at the Inokashira Park Zoo on the outskirts of Tokyo. A gift from the Thai government, Hanako was transported to Tokyo in 1949 when she was two. She was described as the world’s loneliest elephant because she was born in the wild but spent all of her life caged and alone in a concrete enclosure. — IANS 

First robot mobile goes on sale in Japan        

Tokyo: The world’s first robotic mobile phone RoBoHon, a pocket-size walking and dancing robot, started sale on Thursday in Japan. The human-shaped smartphone, developed by Japanese electronics company Sharp and engineer Tomotaka Takahashi, inventor of the first robot astronaut ‘Kirobo’, went on sale at a base price of $1,800.  Apart from being used as a mobile, the 19.5-cm tall humanoid robot weighing 390 grams can be used as a projector to display video, photos or maps. — IANS

US asks China to end dog meat festival     

Washington: A US Congressional resolution has asked China to end its flourishing dog meat trade and the annual dog meat festival, describing it as a cruelty to the animal. The annual dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is scheduled to begin on June 21. Thousands of dogs “are captured, transported in cages under horrific conditions and slaughtered for this festival”, Congressman Alcee Hastings said. He alleged that more than one crore dogs are killed annually in China for the dog meat trade — PTI