IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Yemen

40,000 stranded without aid in Aden

The UN expressed concern on Wednesday for more than 40,000 displaced Yemenis who had sought refuge in second city Aden, only to find themselves caught in deadly fighting between troops and separatist militia. The UN refugee agency said it had been unable to distribute. Even before the latest fighting, Yemen already faced the world's most serious humanitarian crisis, with some 8.4 million of its 22.2 million population at risk of famine, UN said.

Japan

Chinese embassy warns over volcano

The local Chinese embassy on Wednesday warned Chinese citizens to stay away from Mount Zao, a cluster of volcanoes in northern Japan, after the Japan Meteorological Agency raised the warning level to 2 from 1, meaning that people should avoid going near the crater. The JMA's alert scale peaks at five. It came a week after a Japanese soldier was struck and killed when rocks from the sudden eruption of the Kusatsu-Shirane volcano rained down on skiers at a mountain resort in central Japan.

Vietnam

Govt links exile group to terror

Vietnam declared a California-based exile group a terrorist organization on Wednesday, a month after 15 local members were convicted in a failed bombing of the country's largest airport. The attempted attack at the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City in April caused a scare but no casualties. The government linked it to the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam, or PCGV, an exile group established in 1991.

United States

Helicopter crash claims 3 lives

A helicopter crashed into a Southern California home shortly after takeoff on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring two others, officials said. The four-seat Robinson R44 went down in a gated community in Newport Beach, about 70 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles.

AFP - China Daily - AP

(China Daily 02/01/2018 page12)