Boy, 8, killed in croc attack in Sarawak

MIRI • An eight-year-old boy drowned during an attack by a crocodile at a swamp near Miri, Sarawak, on Saturday.

The boy and his friends were swimming in the area when the incident occurred at around 4.30pm.

BERNAMA

China's air force holds drills in South China Sea

BEIJING • China's air force has held another round of drills in the disputed South China Sea and the Western Pacific after passing though Japan's southern islands, the air force said in a statement yesterday, calling such exercises the best preparation for war.

They came after a United States Navy destroyer carried out a "freedom of navigation" operation last Friday in the South China Sea.

REUTERS

Japan's ocean policy to address N. Korea threat

TOKYO • Japan's next five-year ocean policy plan will include measures against North Korean ballistic missile launches and illegal fishing boats for the first time, according to a draft of the plan seen by The Yomiuri Shimbun. The draft notes that the nation's "maritime interests are facing unprecedented threats".

THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Alleged murderer had Facebook chat in court

BANGKOK • A prison in Thailand has launched an investigation into how a defendant charged with murder could exchange Facebook messages with an admirer while she was in court recently.

Screengrabs of the chat records showed the conversation between the accused, Priyanuch Nonwanchai, and a man, identified only as Chake and with the Facebook name GU NO GO.

THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

South Korea, US reach agreement on trade

SEOUL • South Korea and the United States have reached an understanding on revising their free trade agreement and on steel tariffs, Seoul's Trade Minister Kim Hyun Chong said yesterday.

US officials have said an agreement could be announced this week.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE