TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday made a rare call for "firm steps" to stem the yen's recent strength, after recent rises hit exporters' earnings.

TOKYO (AFP) - An anti-whaling activist from New Zealand was arrested in Japan Friday for trespassing after a harpoon ship he boarded in Antarctic waters last month docked in Tokyo, the coastguard said.

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese whaling ship with a New Zealand anti-whaling activist on board on Friday sailed into Tokyo port where he was expected to face arrest for trespassing on the vessel, an AFP reporter saw.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Thursday it had "nothing to indicate" the Palestinians have pulled out of indirect talks with Israel.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The Swedish parliament adopted on Thursday, against the advice of the government, a resolution recognising massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide.