News Headlines - 25 November 2015

▽N. Korean leader executes about 100 officials: think tank

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has executed around 100 party and military officials since he took office in late 2011 in a bid to tighten his grip on power, a Seoul think tank said Wednesday.
But a number of North Korean power elites are disenchanted with the leader's so-called reign of terror, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank under South Korea's spy agency.

▽Japanese securities regulator raids Murakami’s home - FT.com

The home of Yoshiaki Murakami, Japan’s most notorious shareholder activist, was raided on Wednesday as the securities regulator began an investigation into stock manipulation.

▽Japan’s Abe joins global trend in calling for minimum wage rises - FT.com

Shinzo Abe has become the latest conservative leader to upend the politics of low incomes as he pushes for an increase in Japan’s minimum wage... Minimum wages are becoming increasingly popular with politicians in the developed world as they grapple with economies where the link between living standards and growth appears to have broken down, particularly for the lowest paid.

▽Scrums of rugby fans visit Buddhist statue resembling Japan star | The Guardian

Ayumu Goromaru credits Jonny Wilkinson with inspiring his trademark kicking style after he attended a coaching session with the former England international more than a decade ago.
The Japanese rugby star’s compatriots, though, would like to believe the roots of his “trigger” pose go back much further – to a 500-year-old Buddhist statue.

▽Allosaurus dinosaur skeleton up for auction | The Guardian

A rare almost-complete skeleton of a young dinosaur is expected to fetch up to ￡500,000 at auction.
The remains of the Allosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs of the late Jurassic period, are believed to be the most complete juvenile of the species discovered so far.