Random Japan

Shibuya celebrates Halloween 2014 with crazy costumes and huge crowds

Michelle Lynn Dinh


While you might not see a lot of trick or treaters out in Japan, if you find yourself in Tokyo, specifically Shibuya, you’re sure to see some original and inspiring costumes. Let’s take a look at some of the best homemade and store-bought costumes spotted in Shibuya this Halloween.

94 Number of children under the age of 13 who were victims of kidnapping in 2013, according to the National Police Agency

1,730,567 Used autos sold in Japan during the first half of fiscal 2014—a record low, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association

234 Number of train cars that Hitachi will provide to a Dutch railway company in a deal worth some ¥40 billion

HOT UNDER THE COLLAR

• Japanese researchers say they’re having difficulty mass producing spider silkstrings. The reason? Arachnids “tend to eat each other if they are kept together.”
• The government approved a plan by Hokkaido Electric Power Co. to raise its rates by 15.3 percent early next year.
• Authorities at the Fire and Disaster Management Agency are crediting “a relatively cool August” with the nearly 4 percent drop in heatstroke cases this summer compared to last.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “More Japanese Turning Nouns Into Verbs in Conversation: Survey” (via Mainichi Japan)

Right Wing Freedom Of The Press

Fire Professor For Once Being A Reporter

When Wild Boars Attack
There Is No Sausage 


That 3 Day Car Rental
It Lasts For Six Weeks. Amazing!

JOY OF HOKKAIDO FOOD: Farmers producing a new, sweet ‘big’ soybean

November 01, 2014

By MITSUKO NAGASAWA/ Staff Writer

HAKODATE, Hokkaido--In late September, I saw “edamame (Tamafukura)” listed on the blackboard menu at an “izakaya” pub here in southern Hokkaido.

Edamame are soybeans that are harvested when they are still immature and boiled, for such uses as a finger food to enjoy along with sake. Tamafukura is the name of a new variety of soybean.

When I pushed out the edible beans from the pod of the boiled Tamafukura soybean, they were big. When I tried them, they were soft and sweet, and I became an instant fan. At that time, I never imagined that Tamafukura were once in danger of disappearing.

Late Night Music From Japan; Bobby Picket Monster Mash, Micheal Jackson Thriller

Six In The Morning Friday October 31

Israel to Reopen Contested Holy Site in Jerusalem

By JODI RUDOREN and ISABEL KERSHNEROCT. 30, 2014

JERUSALEM — Israel barred all access to a contested sacred site in the Old City for the first time in many years on Thursday, a step that a Palestinianspokesman denounced as “a declaration of war” and one that strained Israel’s crucial alliance with neighboring Jordan.

By nightfall, Israel moved to ease the simmering hostility by announcing the site, which Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims the Noble Sanctuary, would reopen Friday morning. But the authorities said that Muslim men under 50 would be barred from prayers, as they have been frequently in recent weeks, and that Israeli police officers would be out in force.Palestinian leaders called for a mass protest.

The rare closing came after an Israeli counterterrorism unit killed a Palestinian man suspected of trying the night before to assassinate a leading agitator for increased Jewish access to the site, a cause that has fueled clashes at the site. It also followed months of rising tension and violence across the deeply divided city of Jerusalem, where Israel recently added 1,000 police officers in an effort to ward off what some experts warn could become a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Burkina Faso: violent clashes in over plans to extend president’s rule

At least three people reported dead in fighting, while Blaise Compaoré backtracks and says he will stand down

• David Smith, Africa correspondent
• The Guardian, Friday 31 October 2014

The iron grip of one of Africa’s longest serving rulers is weakening as tens of thousands of protesters clashed with security forces outside the presidential palace in Burkina Faso, demanding that Blaise Compaoré step down.

Compaoré, who has led the west African nation for 27 years, declared a state of emergency after protesters stormed parliament and torched other state buildings. At least three protesters were shot dead and scores were wounded by security forces, emergency services said, as the crowds forced Compaoré to dissolve the government and pledge talks with the opposition.

“A state of emergency is declared across the national territory,” said the president’s statement, read by a presenter on national radio. “The chief of the armed forces is in charge of implementing this decision which enters into effect today.”

