The second deputy prime minister was held in a VIP lounge at the ⁠Nairobi airport and issued with a return ticket to Mogadishu.

The court also ordered the defendants to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines late on Thursday after a trial that lasted more than two years.

In May, a sweet potato instant noodle product from Sinan County in Tongren became a consumer hit after adding a matcha flavour to its traditional sour-and-spicy formula. Made mainly from local sweet potatoes and blended with matcha powder produced in Tongren, the product kept its familiar spicy-sour taste, while using matcha's fresh aroma to cut through greasiness.