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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, Jan. 29

Xinhua, January 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday morning was desperately trying to verify the authenticity of yet another audio message purportedly from Japanese hostage Kenji Goto who is being held by Islamic State (IS) terror group and who are demanding an Iraqi terrorist on death row in Jordan be brought to Turkish border in exchange for a Jordanian pilot's life.

The IS had previously made it known in an audio video likely featuring Goto that his life would not be spared if Sajida al- Rishawi, who was convicted for her role in a series of bombings in the Jordanian capital of Amman in 2005 which killed around 60 people, was not released. The suicide bomber was captured and imprisoned as her suicide vest failed to detonate. (Japan-IS- Hostage)

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CANBERRA -- One of the two hostages killed during last month's Sydney siege died after being struck by ricocheting police bullet fragments, an inquest into the event has heard on Thursday.

Katrina Dawson, 38, passed away after being hit by six fragments of a police bullet or bullets, while Tori Johnson, 34, was shot and killed without warning by gunman Man Haron Monis. ( Australia-Sydney Siege-Inquest)

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SEOUL -- Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States on Wednesday held talks about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program and issues on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Wendy Sherman, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, arrived in Seoul Tuesday evening and met South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong Wednesday morning to exchange views on DPRK issues. (South Korea-United States-Talk)

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JAKARTA-- Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee or KNKT will soon announce the preliminary result of probe on the crashed AirAsia plane last month that killed all 162 people on board, investigator disclosed here on Thursday.

The preliminary result of the investigation would report the content of both Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), including the report at the moment shortly before the crash, KNKT investigator Sulaiman told Xinhua via phone. ( Indonesia-AirAsia Crash-Report) Endi