Myth busted: Sharks have personality quirks

Sharks are loners, ruled by raw instinct, embodying the maxim of "survival of the fittest." Right? Wrong - and three times over. Scientists, however, are only barely scraping the surface of the mysterious hunters.

The brownish cat shark is covered with small, dark dots, its long body flat on the stony ground. Its inconspicuous dorsal fin is round, its cat-like eyes aimed toward the emptiness of the basin.

Two more cat sharks float above the ground on either side. A group of scientists from the Marine Biological Association of the UK and the University of Exeter have been examining the personalities and social behavior of the three sharks in large tanks for some time. Their hope? To reveal that sharks' behavior is driven by individual character traits.

Lab observations

As they watched the cat sharks, scientists found that there existed both gregarious and antisocial animals. According to the scientists, individual traits are responsible for the social behavior sharks tend to show.

The Grapes of Wrath: France's Great Wines Are Feeling the Heat

By Ullrich Fichtner

In France, climate change is no longer just an abstract problem. The culinary country's grand wine culture is threatened by rising global temperatures. Vintners are fighting to save a part of our world culture heritage that spans the last two millennia.

In the soft light of the chandeliers at Château Ausone, Alain Vauthier veers away from the issue at hand, taking flight into distant centuries, reaching for safe anecdotes, digressing into tales of the Wars of the Roses and racehorses, broken tractors and the bold adventures of his ancestors in Algeria. Against a backdrop of gold-colored silk tapestries, he mentions the '47 Cheval Blanc he once drank, finds excuses to talk about lobsters and the early days of television, and to complain about French highway tolls that make it cheaper to fly with budget airlines -- anything to avoid talking about the real issue, the issue one no one wants to talk about.

Twice, he says: "I'm not one of those who deny climate change," and yet, in his elegant way, that's exactly what he is doing. It's all very complex, he says, an older man in a short-sleeved shirt who, as a winemaker, has managed to be ranked 273rd on the list of the wealthiest Frenchmen.

The Islamic State prisoner and the intelligence chief

November 1, 2014 - 12:15 AM

Paul McGeough

Chief foreign correspondent

It came late. But in a brutal, chaotic country, the interrogation of Abu Hajjar was an intelligence success – of sorts.

After weeks of torture, the prisoner spat out two crucial pieces of information. First, he revealed that within days, the northern city of Mosul, the country's second largest, was to "become an inferno"; and second, he disclosed the location of a safe house, from which the Mosul assault was being masterminded, by one Abdul Rahman al-Bilawi, the head of the so-called Islamic State's military council.

It was the first week of June and Abu Hajjar told his interrogators: "You don't realise what you've done."

Facing its own Islamic State-inspired militants, Iran wields a smaller stick

With the help of local Sunnis on its southeastern border with Pakistan, Iran is using a blend of force, dialogue, and money to counter Jaish al-Adl, a radical group that claims to fight for Sunni rights. 

By Scott Peterson, Staff writer

ZAHEDAN, IRAN — Here in Iran’s lawless southeast, the authorities inTehran who have sent military advisers and hardware to help fight the so-called Islamic State in far-off Syria and Iraq are engaged in their own battle with Sunni militants.

The fight here, near the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, is with Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, a radical group that claims to fight for greater rights for Shiite Iran’s ethnic Baluchs and Sunni minority.

While there is no known direct connection between the regional agenda of the Islamic State (IS) and Jaish al-Adl, a recent surge of cross-border attacks along this remote frontier indicates that the Pakistan-based militants are taking inspiration from IS successes in Syria and Iraq.

Late Night Music From Japan; Take it On The Run, Can't Fight This Feeling

Six In The Morning Thursday October 30

30 October 2014 Last updated at 05:10

Ebola crisis: Kaci Hickox fights quarantine in Maine

A nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is fighting the US state of Maine over its right to quarantine her against her will.

In a test case for returning US health workers, Kaci Hickox has vowed to leave her home on Thursday if the state does not lift the restrictions.

President Barack Obama has been sharply critical of isolation being forced on people he says are "American heroes".

Almost 5,000 people have died from the Ebola virus, mostly in West Africa.

On Thursday, US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power is expected to call for a stronger international response when she meets EU officials in Brussels.

She has been visiting the countries most affected - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - to show US support, as well as Ghana, where the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response is based.

