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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1000 GMT, April 8

Xinhua, April 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japanese and U.S. defense ministers agreed on Wednesday to speed up work on revising their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines, while stressing the necessity to build a new base in Okinawa to replace the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Base.

"The new guidelines will transform the U.S.-Japan alliance, expanding opportunities in the U.S. armed forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces to cooperate seamlessly," U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told a joint press conference after talking with his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani. (Japan-U.S.- Visit)

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KABUL -- About 26 Taliban militants have been killed in fresh military operations across Afghanistan, said the country's Defense Ministry on Wednesday. "Afghan army carried out cleanup operations in Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Zabul, Faryab and Kunduz provinces over the last 24 hours. As a result 26 militants were killed, 14 wounded and two others were detained," the ministry said in a statement. (Afghanistan- Taliban-Operations)

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COLOMBO -- A senior UN official, who is on a six-day tour to Sri Lanka, has visited the war ravaged north to assess the development needs in the area and hold discussions with government officials, the UN office in Colombo said on Wednesday.

UN Assistant Secretary General Xu Haoliang traveled to the northern town of Mullaitivu to assess the support extended by UN Development Program (UNDP) to the community and handed over a rice mill to the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) Panankamam, a producer organization supported by UNDP Sri Lanka under a Norway- and New Zealand-funded northern livelihood development project. ( Sri Lanka-UN-Visit)

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JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government is to launch a 35,000-MW power plant project later this month to lure participation of the private sector, as the biggest economy in Southeast Asia is facing rising energy demand.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is scheduled to launch the mega project, Energy and Mines Minister Sudirman Said said on Wednesday.

"The president is to launch it at the end of April," he said after meeting with President Jokowi, popular nick name of the president. (Indonesia-Power Plant) Endi