Another girl found raped and murdered in India

MUMBAI • Days after the arrest of a lawmaker from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in connection with the rape of a teenager, another case of the brutal rape and murder of a girl was reported yesterday in the western state of Gujarat.

The latest incident took place on April 5 in the city of Surat, said the city's police commissioner Satish Sharma. He said the body of an unidentified 11-year-old girl was recovered by the side of a highway and a post-mortem report showed the girl was sexually assaulted and murdered. Police are seeking to trace her family.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Passenger threatens Air China attendant with pen

BEIJING • An Air China flight bound for Beijing made an unscheduled landing in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou yesterday after a passenger threatened a flight attendant with a fountain pen, the country's civil aviation authority said.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that a male passenger on Air China Flight 1350 attempted to use the pen to hold the flight attendant "under duress". According to preliminary investigations, the 41-year-old passenger had a "history of mental illness". No one was harmed in the incident.

REUTERS

Support for embattled PM Abe plunges

TOKYO • Support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, plagued by accusations of cronyism and cover-ups, fell to 26.7 per cent in a survey by private broadcaster Nippon TV released yesterday, the lowest since he took office in December 2012. Another survey released yesterday by Kyodo news agency put his support at 37 per cent, down 5.4 points.

Mr Abe's ratings are raising doubts over whether he can win a third three-year term as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader in a September vote he needs to win to stay in office or whether he might resign before the party election.

REUTERS