2005.11.17

Microsoft to Market New Software in Japan (AP). Microsoft announces it will start marketing Japanese versions of two new server software products in February, as the U.S. software giant moves to bolster its enterprise business in Japan. 2005.11.17

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ROK ducks vote as UN set to condemn DPRK rights. (AFP) South Korea, exhibiting more spineless behavior in international diplomacy, says it won't support a U.N. resolution condemning human rights abuses in North Korea, dubbed an 'outpost of brutality' by the Bush administration. 2005.11.17

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Japan-Australia (AAP) Australian fruit company denies stealing Japanese cherry trees. 2005.11.17

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Japan-ROC (CNA) Tensions escalating between Japanese and Taiwanese coast guards. 2005.11.17

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Japan-Brazil (Kyodo) Japanese envoys behaving badly in Brazil -- trip called a "waste of taxypayers' money." 2005.11.17

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Japan-USA (AFP) Japanese media disagree with Bush-Koizumi assessment of U.S-Japan relations. 2005.11.17

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Pacific Rim Execs Discuss Investments (AP). Pacific Rim business leaders discussed investment opportunities and obstacles in their vast region  against the backdrop of the rising threat of a possible global flu pandemic and worries over stalled global trade talks. 2005.11.17

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USA-ROK (Bloomberg). President Bush says Korean peninsula will "one day" be united in peace. 2005.11.17

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Japan-Russia (Kyodo) Updated Japan's prime minister throws cold water on any expectations about progress on territorial row during his upcoming summit with Russia' leader. 2005.11.17

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Japan-Peru Japan snubs Peru at APEC -- saying "no time" for Koizumi to meet with his Peruvian counterpart. The two countries are at odds over the case of former Peruvian President Fujimori (also a Japanese citizen), now in custody in Chile. 2005.11.17

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DPRK Expels European Aid Groups (AP). North Korea orders non-governmental European aid groups to leave the country after the European Union submitted a U.N. resolution criticizing Pyongyang's human rights record. 2005.11.17

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Bush to emphasize unity on DPRK in Roh meeting (Reuters). U.S. President George W. Bush is likely to emphasize the need for unity in persuading North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program when he meets South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun today. 2005.11.17

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Fortune-Telling Thrives in DPRK Religious Void. [Chosun Ilbo] The famine of the 1990s sent North Koreans into the arms of folk religions on such a scale that Pyongyang now quietly accepts the practices. 2005.11.17

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'Love Motels' Abound Near APEC Summit (AP). Round beds and red lights are among the amenities on offer to guests attending a regional summit in Busan, South Korea. 2005.11.17

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