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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, Sept. 8

Xinhua, September 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) chief without a vote as nobody filed candidacy for the presidential election set for Sept. 20, local media reported Tuesday.

The LDP received applications from candidates from 8 a.m. to 8: 30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. However, senior lawmakers Seiko Noda, who has expressed her intention to challenge Abe, gave up at last on filing candidacy after failing to muster the support of 20 party lawmakers required to run in the race. (Japan-Abe-Nomination)

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TOKYO -- Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2015 shrank an annualized 1.2 percent in inflation- adjusted terms, revised upward from an earlier-reported 1.6 percent decline, government data showed Tuesday.

Though the April-June contraction is better-than-expected, it still marks the first decline in three quarters, said the Cabinet Office, adding the GDP was down 0.3 percent on quarterly basis. ( Japan-GDP)

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SEOUL -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed Tuesday to hold the reunion of Korean families, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, late next month in the DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort, Seoul's unification ministry said.

The first family reunion in about one and a half years would be held at the gathering center in the scenic Mount Kumgang resort, located in southeastern DPRK, from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26, the ministry said in a statement. (S. Korea-DPRK-Reunion)

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YANGON -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi described on Tuesday the upcoming general election as a crucial turning point of the country.

In her message for the launch of election campaign uploaded from her head office, Suu Kyi, who is chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), said the people of Myanmar will have a real chance of bringing about a real change, adding that people can not afford to let it slip.(Myanmar-Opposition) Endi