In bomb shelters, homeless of Donetsk prepare for cruel winter

Little help is being given, by rebels or by Kiev, to those driven from homes

Daniel McLaughlin

The last rays of the autumn sun warm a small crowd standing outside Donetsk’s ruined School 106, but underground it is already winter.

There, 18 mostly elderly people spend their nights in an unheated, candlelit, Soviet-era bomb shelter that has been without electricity and water for months, since missiles fired by the Ukrainian army wrecked local power lines and plumbing.

“Winter is on its way and I’ve no idea what we’ll do,” says Irina Peredery (50), who worked as caretaker in a school that now stands windowless and shrapnel-scarred on the front line between government forces and separatist rebels.

New Alignments: The Kurds' Lonely Fight against Islamic State Terror

By Ralf Hoppe, Maximilian Popp, Christoph Reuter and Jonathan Stock

The terrorist group PKK represents the West's last hope in the fight against Islamic State. Their lonely resistance to the advancing jihadists will result in lasting changes to the region. Some developments are already well advanced.

The headquarters of one the world's mightiest terrorist organization is located in the mountains northeast of Erbil, Iraq. Or is it the nerve center of one of the Western world's most crucial allies? It all depends on how one chooses to look at the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

All visits to the site in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains must first be authorized by PKK leaders, and the process is not immediate. But after days of waiting, our phone finally rings. "Get ready, we're sending our driver," the voice at the other end of the line says. He picks us up in the morning and silently drives us up the winding roads into the mountains. At one point, we pass the burned out remains of a car destroyed by Turkish bombs three years ago, killing the family inside. The wreckage has been left as a kind of memorial. The driver points to it and breaks his silence. "Erdogan has gone nuts," he says.

Egypt starts demolishing homes to create Gaza buffer zone

October 30, 2014 - 2:32PM

Cairo: Egypt has begun demolishing houses along its border with Gaza to set up a buffer zone to prevent alleged militant infiltration and arms smuggling following a wave of deadly attacks.

The move, which will result in about 800 homes being razed, comes after a suicide bomberkilled 30 soldiers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which borders the Palestinian territory, last Friday.

It also comes two days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi enacted a decree allowing military trials for civilians suspected of attacking state infrastructure, as he promised a tough response to what he called the "existential threat" posed by the militants.

Japan's gotta have baseball back in the Olympics! Tokyo 2020 squeeze play?

With 12 Japanese MLB players having appeared in the World Series – Nori Aoki of the Kansas City Royals is the latest – avid baseball fans across East Asia want the sport restored after two Olympic shutouts.

By Tom Benner, Contributor

TOKYO — Japanese baseball fans are some of the world’s most diehard. Cities across Japan, including Tokyo, now regularly slow down during the World Series in October to watch homegrown players hit and pitch in the United States. Last year Japanese watched Boston closer Koji Uehara, and this year Nori Aoki, who plays for Kansas City is hammering out hits. In all, 12 Japanese players have appeared in the MLB fall classic.

So with Tokyo hosting the Summer Olympics in 2020, Japan is already lobbying – hard – to have baseball restored to the Games. The sport was shut out of the 2012 London Olympics and won’t make an appearance in the2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in Brazil. 

A decidedly avid Japanese and Korean lobby is working for an affirmative decision on men’s baseball and women’s softball at a Dec. 8 meeting in Monaco of the International Olympic Committee.

As Shiites mark key holiday next week, Baghdad braces for more violence

BY JONATHAN S. LANDAY

McClatchy Washington Bureau

BAGHDAD — Sitting behind a counter heaped with glistening mounds of baklava and other sugary confections, Abbas Abdul Rasoul lamented that the streams of people wending by to the Khadamiya shrine to mark the Islamic new year are thinner than in recent years.

“This year there will be fewer pilgrims,” predicted Rasoul, 24, whose shop sits on a broad avenue normally thronged by worshipers bound for the gold-domed mosque during Muharram, the sacred first month of the Islamic calendar. “You can see there are smaller crowds than usual because of the explosions.”

The panic ignited by the Islamic State’s midsummer charge from the northern city of Mosul to the capital’s doorstep has eased as Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militias, Iraqi army remnants, police and U.S.-led airstrikes have rallied to slow the extremist Islamist group’s approach. There no longer is rampant fear that the Sunni fanatics are poised to storm the capital imminently.

