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Xinhua Asia Pacific news summary at 1615GMT, Jan. 20

Xinhua, January 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japanese top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday that Japan will not be subject to terrorism and vowed ultimate efforts to resolve the hostage crisis, referring to a video released by the Islamic State (IS) on two Japanese captives.

Suga said in a press briefing that Tokyo has been in a bid to confirm the authenticity of the video, adding, "If (the program is) true, using people's lives to threaten us is an unforgivable act." (Japan-Hostages-Statement)

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the publication of blasphemous caricatures in a French magazine, which triggered widespread protests across the Islamic world including Pakistan.

Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine, has printed caricature of Prophet Muhammad after a group of militants attacked its office in Paris and killed nearly a dozen people earlier this month. ( Pakistan-Publication-Condemnation)

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ASSADABAD, Afghanistan -- Afghan forces after 40 days of operations have expelled Taliban militants from Dangam district of the mountainous Kunar province with Assadabad as its capital 185 km east of Kabul, army spokesman in the province, Neman Atifi, said Tuesday. "The militants after suffering huge casualties have left Dangam district and normalcy has returned to the district,"Atifi told reporters here. (Afghanistan-Taliban-Expel)

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KATHMANDU -- Nepal's opposition parties continued to obstruct the meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA)on second consecutive day on Tuesday, affecting the constitution drafting process.

The opposition parties said they would not allow forming a panel for initiating a voting process on contentious issues in the CA as proposed by CA Chairman Subas Nembang and the ruling parties. (Nepal-Opposition Parties-Obstruction)

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HANOI -- Vietnam and India agreed to further strengthen cooperation to lift bilateral trade to 7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and 15 billion dollars in 2020.

At the second meeting of Vietnam-India Joint Sub-Committee held in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Tuesday, the two sides reached consensus on boosting information sharing, limiting or removing trade barriers, facilitating investment activities as well as cooperation in fields of oil and gas, energy and textile, garment among the measures to achieve the set target. (Afghanistan-India- Trade)

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ISLAMABAD -- At least 16 people including a woman and six children were injured Tuesday evening in a hand grenade attack at a police compound in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, local media and police said.

Superintendent of Police Aftab Nizamani said some unknown persons riding on a motorcycle threw a couple of hand grenades at the residential quarters located in the Salaar Compound of Police in the Bheem Pura area of Layari in Karachi. (Pakistan-Grenade Attack) Endi