Briefly

JAPAN

2 dead after boats capsize off Okinawa

Two boats carrying 21 people capsized on Monday off Henoko, a controversial relocation site for a United States military base off Japan's southern island of Okinawa, throwing all into the water and leaving two of them dead, officials said. The Japan Coast Guard said 18 of them were students from Kyoto who had gone there to observe the site as part of their peace education program. The victims were a 17-year-old girl and the 71-year-old captain of one of the boats, NHK reported.

ISRAEL

Army expands ground campaign in Lebanon

Israel pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon on Monday, deploying troops to target Hezbollah positions as it intensified its campaign against the militant group. In a briefing, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that soldiers were in "new locations that our troops were not operating yesterday". He described the latest ground operations as "limited and targeted".

Agencies - Xinhua