[November 26, 2008]

Kyodo news summary -3-+

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Nov. 26_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Europe lobby prods Japan, EU to launch talks on new economic pact

TOKYO - A European business lobby in Japan urged Japan and the European Union on Wednesday to launch bilateral negotiations for an ambitious "economic integration agreement," saying such a step would provide businesses with greater opportunities for growth despite the global financial crisis.

The European Business Council in Japan "believes that, in this time of crisis, the moment has arrived for Japan and the EU to recognize the significance of their combined strength and shared values, and unleash their potential as global economic leaders," EBC Chairman Richard Collasse said in releasing its annual report on the Japanese business environment for 2008.

---------- Sampling core part of verification deal with N. Korea: U.S. official

SEOUL - The U.S. State Department's top official in charge of nuclear verification stressed Wednesday that sampling should be guaranteed as part of efforts to verify North Korea's nuclear programs, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

"Sampling is a very normal part of many arms control agreement, especially on nuclear programs," Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation, told Yonhap in an interview on the southern island of Jeju, where she is attending a U.N. disarmament seminar.

---------- Man who killed 6 Chinese policemen executed

BEIJING - A man who stabbed to death six police officers in Shanghai in a revenge attack in July has been executed, state media reported Wednesday.

Yang Jia, 28, was put to death on Wednesday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, after his appeal against his sentence was rejected by the Supreme People's Court.

---------- Ex-official murder suspect tells father he has avenged his pet dog

TOKYO - A man arrested after confessing to killing a former vice health minister and his wife in Saitama Prefecture and stabbing the wife of another bureaucrat in Tokyo said he has avenged his pet dog Chiro in a letter sent to his father just before he reported to police, police said Wednesday.

Saitama prefectural police searched the apartment of Takeshi Koizumi, 46, in Saitama City on Wednesday on the charge of murdering Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife Michiko, 61, at the couple's home also in the city on Nov. 17 and found that he is saddled with debts of several millions of yen, the police said.

---------- Bangkok-bound flights from Japan canceled due to protest at ariport

TOKYO - Flights bound for Bangkok from Japan were mostly canceled on Wednesday as protestors shut down the Thai capital's international gateway Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Thai Airways International canceled a total of six flights to Bangkok from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, while Japan Airlines also canceled all its five flights from Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

---------- 'No appetite' for Rudd's Asia-Pacific Community proposal, envoy says

SYDNEY - Regional leaders have shown "no appetite" for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's proposal to form an Asia-Pacific Community, instead preferring to nurture existing regional forums, former Australian diplomat Richard Woolcott said Wednesday.

Woolcott, a special envoy tasked with canvassing support for Rudd's proposal, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., that leaders of 13 countries he has visited in the region would prefer to see any such community evolve out of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum or the 16-nation East Asia Summit.

Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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