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Japan defends PM aide's surprise N. Korea trip

A Japanese minister Sunday defended a surprise visit to North Korea by one of the prime minister's aides which Washington and Seoul said could not help efforts to forge a united front against Pyongyang. Akira Amari, state minister of economic revitalisation, said the four-day trip by Isao Iijima reflected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resolve to have North Korea come clean on its kidnapping of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

Myanmar leader starts landmark US visit

Myanmar President Thein Sein began Saturday the first visit to Washington by a leader of his country in nearly 50 years as the United States throws its support behind his reforms. The former general, who initiated a wave of reforms after taking office in 2011, flew into Washington and was holding a weekend of private meetings before talks at the White House on Monday, people involved in the trip said.

French president signs gay marriage bill into law

Paris, May 18 (EFE).- French President François Hollande signed a gay marriage bill into law on Saturday, bringing the country's first same-sex weddings closer to reality. The legislation signed by the Socialist head of state was published in the Official Gazette a day after the Constitutional Council threw out a challenge by the center-right Union for a Popular Movement party. Opponents of the bill, which parliament passed last month, had organized large demonstrations in recent months and said they would stage a new mass protest on May 26.

Zimbabwe PM's party pledges trimmer army, just society

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party on Saturday pledged to trim the army and ensure a free society if it wins upcoming general elections. "The size of the army must be rationalised taking into account the fact that we are in peace and chances of us going to war are nil," Tendai Biti, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general, said at a conference in the capital Harare to unveil the party's post-election plan.

Tunisia ups security as Salafists vow to defy ban

Tunisian security forces deployed in strength on Saturday after Salafist movement Ansar al-Sharia called on its hardline Islamist supporters to defy a government ban on its annual congress. There was a heavy police presence at tollbooths along the main highway from the capital to the central city of Kairouan where the Salafists have vowed to hold Sunday's gathering, AFP correspondents reported. Police were singling out for checks the private minibuses that ply between Tunisian towns, with special attention paid to men with beards, as sported by Salafists.

Japan will not take action until abduction is solved, Iijima tells N. Korea

An adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told North Korean officials during his recent trip to Pyongyang that Japan will not budge an inch until the abduction issue involving Japanese nationals is resolved, a Japanese government source said Saturday. In talks with North Korean officials, Isao Iijima demanded that Pyongyang return all Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, handover the abductors and provide a full accounting of the abductions, the source said.

Japan pledges $2 bil. in support of African resource development

The Japanese government on Saturday vowed to provide $2 billion in financial support for resource development projects by Japanese companies in Africa over the next five years, and to enhance training of personnel in the continent's resource industry. The initiatives were unveiled during a meeting that brought together ministers and representatives from Japan and 15 African countries in charge of resource issues. The event was held ahead of a summit-level international conference on African development next month in Yokohama.

Even before first drops flow, Uganda's oil beset by bribery charges, political interference

KAMPALA, Uganda - Even before the first drops flow, Uganda's oil sector is beset by bribery allegations against officials, tax-related cases abroad that cost the government millions in legal fees, and the alleged interference of a president whose firm control of the sector worries transparency campaigners.

Falling US deficit renews austerity or growth debate

Austerity or growth? Europe's struggling economies have faced the question without fully answering it in recent years, but the United States is on track to do both. Projections unveiled this week by the Congressional Budget Office indicate the US deficit will shrink more than 40 percent during fiscal 2013, returning to its lowest level in five years.

N. Korea fires short-range missiles

North Korea on Saturday launched three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan, apparently as part of a military drill, South Korea's defence ministry said. US and South Korean forces had been on heightened alert for a medium-range ballistic missile test in recent weeks amid tensions triggered by North Korea's nuclear test in February. "North Korea launched two guided missiles in the morning and another one in the afternoon," a defence ministry spokesman told AFP. "The missiles landed in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)," he said.
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