News Headlines - 16 August 2014

▽With Eye on China, Japanese Premier Skips War Shrine - NYTimes.com

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, hoping to appease conservative supporters without closing the door on a hoped-for summit meeting with China’s leader, refrained from visiting a controversial war shrine in Tokyo on Friday, the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II, sending a cash offering instead.

▽Exclusive: Bombardier, Hitachi lead bids for Finmeccanica's rail units - sources | Reuters

Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier and Japanese industrial giant Hitachi are the two frontrunners to buy Finmeccanica's rail subsidiaries, several sources close to the auction process said.

▽Yubari, Japan: a city learns how to die | theguardian.com

Known in its heyday as the capital of coal, Yubari has lost 90% of its population in 50 years. With deer roaming freely, are there lessons for rustbelt cities around the world?

▽Google buys city guides app Jetpac, support to end on September 15 - The Next Web

Google has acquired the team behind Jetpac, an iPhone app for crowdsourcing city guides from public Instagram photos.
The app will be pulled from the App Store in coming days, and support for the service will be discontinued on September 15.

▽BBC News - Beetles' whiteness understood

Scientists say the secret behind the super-whiteness of some beetles lies in the complex molecular geometry of their scales, which are able to scatter light with supreme efficiency in spite of their thinness.