US soldier charged in Okinawa for rape of minor

3 hours agoBy Joel Guinto, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe southern islands of Okinawa host the bulk of US forces in JapanA US soldier has been charged with the kidnapping and rape of a teenage girl in Okinawa, a Japanese island chain that hosts the region’s largest American military base. The case is likely to stoke the long-standing local opposition to US military presence – the islands are home to more than half of the 54,000 US soldiers serving in Japan. The anger has also been fuelled by sexual assault cases – one of the most high-profile was in 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by…