Beware teen braggers: Why Australia's tough new terror laws could misfire

By Clarke Jones, Special to CNN

October 30, 2014 -- Updated 0632 GMT (1432 HKT)

Editor's note: Dr. Clarke Jones is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University with research interests in terrorism, radicalization and prison reform. He previously spent 15 years working for the Australian government in national security, within the military, police and intelligence operations.

Canberra (CNN) -- The Australian prime minister's hard-line plan to throw foreign fighters and ISIS supporters into maximum security prison is finally coming to fruition.

The country's parliament passed the controversial Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill on Thursday, which will make it easier for police and security agencies to apprehend alleged terrorist suspects (and supporters) and detain them without explanation, potentially leading to lengthy prison sentences.

The new legislation is designed to inhibit would-be fighters from traveling overseas to join conflicts. It will also subject foreign fighters and individuals who have been in conflict areas to a range of controls upon their return to Australia. The laws will also incarcerate individuals who "advocate terrorism."

Dr. Keith Ablow Provides IS With The Perfect Recuritng Tool

Dr. Keith Ablow is an American psychiatrist and contributor to Fox News over the last several years the good Doctor has made a number of controversial statements but his latest pronouncement is a step to far and will be used by Islamic State (IS) to recruit fighters.   His commentary published at FoxNews.com will allow IS to show clear evidence that Western governments are at war with Islam.
The commentary is entitled

 

It’s time for an “American jihad”

    

An American jihad would embrace the correct belief that if every nation on earth were governed by freely elected leaders and by our Constitution, the world would be a far better place. And an American jihad would not only hope for this outcome, but work toward it.
[...]
We would urge our leaders, after their service in the U.S. Senate and Congress, to seek dual citizenship in other nations, like France and Italy and Sweden and Argentina and Brazil and Germany, and work to influence those nations to adopt laws very much like our own. We might even fund our leaders' campaigns for office in these other nations.
We would accept the fact that an American jihad could mean boots on the ground in many places in the world where human rights are being denigrated and horrors are unfolding. Because wherever leaders and movements appear that seek to trample upon the human spirit, we have a God-given right to intervene -- because we have been to the mountaintop of freedom, and we have seen the Promised Land spanning the globe.
[...]
An American jihad would make every tax dollar a tithing and the squandering of those dollars a sin. An American jihad would make every hour spent working in an American company -- or founding one -- an offering. An American jihad would make every teacher of American history not only a public servant, but a servant of the Truth.
We the People of the United States are good and we are right. And we need the spirit of an American jihad to properly invite, intensify and focus our intentions to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution here at home, and to seek to spread its principles abroad.

American imperialism began with the Black Fleet sailing into Tokyo bay and forcing the Japanese government to "open up" to the world outside.  Throughout the last half of the 19 century and into the first half of the 20th America set about assuring its place in the world through imperialism, American exceptional-ism and manifest destiny.  

Along comes Dr. Keith Ablow who pens an opinion piece longing for the return of these failed policies.

 You see his interview on Fox News here.

   

Park Yeon-mi has become an outspoken critic of the country she escaped at 13.

This from a live Q and A she did with the Guardian:

It’s time to wrap up. Thank you to everyone for the questions. Apologies we couldn’t get to them all, but I think we covered most of the bases. Here’s a parting note from Park Yeon-mi:

When I was four years old, my mum told me not to even whisper. Even the birds and mice could hear me. Even in China I had to hide. My whole life I had to hide. I hid my opinions and could not express anything.
Everyone participating in this conversation have given me a platform to express my voice. Thank you for listening and giving me this opportunity. I hope we can have more of these conversations.

neddles

29 October 2014 12:40pm

This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate

What would you say is the one aspect of life in North Korea that you think foreigners from outside the country don't know about or understand, even if they read about North Korea a lot?

As a North Korean myself, I can’t even describe it honestly to you, so how can we expect the media to give the whole picture? The day North Korea opens their door and lets people free, we will understand them fully. Hopefully it won’t be too late for them.

Das Wunderkind

29 October 2014 1:43pm

This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate

How was sport regarded in North Korea? Was it openly enjoyed or a tool of social control?
How were North Korea's international sporting achievements, real or otherwise, presented to the population?

