Aliens

From Prayer by Yancy

For several years I have tried to help a Japanese family, the Yokatas, in their desperate search for justice. In 1977 their thirteen- year old daughter Megumi vanished on her way home from badmitten pracitice. Police dogs tracked her scent to a nearby beach, but the distraught Yokatas had no clues that might explain their daughter's sudden disappearance.

Sixteen years later, long after the Yokatas had resigned themselves to Megumi's death, a North Korean defector made a stunning claim: a Japanese woman named Megumi was living in North Korea at a training institue for intellgenice agients. Scores of Japanese, he said, had been kidnapped and forced teach Korean spies the Japanese language and culture. He provided heartrending details of Megumi's abduction: agents had seized her, wrapped her in a straw mat, and rowed her to a waiting spy ship, where she had spent the night scratching against the hold with bloody fingers crying out for her mother.

For years North Korea dismissed all such reports. But in the face of mouonting pressure, Kim Jong-il himself at long last admitted to the abduction of 13 Japanese, including Megumi. Five returned to Japan, but North Koreans insisteted the other eight had died, including megumi who, they said, in 1993 had used a kimono to hang herself. Much information supplied by North Korea proved false, however, and the Yokatas refused to believe the reports of their daughter's death. All over Japan, prayer groups sprang up to support the abductees. Mrs. Yokata traveled across the globe in her quest for justice, becoming in the process one of the most familiar faces on Japanese media. Eventually she visited the oval office and told her story to President George W. Bush, who took up her cause.

In 2004, 27 years after the abduction, the North Koreans gave Megumi's parents three photos of their daughter. The most poignant taken just after her capture, shows her at age 13 still in her Japanese schoolgirls' uniform, looking unbearably forlorn. "We couldn't help crying when we saw the picture," her mother tearfully told reporters. Two other photos showed her as an adult, a woman in her 30s standing outdoors in a winter coat.

The Yokatas fondled the photos over and over, finding some solace in the fact that the later photos showed their daughter looking healthy and reasonably well cared for. They tried to imagine Megumi's life. Had she met with other abductees and conversed with them to keep from forgetting her mother tongue? What had helped her remember who she was? Had she tried to sneak a message back to them? Attempted an escape? What memories did she retain of her life in Japan, life as their daughter? How many times had Megumi looked toward the island of Japan and scoured newspapers of clues of her former house?

Kenyans burned to death in church

From BBC on Jan 1, 2008:

Thirty Kenyans including many children have been burned to death in a church, after seeking refuge from the mounting violence over last week's elections.

A mob attacked and set fire to the church in the western town of Eldoret where hundreds of people were hiding, say police and eyewitness reports.

Dozens more are reported to have been taken to hospital with severe burns.

It comes as EU election monitors said the presidential poll "fell short of international standards".

In an interim report, chief EU monitor Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said the tallying process "lacked credibility".

Mr Lambsdorff said an independent inquiry was needed to resolve the dispute over the election and called on the Electoral Commission of Kenya to co-operate fully.

The observers say an audit of all the voting returns is vital, and called for results from every polling station to be published in newspapers and on the internet.

Four Kenyan election commissioners have also expressed unease at the result, but the government denied any irregularities.

Fresh killings

About 400 people were said to be taking refuge in the Kenya Assemblies of God church when the attack took place at about 1000 (0700 GMT).

A pastor from the church, Jackson Nyanga told the BBC that many of the people were beaten before the building was set on fire.

"After torching the church, children died - around 25 in number - four elderly people. And our men and our people who tried to confront them were injured," he said.

Most of the victims were members of the same Kikuyu ethnic group as the newly re-elected President Mwai Kibaki.

Eldoret, in the Rift Valley, has witnessed some of the worst violence since Sunday's controversial poll and has a history of inter-ethnic tension.

Correspondents say that over the past few days hundreds of Kikuyus in the Eldoret area have been taking shelter in churches and around the town's police station.

Eldoret resident Bernard Magamu told the BBC News website that many houses and businesses have been torched, and that roads in and around the town have been closed.

"People are still fearful. It's hard. People are really scared," said Mr Magamu, adding that local hospitals were struggling to cope with the high number of casualties.

The Kenyan Red Cross said that at least 70,000 people have been displaced in the Rift Valley area as a result of the unrest, describing it as "a national disaster".

At least 160 people were killed across Kenya after the election result was announced on Sunday, according to the Red Cross, though the numbers are expected to rise after continued violence on Monday.

Mr Kibaki's challenger, Raila Odinga, backed by the Luo community, said that if fresh killings were taken into account, the total would likely be about 250 or "slightly more".

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has again urged Kenya's political leaders to talk, and said: "The violence must be brought to an end."

Doubts expressed

EU observers said the country's election was flawed.

"They were marred by a lack of transparency in the processing and tallying of presidential results, which raises concerns about the accuracy of the final results," the EU team said in a statement.

According to the EU, in at least two constituencies - Molo and Kieni - the results that were announced did not reflect the number of votes cast.

EU observers say they heard the voting figures being announced in Molo itself, but when the same results were announced again in Nairobi, the number of votes for Mr Kibaki was significantly higher - by 25,000.

Four of the 22 Kenyan election commissioners have also expressed doubts about the veracity of the figures giving President Kibaki victory by 200,000 votes.

But Finance Minister Amos Kimunya denied his party, the ruling PNU, or the government had been involved in rigging the poll.

He told the BBC: "I have no evidence that they were rigged. Anyone who has any information that they were rigged in one constituency or the other, or overall, let them subject it through the legal process."

Mr Kibaki was declared the winner on Sunday after a controversial three-day counting process.

His challenger, Mr Odinga, said he was robbed of victory by alleged fraud.