JAKARTA: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued Japan’s most public apology in a decade for the suffering it had caused during World War II, announcing he would meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao to try to resolve a major row.

MADRID: Europe’s biggest trial against suspected members of the al-Qaeda network opened here amid tight security with three of the 24 defendants accused of helping plot the September 11, 2001 terror strike on the United States.

TIKRIT, Iraq: Insurgents in Iraq released a video showing the burned-out wreckage and 11 victims of a helicopter crash, as Washington insisted it was able to stop rebel attacks amid another horrific discovery of corpses.

LOME: Togo’s interim President Abbas Bonfoh said that a weekend election in the west African state would go ahead, and that he was replacing a top minister who said the poll should be delayed to avoid chaos and bloodshed.

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, whose government is reeling from allegations of kickbacks for government contracts, promised a general election within 30 days of the completion of an inquiry into the scandals.