When people win, they have to say a speech, and talk about how their success comes from King Jong-un. Nothing escapes the regime. If you lose, you can be punished, or even sent to jail. Sport just becomes propaganda.

Late Night Music From Japan: Them - Baby Please Don't Go, Here Comes The Night

Interview with an Islamic State Recruiter: 'Democracy Is For Infedels'

Interview Conducted by Hasnain Kazim

 How does Islamic State think? How do its followers see the world? SPIEGEL ONLINE met up with an Islamic State recruiter in Turkey to hear about the extremist group's vision for the future. 

 He calls himself Abu Sattar, appears to be around 30 years old and wears a thick, black beard that reaches down to his chest. His top lip is shaved as is his head and he wears a black robe that stretches all the way to the floor. He keeps a copy of the Koran, carefully wrapped in black cloth, in his black leather bag.
Abu Sattar recruits fighters for the terrorist militia Islamic State in Turkey. Radical Islamists travel to Turkey from all over the world to join the "holy war" in Iraq or Syria and Abu Sattar examines their motives and the depth of their religious beliefs. Several Islamic State members independently recommended Abu Sattar as a potential interview partner -- as someone who could explain what Islamic State stands for. Many see him as something like an ideological mentor.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: As-salamu alaykum.

Abu Sattar: Are you Muslim?

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why does that matter? Religion is a private matter for me.

Abu Sattar: Then why did you say "as-salamu alaykum"?

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Because it means "peace be with you" and I see it as a friendly greeting.

Abu Sattar: So you're not a Muslim. I knew it!


This first exchange involves a simple greeting yet like any religious fundamentalist Abu Sattar immediately questions the interviewers religious beliefs. Concluding that only those who adhere to Islamic State beliefs and religious doctrine are the one and true believers.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why is Islamic State so eager to divide the world into believers and infidels? Why does Islamic State see everything as either black or white, "us against the world"?

Abu Sattar: Who started it? Who conquered the world and sought to subordinate all foreign cultures and religions? The history of colonialism is long and bloody. And it continues today, in the shape of Western arrogance vis-à-vis everyone else. "Us against the rest of the world" is the formula that drives the West. We Muslims are now finally offering successful resistance.

In America fundamentalist Christians share a similar world view of us against them. Viewing those not adhering to their peculiar form of Christianity as sinners worthy only of gods wrath.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Do you believe that those who behead others are good Muslims?
Abu Sattar: Let me ask you this: Do you believe that those who launch air strikes on Afghan weddings or who march into a country like Iraq on specious grounds are good Christians? Are those responsible for Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib good Christians?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You are dodging the question. The events you speak of were not undertaken in the name of a religion and were heavily criticized in the West. Once again: What is a good Muslim for you? What kinds of people are you recruiting?
Abu Sattar: A Muslim is a person who follows Allah's laws without question. Sharia is our law. No interpretation is needed, nor are laws made by men. Allah is the only lawmaker. We have determined that there are plenty of people, in Germany too, who perceive the emptiness of the modern world and who yearn for values of the kind embodied by Islam. Those who are opposed to Sharia are not Muslims. We talk to the people who come to us and evaluate on the basis of dialogue how deep their faith is.

Turkey is seen as a key site for Islamic State recruiting. People from around the world -- from Europe, the United States and Central and South Asia -- travel to Istanbul and establish contacts with the extremists. According to Turkish officials, around 1,000 of the country's citizens are also fighting for Islamic State.

The government in Ankara denies that it is supporting Islamic State, but has in the past allowed jihadists to travel to Iraq and Syria via Turkey. There are also indications that the extremists receive food, medical supplies, weapons and munitions via Turkey and that injured terrorists have been treated in Turkish hospitals.

 His beliefs are absolutist any contradictions are  dismissed believing that the interviewer is unworthy and incapable of excepting  what Islamic State believes is the true word of Mohammad even though Abu Satter has no way of knowing this. 
    

Six In The Morning Wednesday

29 October 2014 Last updated at 08:20

Islamic State conflict: Kurdish fighters arrive in Turkey

A group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have arrived in Turkey from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobane.

One contingent flew from Iraq to a south-eastern Turkish airport.

Another contingent, carrying weapons including artillery, is travelling separately by land through Turkey.

Turkey agreed to the deployment last week after refusing to allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border to fight.

Thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered to see off the first batch of Peshmerga forces as they left the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil by plane.

The group of 90-100 fighters landed in the early hours of Wednesday at Sanliurfa airport in south-eastern Turkey.

Moscow support for illegal east Ukraine polls denounced

Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk to hold elections in ‘people’s republics’

Daniel McLaughlin

 Kiev and Washington have denounced Sunday’s planned elections in rebel-held easternUkraine, as Russia defied the West by saying it would recognise the legitimacy of the ballots.

Moscow-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions intend to elect leaders of their so-called people’s republics and deputies to “people’s councils”, in votes that Kiev, the EU and US say would be illegal and unacceptable.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said the ballots would run counter to a plan agreed in the Belarusian capital on September 5th, which laid out conditions for a ceasefire and a framework for a possible peace deal.

“The quasi-elections announced by the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics don’t comply with the Minsk protocol and contradict its spirit,” Mr Poroshenko said yesterday. “They are threatening the entire peace process.”

Interview with an Islamic State Recruiter: 'Democracy Is For Infidels'

Interview Conducted by Hasnain Kazim

How does Islamic State think? How do its followers see the world? SPIEGEL ONLINE met up with an Islamic State recruiter in Turkey to hear about the extremist group's vision for the future.

The conditions laid out by the Islamist are strict: no photos and no audio recording. He also keeps his real name secret as well as his country of origin, and is only willing to disclose that he is Arab. His English is polished and he speaks with a British accent.

He calls himself Abu Sattar, appears to be around 30 years old and wears a thick, black beard that reaches down to his chest. His top lip is shaved as is his head and he wears a black robe that stretches all the way to the floor. He keeps a copy of the Koran, carefully wrapped in black cloth, in his black leather bag.

Abu Sattar recruits fighters for the terrorist militia Islamic State in Turkey. Radical Islamists travel to Turkey from all over the world to join the "holy war" in Iraq or Syria and Abu Sattar examines their motives and the depth of their religious beliefs. Several Islamic State members independently recommended Abu Sattar as a potential interview partner -- as someone who could explain what Islamic State stands for. Many see him as something like an ideological mentor.

As Day of the Dead looms, families of missing Mexican students hold out hope (+video)

Four new suspects in the case of 43 missing college students pointed Mexican authorities toward a mass grave this week. A month after the students' disappearance, families still have no answers.

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer

MEXICO CITY — Orange and yellow marigolds and sugary breads are making an appearance across Mexico City this week as families prepare to celebrate the Nov. 2 Day of the Dead.

To commemorate deceased loved ones on this Catholic-inspired holiday, Mexicans build altars, visit graves, and leave offerings, such as a favorite food or drink.

But for weeks already, some of the parents of the 43 college students who disappeared a month ago in Guerrero state after an encounter with police have gathered around an “altar of hope” on their children's campus. It underscores their demand for answers in what has become a grim national scandal. 

Under pressure, North Korea proposes human rights visit

By Madison Park, CNN

October 29, 2014 -- Updated 0444 GMT (1244 HKT)

Under unprecedented scrutiny over its human rights record, North Korean officials met with a UN human rights investigator on Tuesday for the first time in 10 years.

Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, said he met "unexpectedly" with the delegation for about an hour. North Korean officials proposed the possibility of arranging a visit by human rights officials to the country.

He said they also raised concerns about the UN resolution on possible consequences against North Korea.

Darusman said the timing of the sudden meeting with the officials was "notable."

Why 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners are calling Obama out

President Obama's fellow Nobel laureates are raising questions about transparency regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's torture tactics post-9/11.

 

By Anne Steele11 hours ago

Twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners are looking for answers from President Barack Obama about US torture.

Specifically, they want their fellow laureate winner to make public a Senate report on the Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation tactics since Sept. 11, 2001 that some say amount to torture.

In a letter and petition to the president Sunday, they said the "open admission by the President of the United States that the country engaged in torture is a first step in the US coming to terms with a grim chapter in its history."

They want Obama release the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence summary report as an opportunity for the country and world to see "the extent to which their government and its representatives authorized, ordered and inflicted torture on their fellow human beings."

They pointed out the group has reason to feel strongly about torture – some of them have survived torture, many have helped their nations through recovery.