Briefly

UNITED STATES

Helicopter crash claims five personnel

Five military personnel were killed when a helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, US officials said on Sunday. The military's European Command said all five crew members on board were killed when the aircraft went down "during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training". The military first announced the crash on Saturday and said that the cause is under investigation, but there are no indications of any hostile activity involved. It said on Sunday that "search and rescue efforts began immediately, including nearby US military aircraft and ships".

SOMALIA

Floods kill at least 31 amid UN warning

Floods caused by torrential rain have killed at least 31 people in various parts of Somalia, authorities said on Sunday. Since October, floods have displaced nearly half a million people and disrupted the lives of over 1.2 million people, Minister of Information Daud Aweis told reporters in the capital Mogadishu. They have also caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned in a statement on Thursday of "a flood event of a magnitude statistically likely only once in 100 years, with significant anticipated humanitarian impacts".

JAPAN

Deputy minister resigns over scandal

A Japanese deputy finance minister stepped down on Monday over revelations that he had been delinquent on tax payments, another blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida whose public support is languishing in the polls. Kenji Kanda, state minister of finance in charge of government bonds and monetary policy, told reporters he had resigned because he did not want the issue to disrupt lawmaker debate. The legislature will soon deliberate on a 13.1 trillion yen ($86.3 billion) supplementary budget to fund the government's economic package. Kanda is the third official to leave a ministerial post in two months since Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet to improve tumbling public approval ratings.

Agencies via Xinhua