A shoe shiner bangs a pair of shoes together while women standing in the back clap their hands to make noise near the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima on March 17. Thousands of Lima residents all over the city blew their horns, banged pots and pans and set off car alarms to demand freedom for the 72 hostages held inside the residence by MRTA rebels since December 17. There is no visible progress in talks between the Peruvian government and the MRTA to end the hostage crisis.

PERU JAPAN