"We hope the Congolese enterprises and Chinese enterprises will form a sound cooperation partnership," she said

"The incident was not a nuclear explosion, but had the characteristics of a natural quake," the China Earthquake Networks Center said late Saturday in a statement released online

Kono said Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs have posed a practical threat to regional peace as well as Japan's security

The subsidy scheme did not work, costing the country 8 billion US dollars and leaving it with vast stockpiles of rice

Her lawyer said she was ill with an ear problem and could not appear in court