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Japanese PM apologises again for WW-II sex slaves
Crackdown on PPP, PML-N leaders
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S Korean scientist claims creating 2 cloned wolves
Pak police, militants
clash; 2 dead
Kidnapped Indian boy freed
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Japanese PM apologises again for WW-II sex slaves
Tokyo, March 26 "I apologise here and now as Prime Minister," Abe told a parliamentary committee, according to his spokesman Hirshi Suzuki. Thousands of Asian women -- mostly from Korea and China -- worked in brothels. Victims say the Japanese military forced them into the brothels and held them against their will. Earlier this month, Abe denied there was any evidence the women had been coerced into sexual service, reflecting the views of conservative Japanese academics and politicians, who argue women were professional prostitutes and paid for their services. Abe's denial drew intense criticism from Beijing and Seoul, which accused Tokyo of failing to fully atone for it's wartime invasions and atrocities. The issue has also stirred a debate in the United States, where a committee in the House of Representatives is considering a non-binding resolution calling on Tokyo to fully acknowledge wrongdoing and make an unambiguous apology. Abe previously said he would not apologise because Tokyo expressed its remorse in a 1993 statement on the matter by then chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono. — AP
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Crackdown on PPP, PML-N leaders
Political workers in major towns across the country staged impressive but peaceful protest rallies on Monday demanding the restoration of the suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and the resignation of President General Pervez Musharraf.
The call for a countrywide protest was given by exiled former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, whose PPP and PML-N are major components of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) that organised the processions. Religious grouping, the Muttahida Majlise Amal (MMA), the Tehrik-e- Insaf of Imran Khan, the Awami National Party and other opposition groups also joined the rallies. The provincial government, however, relaxed restrictions on the taking out of processions. Authorities in various towns also began releasing the detained leaders in the evening.Biggest rallies were staged in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad. At their culmination, office-bearers of Bar associations greeted them and thanked politicians for extending support to their struggle for the independence of the judiciary. Lawyers also boycotted courts for one hour in all major and small towns in the country. MMA chief led the rally in Peshawar while Imran Khan addressed one in Karachi where both called for unity of the opposition. Benazir Bhutto has said she would not sit with the MMA in any agitation. In Islamabad, President Musharraf held a late night brainstorming session with senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, cabinet ministers and top aides. He urged them to mobilise people against the protest rallies. Musharraf rejected views expressed by most participants that the current crisis would soon fizzle out because of the failure of the opposition parties to bring common people on the streets. According to a participant, Musharraf cautioned against underestimating the intensity of the protest and the fact that the legal fraternity in leading it.
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S Korean scientist claims creating 2 cloned wolves
Seoul, March 26 The two wolves - endangered species - were born on October 18 and 26 in 2005, said Lee Byeong-chun, a veterinary professor at Seoul National University, according to the university's office of research affairs. DNA tests showed the two wolves - named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy - are clones, the office said, and the results would be published in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells. The team did not immediately provide any independent verification of the DNA tests. Lee's team succeeded in cloning a female dog, an Afghan hound named Bona, last year after creating the world's first cloned dog in 2005. Lee was a key member of Hwang's research team, whose purported breakthroughs in creating human stem cells through cloning were found to be fake. But the team's success in cloning the world's first dog, Snuppy, was confirmed. Lee, who had been suspended from his university for three months over the stem cell scandal, was the main scientist in the dog cloning. He has been on trial, along with Hwang and other former team members, on charges of misappropriating research funds. — AP
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Pak police, militants
clash; 2 dead
Tank (Pakistan), March 26 The gunbattle erupted in Tank town in the North West Frontier Province, where security analysts say the influence of Islamist militants is growing. The fighting began after a group of militants visited a school and urged the children to give up their studies and join jihad, or holy war. “They assembled the students in the school ground and told them jihad is more important than education,” said Fareed Khan, principal of Oxford Public School. Policemen confronted the militants as they left the school and a gunfight broke out. “A police inspector and a local militant were killed. Two Taliban militants have been arrested, one is seriously wounded,” said a police officer. Tank is near the South Waziristan region, a hotbed of Islamist support on the Afghan border, where hundreds of people have been killed, most recently in clashes between foreign Al-Qaida linked militants and Pakistani tribesmen.
— Reuters
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Kathmandu, March 26 Vivek Agarwal, a ninth grade student, was left by his kidnappers near the city's famous pilgrim site, the Pashupatinath temple, after his family paid a ransom. The 14-year-old was kidnapped on Saturday morning from the busy Bhote Bahal area of the capital while he was going to his school, Green Peace Co-Educational School, to appear for the final examinations. A taxi and a motorcycle were lurking in a narrow alley near the school and when the unsuspecting boy came near, four men loitering there pounced on him and dragged him inside the waiting cab. Though the teen struggled and shouted for help, the abduction took place so fast that the shopkeepers in the vicinity had no chance to come to his aid. However, one nimble-witted radio shop owner had the presence of mind to jot down the taxi number and phone the school, informing them that one of their students had been kidnapped. Within an hour of the incident, Vivek's family received the first call for ransom. To show their support for the family, the school deputed a teacher to stay with the family and tackle the calls. Finally, after several negotiations, the family was able to make the kidnappers agree to take ransom and free the boy. Vivek's father Lal Chand Agarwal is a businessman, owning a garments shop in the capital's commercial heart, the New Road area. Unlike his namesake, Nepali kindergarten student Vivek Luitel, who was strangled by his kidnappers, the Indian Vivek had a different experience. A day after his ordeal, he appeared for his examination on Sunday, where he told his friends and the school authorities that he had been treated extremely well. — IANS
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