IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Japan

US serviceman kills woman, self in Okinawa

A US serviceman fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself in Okinawa on Saturday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said, amid growing resentment about the presence of US troops in the southwestern Japanese region. US Forces Japan said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was working with local police to look into the deaths of a US Navy sailor assigned to a Marine unit and an Okinawa resident. "This is an absolute tragedy and we are fully committed to supporting the investigation," it said in a statement, adding that more information would be released later. Japan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeo Akiba telephoned US Ambassador William Hagerty, asking for cooperation with the investigation and efforts to prevent a recurrence, and expressed "extreme regrets", the Foreign Ministry said.

Malaysia

Woman in DPRK man's case to be freed in May

Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman accused of causing the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at a Malaysian airport in 2017, is set to be released on May 3, her lawyer said on Saturday. Lawyer Salim Bashir of Huong's defense team said he was informed through the embassy of Vietnam in Malaysia that she would be released on that date. On the same day, she will be sent home to Vietnam, he told state news agency Bernama. Huong had been sentenced to three years and four months in jail on April 1, after pleading guilty to an alternative charge offered by prosecutors from the previous murder charge, which carries mandatory capital punishment if convicted.

Brazil

Toll from collapse of buildings rises to 8

Rescuers still hope to find survivors in the rubble of a pair of collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro, officials said on Saturday, as the death toll from the disaster rose to eight with 16 people listed as missing. The condemned four-story buildings collapsed on Friday in the hillside neighborhood of Itanhanga, an area that was hard hit by recent heavy rains and flash floods. Civil defense workers, firefighters, trained dogs and drones were searching round-the-clock for survivors in the rubble. Luciano Sarmento of Rio's fire department said Saturday he hoped survivors would be found because "air pockets may have been formed allowing people to breathe". Buildings next to those that fell were evacuated for fear of new collapses. Residents were allowed into their homes for a few minutes to retrieve personal belongings.

Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 04/15/2019 page12)