After a trial running over two years, the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions began reading the verdict at 11 am local time and continued for nearly four hours

China has put forward the "double suspension" proposal, which requires the DPRK to suspend its missile and nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale US-ROK military drillsThe DPRK walked out of the talks in April 2009 in protest against UN sanctions

Abe, who also heads the LDP, is set to provisionally dissolve the lower chamber of Japan's bicameral system of parliament on Sept 28, as this is when the extraordinary Diet session will be convened, according to LDP sources close to the matterHowever, the prime minister has the authority to dissolve the lower chamber and call a general election at willThis scenario would see official campaigning for the national poll kick off on Oct 10, with voters thereafter casting their ballots on Oct 22

A lower house election must be held by December 2018 as this is when the four-year terms of current lower house lawmakers expireIf Abe goes ahead with his plan to call a snap election, then three by-elections that have been slated to take place on Oct 22 would be replaced by the general election

The opposition camp, however, has criticized Abe's move to call a snap election, with some accusing him of merely trying to escape from the influence-peddling scandals he is currently implicated in and engineering his stay in power

"Nikai on Tuesday, during a meeting of ruling LDP executives reportedly conveyed Abe's intentions and relayed the party's determination to get all of its candidates fielded in the raceBEIJING -- Japan should act correctly towards an application for records of comfort women to be listed as UNESCO heritage, instead of threatening not to pay its UNESCO membership fees, a Chinese spokesperson said Monday

If the submitted documents are approved for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register next month, domestic pressure for Japan to cancel payment of its UNESCO membership fees will grow, according to Japanese media"The members of international organizations are obliged to pay their membership fees on time and in full

China demands Japan reflect on its history of aggression, and take a correct attitude towards and do not smear or meddle with the application," Lu saidThe move serves the purposes of the UNESCO, he said