Briefs, January 20, 2013

Japan to agree to child abduction treaty

WASHINGTON - Japan's foreign minister said his country's new government would join a treaty on child abductions, addressing one of the few rifts in relations with its main ally, the United States. Japan has not signed or ratified the 1980 Hague Convention, which requires the return of wrongfully held children to the countries where they usually live, but a previous left-leaning government had said it planned to do so. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, whose conservative Liberal Democratic Party returned to power last month, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government would take the same stance. AFP

Death toll from Jakarta floods rises to 15

JAKARTA - The death toll from floods in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta has risen to 15 after rescuers found another four bodies, police said, as floodwaters receded. Three bodies were pulled out of the water on Friday, while a body trapped since Thursday in a flooded car park in the capital's business district was found yesterday. The rain stopped on Friday afternoon. AFP

New Delhi rape cases up by nearly a quarter

NEW DELHI - Rape cases in New Delhi jumped 23 per cent to 706 in 2012 from a year earlier, according to official figures, highlighting rising crime against women in the sprawling metropolis. The numbers were released as the trial of five men was set to begin tomorrow on accusations of murder, rape and kidnapping over the death last month of a 23-year-old gang-rape victim, whose assault sparked nationwide protests. The case against a sixth defendant, who says he is 17, is being heard separately by a juvenile court. Some 45 cases of rape and 75 cases of sexual molestation were reported to police in the two weeks after the brutal gang rape attack on the physiotherapy student on December 16, police said. AFP