IN BRIEF (Page 12)

JAPAN

Searches stumped on missing boy

The search for a boy who disappeared after his parents left him behind in a Japanese forest as punishment pushed into a fifth day on Thursday, but with no clues to his fate. Yamato Tanooka, 7, has been missing since Saturday after his parents made him get out of their car as punishment for misbehaving, leaving him behind in a wooded area on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island. Police said Thursday's search by more than 180 rescuers, including defense troops, focused on the area where the boy was believed to have been dropped off, and revisiting and combing through the woods.

EGYPT

'Black box' search zone is narrowed

The search zone for the crashed EgyptAir jet has been narrowed from 5 km to 2 km after a vessel picked up a signal from one of the black boxes, an Egyptian source on the investigation committee said on Thursday. Locating the black boxes is crucial to understanding why the Airbus A320 plummeted into the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19, killing all 66 people on board. The source denied French media reports the aircraft had sent a series of warnings during earlier flights in the 24 hours before it disappeared off radar screens and crashed.

SYRIA

Supplies reach hungry, but no food

A humanitarian convoy reached a starved suburb of Syria's capital for the first time since 2012 on Wednesday but did not bring any food, as the opposition called for a countrywide cease-fire for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and aid access for all Syrians. In the north, Kurdish-led fighters aided by US-led airstrikes launched a new advance on the town of Manbij, an Islamic State stronghold on a key supply route linking the Turkish border to Raqqa, the extremist group's de facto capital.

NEPAL

Wild leopard sets off alarm in capital

A wild leopard sparked alarm in Nepal's capital on Wednesday after it spent hours wandering through a residential neighborhood before being sedated and captured. A Kathmandu resident alerted police around dawn after he spotted the big cat in the compound of his house. Police called in zoo and wildlife officials who tracked the animal as it clambered over rooftops and padded through backyards, while local residents watched from their balconies.

INDIA

Water from Ganges to arrive by post

Devout Hindus in India will soon be able to receive water from the holy River Ganges by post, said the Indian government. "If a postal worker can deliver mobile phones, saris, jewelry and clothes, then why not Ganges water," Communication and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shakar Prasad told reporters on Tuesday. "The idea is to address the cultural underpinning of India," he added. The Ganges is the most sacred river to approximately 960 million Hindus in India, which accounts for over 80 percent of the country's population. Many of them believe that water from the river has the power to wash away their sins.

(China Daily 06/03/2016 page12)