IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Japan

Window falls off US helicopter

Japanese officials said a boy was injured in Okinawa when a metal window frame fell from a US military helicopter, escalating anti-US sentiments on the southern island. Officials of Ginowan city said the window fell on Wednesday from a CH-53 helicopter and landed on a school playground, sending gravel flying and leaving a boy with minor injuries. Last week, a part of another US military helicopter also fell on a kindergarten.

'North': Chinese character of year

The Chinese character meaning "north" was selected as kanji, or Chinese character of the year that best summarizes the year's national mood in Japan, the country's Kanji Aptitude Testing Association announced in Kyoto on Tuesday. According to the Kyoto-based organization, the selection was based on votes cast by the general public. "North" won 7,104 of the 153,594 votes received in total this year. The kanji-of-the-year selection event has been held annually since 1995.

The Philippines

Extension of martial law OKed

The Congress approved President Rodrigo Duterte's request on Wednesday to extend the martial law in Mindanao for another year to "quell completely" the terrorist and rebels in the southern Philippine region. After debating for more than four hours in a special joint session, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Duterte's request to keep Mindanao under military rule until December next year.

United States

Terror charges for accused bomber

US prosecutors on Tuesday brought federal charges against the suspect in Monday's attempted suicide bombing in one of New York's busiest commuter hubs, accusing him of supporting a foreign terrorist organization. Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi and self-described supporter of the radical group Islamic State, was also charged in a criminal complaint filed in US district court in Manhattan with bombing a public place.

Senate seat loss a blow to Trump

Democrat Doug Jones won a bitter fight for a Senate seat in deeply conservative Alabama on Tuesday, dealing a political blow to President Donald Trump in a race marked by sexual misconduct accusations against Republican candidate Roy Moore. The stunning upset will trim the Republicans' already narrow Senate majority to 51-49, opening the door for Democrats to possibly retake the chamber in next year's congressional elections.

India

Man convicted over rape, murder

An Indian court on Tuesday found a man guilty of raping and murdering a law student in a frenzied knife attack in southern Kerala state that sparked nationwide outrage. The murdered student was found dead in a pool of blood in her home in Perumbavoor town on April 28 last year, with nearly 30 stab wounds and bite marks on her severely disfigured corpse.

(China Daily 12/14/2017 page11)