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Kyodo Top12 News (15:55)
[November 01, 2014]

Kyodo Top12 News (15:55)


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- U.S. spacecraft test flight crashes in desert, 1 feared killed WASHINGTON - A spacecraft designed to carry tourists crashed in the California desert Friday during a test flight and at least one of the crew is feared dead, the operator and U.S. media reports said. The accident involving Virgin Galactic LLC's SpaceShipTwo occurred only days after the explosion of a commercial rocket carrying an unmanned vehicle bound for the International Space Station sent shockwaves through the United States. Virgin Galactic planned to launch commercial service next year with more than 700 people already on the passenger list. "During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo," Virgin Galactic said.



---------- Buses collide in Nepal, leaving 10 people dead, 30 injured KATHMANDU - Two buses collided head-on on a highway in central Nepal early Saturday, leaving 10 people dead and 30 injured, police said. The accident occurred in Makwanpur district, located about 60 kilometers southwest of Kathmandu, at 2:15 a.m. Makwanpur police chief Prakash Jung Karki told Kyodo News that the collision was probably caused by speeding.

---------- ASEAN leaders to discuss tension in S. China Sea at Nov. summit YANGON - ASEAN leaders are to express concern over recent developments in the South China Sea and reaffirm the importance of regional cooperation in maintaining peace and stability, diplomatic sources said Friday. Association of Southeast Asian Nations diplomatic sources told Kyodo News that at the 25th ASEAN Summit in Myanmar's administrative capital Naypyitaw on Nov. 12 the leaders will touch extensively on the South China Sea issue and push for early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the area where tensions are rising over maritime disputes.


---------- U.S. blacklists Myanmar official over alleged human rights violations WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday it has designated a senior Myanmar government official as subject to economic sanction measures for alleged involvement in human rights violations. Aung Thaung, former head of the Ministry of Industry 1, was involved in human rights abuses related to political repression and activities facilitating public corruption, it said. "By intentionally undermining the positive political and economic transition in Burma, Aung Thaung is perpetuating violence, oppression, and corruption," the department said, referring to Myanmar by its former name. The move came before U.S. President Barack Obama visits Myanmar in mid-November to attend the East Asia Summit and Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related events.

---------- MH370 passenger's sons file suit against Malaysia Airlines KUALA LUMPUR - Two sons of a passenger on missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 filed a suit Friday against the airline and four other entities for breach of duty in causing the disappearance of the Boeing 777. In what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed in Malaysia by next of kin of an MH370 passenger, the boys, Jee Kingson, 13 and Jee Kinnland, 11, are seeking damages for "injured feelings and emotions, mental distress and pain" as well as the loss of support after the plane with their father Jee Jing Hang and 238 others disappeared from radar March 8 and has yet to be found. The boys accuse Malaysia Airlines for breach of contract because their father expected a safe flight when he bought the ticket to Beijing.

---------- North Korea invites EU human rights envoy BRUSSELS - The North Korean government has invited the European Union's special representative for human rights Stavros Lambrinidis to the country and the EU is currently considering how to respond to the offer, a spokesperson for the European External Action Service said Friday. North Korea has been showing signs of engagement with the international community against the backdrop of growing criticism of the country's human rights record, prompted by a U.N. report in February on rights abuses and a draft U.N. resolution unveiled in October by the EU and Japan denouncing rights violations. Apparently irked by this year's resolution, marked by a more severe language than in previous years, Pyongyang has been seeking changes in the document.

---------- N. Korea tells Japan past probes into abductees insufficient TOKYO - North Korea acknowledged in talks with Japan earlier this week that its previous rounds of investigations into Japanese nationals it abducted decades ago were insufficient, a Japanese government official said Friday. "With restricted time, special organizations released one-sided results," the official quoted North Korea's special investigation committee as saying, referring to Pyongyang's investigations in 2002 and 2004. Speaking at a meeting with lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the official quoted the committee as saying that it "wants to produce solid results in the current round" of investigations into the 12 Japanese nationals officially recognized by Tokyo as abduction victims and still missing.

---------- N. Korea to quarantine all arriving foreigners over Ebola fears BEIJING - North Korea has decided to quarantine all foreigners arriving in the country for 21 days as part of efforts to block entry of the Ebola virus, diplomats with knowledge of the situation said Friday. The three-week quarantine for all foreign nationals, regardless of their status and point of origin, comes after North Korea last week stopped accepting foreign tourists and decided to place all people traveling from Ebola-hit areas in mandatory quarantine upon their arrival, without specifying how long the measures would last. One of the diplomats said his mission in Pyongyang received the notice on the latest step Thursday. Embassies and international organizations in Pyongyang have suspended all visits from abroad, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding it is unknown how long the quarantine policy will be in force.

---------- Tesla Motors opens temporary showroom in Osaka amid elevated interest OSAKA - Tesla Motors Inc., a U.S. maker of electric vehicles, opened a temporary showroom in Osaka City on Saturday ahead of the establishment in spring of a permanent shop to showcase its products. Tesla said it has been receiving inquiries and orders from customers in the region as its name recognition increased due to ties in the battery business with Panasonic Corp., a major Japanese electronics maker with roots in the western Japan city. "We hope the opening of the Osaka shop will lead to the proliferation of EVs," Sukemasa Kabayama, the head of Tesla's Japan arm, said Friday. He unveiled a plan to set up rapid EV chargers at 32 locations in Japan in 2015.

---------- BOJ unexpectedly eases policy to boost economy, lift inflation TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Friday further loosened monetary policy to underpin the country's economy, in a surprise move that the central bank said is aimed at countering downward pressure on prices as it seeks to raise the inflation rate to 2 percent by sometime next year. But at its one-day meeting, the BOJ Policy Board split in making the decision to expand its asset purchase program, with four of the board's nine members opposing the additional easing. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his two deputies voted for the easing. The BOJ also downgraded its economic growth and inflation forecasts, revising downward the estimate of real growth in the current fiscal year to 0.5 percent from July's forecast of 1.0 percent due largely to weak consumption and industrial output following the April consumption tax hike.

---------- Gov't likely to compile 3 tril. yen extra budget to support economy TOKYO - The Japanese government is considering compiling an extra budget of around 3 trillion yen for the current fiscal year through March to prevent further economic deterioration following the April consumption tax hike, sources close to the matter said Friday. The supplementary budget would pave the way for a planned additional sales tax hike in October next year by lifting personal spending that has been dampened by the 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 8 percent from April 1. The government will try to fund the supplementary budget without new government bond issuance, in view of the need to restore Japan's fiscal health, the sources said.

---------- Weather for key cities in Japan TOKYO - Forecast for Sunday: Tokyo=cloudy, sometimes rain; Osaka=cloudy, sometimes rain; Nagoya=cloudy, sometimes rain; Sapporo=cloudy, sometimes rain; Sendai=cloudy, sometimes rain; Niigata=cloudy, then rain; Hiroshima=cloudy, sometimes rain; Takamatsu=cloudy; Fukuoka=cloudy, sometimes rain; Naha=cloudy.

(c) 2014 Kyodo News

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