it disappeared three years ago from a shrine in tsushima city. nagasaki prefecture.secutors say they'll return the statue to japan as early as thursday. they acknowledged the shrine as the legitimate custodian. they say they have confirmed no one in japan obtained the statue illegally and no one in south korea claims ownership. south korean authorities are still holding another statue stolen from a temple also in tsushima city. the temple wants it back, but a south korean temple has claimed to be the original owner. >>> the supreme leader of the taliban in afghanistan has sent a rare message to the media. he referred for the first time to the direct talks held last week between the afghan government and the taliban. patchari raksawong at our bureau in bangkok has more. >> in a rare message for the reclusive leader, mullah omar backed the direct talks between the taliban and kabul saying they are legitimate. the talks hosted by pakistan were the first officially recognized direct negotiations between the two warring parties. concurrently with armed jihad -- the intern