Better late than never

Some flip flops are not all bad:

In a dramatic reversal of his earlier stand, Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, has apologised for his country's official involvement in forcing women to serve as sex slaves during the second world war.

"I am apologising here and now as the prime minister, and it is as stated in the Kono Statement," Abe told a parliamentary committee on Monday in response to a question by an opposition lawmaker.

"As I frequently say, I feel sympathy for the people who underwent hardships, and I apologise for the fact that they were placed in this situation at the time," Abe told the committee.