Jakarta / AFP Flash flooding and landslides in Indonesia have killed 31 and left more than two dozen missing, an official said on Sunday, with mud avalanches burying people inside their homes. Torrential rain since Saturday has triggered serious flooding across Central Java, with thousands of homes inundated, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. “Initial data… shows the …

  Japan / AFP Thousands of demonstrators rallied on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Sunday against the heavy US military presence and violent crimes by American personnel that have angered residents for decades. Protesters, which organisers expected to number more than 50,000, gathered in the prefectural capital Naha, infuriated with the United States after a former Marine employed as …

  Manila / AFP Two US aircraft carriers have started exercises in the Philippine Sea, defence officials said on Sunday, as Washington’s close ally Manila faces growing pressure from Beijing in the South China Sea. The US Pacific Command said the USS John C Stennis and USS Ronald Reagan, among the world’s largest warships, began conducting air defense drills, sea …