Japan PM pledges billions for flood-hit region

Japan will allocate $3.7 billion for the recovery of regions hit by devastating flooding and landslides that killed at least 72 people, the country’s prime minister pledged Monday. The torrential rain started early this month in southwestern Kyushu and later hit central Japan. It prompted evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of people. On a visit to the hardest-hit Kumamoto region, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will “make…