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Alleged Dominican head of New York ATM thefts was shot dead

By Manuel Jimenez SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - An alleged leader of the New York arm of a global cyber crime ring, which stole $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks, was shot dead during an attempted robbery in the Dominican Republic last month, Dominican police said on Friday. Alberto Lajud-Pena, 23, was killed on April 27 in a house in the city of San Francisco de Macoris about 100 miles northeast of the capital, Santo Domingo, according to police.

Colombia rolls out flight simulator for drones

Apiay, Colombia, May 10 (EFE).- Colombian authorities presented the country's first domestically produced flight simulator for training operators of unmanned drones. The simulator is the debut project to emerge from Colombia's Corporation for High Technology in Defense and involved collaboration between military and civilian engineers, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said in an event at Apiay airbase in the central province of Meta.

Abduction minister eyes Mongolia trip to discuss N. Korea issue

State minister Keiji Furuya, who handles the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, is considering making arrangements to visit Mongolia to discuss the issue, a diplomatic source said Friday. Furuya's trip reflects the Japanese government's hope to utilize Mongolia's diplomatic ties with North Korea to move forward the long-stalled abduction issue, the source said, adding when the trip would take place is still being discussed.

N. Korea accuses Obama of misplacing blame for tension on Korean Peninsula

North Korea on Friday accused U.S. President Barack Obama of trying to deceive the world about which side is to blame for heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula, saying Washington's "hostile policy" and "military threat" to Pyongyang are the root cause. "No matter how hard the U.S. president tries to cover up his sophism with rhetoric, he can neither change it into truth nor pull the wool over the eyes of the awakened people of the world," a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central Agency, monitored in Beijing.

U.S. diplomat holds out "hope for diplomacy" on N. Korea issue

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies said Thursday that despite recent "bellicose threats" and provocations from North Korea, he remains hopeful about pursuing peaceful diplomacy with Pyongyang. "There is always hope for diplomacy and this is a case where we have to keep chipping away at it," Davies said, adding that he is "somewhat optimistic" especially in light of a "growing" international consensus condemning the February nuclear test.

Mexican authorities arrest migrant-trafficker

Mexico City, May 8 (EFE).- A woman was arrested while trying to smuggle eight undocumented Honduran minors into the United States, Mexico's INM immigration agency said Wednesday. The suspect, Cristela Angelina Garcia Murillo, 45, was detained by INM agents as a result of spot-checks on buses in the northern border state of Chihuahua, the agency said in a statement. Agents detected the minors as they traveled on two different buses headed toward the U.S. border.

Sharp rise in China exports sparks concerns about data

Beijing, May 8 (EFE).- Chinese exports rose by 14.7 percent in April compared to the same month last year, indicating a recovery in demand for the Asian giant's products but also prompting skepticism about the data. Chinese exports in April were valued at 1.17 trillion yuan ($187.1 billion), the country's General Administration of Customs said Wednesday. The data exceeded economists' forecasts and was up relative to March, when exports rose 10 percent.

U.S. military plane crashes in southern Kyrgyzstan

By Olga Dzyubenko BISHKEK (Reuters) - A U.S. military refueling plane on its way to Afghanistan exploded in mid air and crashed in Kyrgyzstan on Friday when its cargo of fuel ignited, the Central Asian country's Emergencies Ministry said. The aircraft took off from the U.S. military transit center at Kyrgyzstan's international Manas airport, which U.S. forces maintain for operations in Afghanistan, with around 70 metric tons of fuel on board, a local ministry official said.

Korea Aerospace wins $1 billion order for fighter jets

SEOUL (Reuters) - Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI) <047810.KS> has won a 1.12 trillion won ($1.02 billion) order to supply an unnamed number of FA-50 fighter jets to South Korea's military through the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The South Korean aircraft maker said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that the contract is based on an initial mass-production agreement reached in December 2011, and will last until October of 2016. ($1 = 1094.4500 Korean won)

Hashimoto clarifies remarks on "comfort women" after flak

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Wednesday sought to clarify his remarks on a system to recruit women into sexual servitude for Japan's soldiers during World War II, saying he personally does not condone the scheme. Two days after he made controversial remarks that the so-called comfort women were "necessary to maintain discipline" in the Japanese military, Hashimoto told reporters he simply stated a fact that people at the time had that kind of view.
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