Kyodo, Oct.10.– Nearly 40 percent of ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidates  planning to run in the Oct. 22 general election support U.S. military action against North Korea if nuclear and missile issues cannot be resolved peacefully, a recent Kyodo News survey showed.

The survey, released Sunday, also showed that 72.5 percent of candidates expected to run on the ticket of the newly formed Kibo no To (Party of Hope) led by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike are against amending Japan’s pacifist Constitution while Shinzo Abe remains prime minister.

Barcelona, Oct.9.– Pressure mounted on Monday against Catalan plans to declare independence after hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied to defend Spanish unity.

The protests followed days of soaring tensions after police cracked down on voters during a banned 1 October Catalan independence referendum, prompting separatist leaders to warn they would unilaterally break away from Spain in days.