AP, Tokyo
Japan’s Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan Thursday, endorsing plans to purchase pricey U.S. surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets as Tokyo steps up cooperation with Washington amid China’s increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.
The 5.1 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) proposal is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for the year beginning April 2016, also an all-time high. The entire package requires parliamentary approval.
Indonesia on terror alert for X-mas
AP, Jakarta
Despite foiling an alleged plot by Islamic militants to assassinate public figures, Indonesian officials believe a credible threat of terrorist attacks remains in the year-end holiday, especially against minority Christians.
The government has deployed 150,000 security personnel across the country to safeguard churches, airports and other public places, while also intensifying a manhunt for Indonesia’s most wanted militant, Abu Wardah Santoso, who has pledged allegiance to the militant Islamic State group (IS).
Palestinian shot dead in West Bank
AFP, Jerusalem
A Palestinian stabbed two security guards at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Thursday and was shot dead, Israeli police said.
The incident occurred at an entrance to an industrial zone at the Ariel settlement, the largest in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Protests shut down famed Mall of America
AFP, Chicago
Protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement briefly shut down the Mall of America and blocked traffic at the Minneapolis airport on Wednesday as last minute Christmas shoppers and travelers looked on.
The famed Minnesota mall tried but failed to get a court order to bar the protesters from the sprawling shopping center — a move activists said only steeled their resolve to disrupt shopping two days before Christmas.
