Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1000 GMT, April 18

TOKYO -- A U.S. military helicopter on Wednesday made an emergency landing at an airport in southwestern Japan, the defense ministry here said.

The UH-1 turbo-equipped utility helicopter apparently made the emergency landing at Kumamoto airport to avoid what the defense ministry described as a serious accident.

The UH-1 was flying alongside an AH-1 attack chopper when it made the emergency landing. The AH-1 also touched down at Kumamoto airport, the ministry said. (Japan-U.S.-Helicopter)

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JAKARTA -- Scores of people were wounded and hundreds of houses and buildings were destroyed after a shallow quake of 4.4-magnitude jolted Central Java province on Wednesday, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia's national disaster management agency, told Xinhua. (Indonesia-Earthquake)

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SEOUL -- A former South Korean unification minister on Wednesday stressed the need to declare an end to military confrontation between the two Koreas at an upcoming summit with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) later this month.

Lee Jong-seok, who served in 2006 as the unification minister under former President Roh Moo-hyun, said at a forum in Seoul that the upcoming inter-Korean summit needs to bear fruits on the issue to build a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. (South Korea-DPRK-Summit)

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A senior police official was killed and three policemen were wounded in a bomb attack in Kandahar city, capital of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, on Wednesday, a provincial police spokesman said.

"Mohammad Janan was martyred and three policemen were wounded after a bomb planted in his vehicle running along a road in the city was detonated," spokesman Zia Durrani told Xinhua. (Afghanistan-Bomb Attack) Enditem