IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United States

2 dead in South Carolina crash

At least two people were killed and another 70 injured after an Amtrak passenger train collided with a freight train in the southeastern US state of South Carolina early on Sunday, officials said. Local authorities confirmed that the two deaths occurred in the Amtrak train, not the freight train run by the CSX. A spokesman for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said that injuries ranged from minor cuts to broken bones.

Afghanistan

47 militants killed in crackdown

Up to 47 anti-government militants have been killed in the eastern and northern regions of Afghanistan over the past 24 hours as government forces have stepped up operations against armed militants in the country, officials said on Saturday. The security forces have killed 25 insurgents and captured a bastion of Taliban militants in Khawja Sabzposh district of the northern Faryab province since Friday, police spokesman in the northern region Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said on Saturday.

Japan

Nation launches microsatellite

Japan launched a minirocket on Saturday which successfully put a microsatellite into orbit. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said that the No 5 vehicle of the SS-520 series lifted off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Saturday afternoon. The rocket, measuring 10 meters in length, 50 centimeters in diameter and some 2.6 tons in weight, was the smallest satellite-carrying rocket in the world, according to JAXA.

Maldives

Forces vow to protect president

Maldives Attorney-General Mohamed Anil said on Sunday that the government has received information that a Supreme Court order to arrest President Abdulla Yameen was imminent. However, he labelled the move "unconstitutional". Chief of Defense Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam, quoted by local media, said: "The army would not stand by watch while the Maldives goes into a crisis. The army would not obey an unconstitutional order.

United States

Teenager charged in school shooting

A girl aged 12 was charged with two felony counts in court following Thursday's accidental shooting injuring five at a middle school in Los Angeles, local authorities said. Prosecutors have filed one felony count each of being a minor in possession of a firearm and having a weapon on school grounds, in connection with the shooting incident on Thursday at Salvador Castro Middle School, said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey in a statement.

(China Daily 02/05/2018 page12)