Briefly

JAPAN

Five dead as planes collide on runway

Five people on board a coast guard aircraft died after a runway collision with a passenger plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday, the Japanese transport minister said. "Regarding the coast guard plane, we have been informed that the captain escaped and five people were confirmed dead," Tetsuo Saito told reporters. Upon collision, the Japan Airlines aircraft caught fire and erupted into flames at around 5:50 pm. The airline was carrying 379 passengers and crew members, all of whom have been confirmed to have been evacuated using slides. Kyodo News said the coast guard plane had been due to fly to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents hit by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday.

GERMANY

Liberals narrowly vote to remain in coalition

A slim majority of the members of Germany's Free Democrats have voted in a nonbinding membership poll to stay in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way governing coalition. The low-tax, business-minded party's membership has chafed at governing with Scholz's socially minded Social Democrats and the Greens. Bijan Djir-Sarai, the FDP's general secretary, said on Monday the result, with 52 percent voting to stay, showed that the party wanted to continue to govern. Leader Christian Lindner serves as the coalition's finance minister.

INDIA

Mission launched to study black holes

The Indian Space Research Organization on Monday successfully launched a mission to study black holes. The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite was launched at 9:10 am in Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, ISRO said in a statement. Reports said the mission marks India's first dedicated scientific endeavor to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays from celestial sources.

China Daily - Agencies - Xinhua