Entertainment
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Croatian city named among top European autumn destinationsWhile many travelers choose to take their holidays in the summer, others find autumn to be the ideal season for exploring Europe. With fewer crowds, more affordable22 September 2024Read More...
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Antwerp to build new public heritage depot to house 800,000 cultural artifactsAntwerp will soon have a new heritage depot in the Zuid district, designed to house the city’s entire heritage collection of 800,000 items and make them accessible to20 September 2024Read More...
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Belgian beaches covered in litter after busy tropical summer dayThe tropical summer weather on Monday drew large crowds to the Belgian coast, resulting in plenty of beach fun and a vibrant atmosphere—but also a significant13 August 2024Read More...
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29 suspected drug dealers arrested at Tomorrowland festival, court hearings scheduledDuring the two weekends of the Tomorrowland festival in Boom, Antwerp province, authorities apprehended a total of 29 suspected drug dealers on and around the30 July 2024Read More...
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Cider Festival returns to Prague with over 100 varietiesAre you a fan of cider? Experience over 100 different varieties at the Cider Festival taking place on September 16 and 17.29 July 2024Read More...
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Tens of thousands celebrate at Rotterdam Summer CarnivalThe Summer Carnival in Rotterdam was celebrated with a joyful atmosphere, drawing tens of thousands of attendees to the city's center. The vibrant street parade,28 July 2024Read More...
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Lady Gaga, Céline Dion, Aya Nakamura: The Mystery Surrounding the Olympic Opening Ceremony ContinuesWith three days to go until the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, speculation is rampant about the participation of a world-renowned singer.23 July 2024Read More...
Politics
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Five Turkish imams face expulsion from Belgium amid new foreign funding banFive Turkish imams, who have lived in Belgium for the past four years, are at risk of losing their jobs and facing expulsion after their work permits were not renewed under newRead More...
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Germany to continue supplying weapons to Israel, announces Chancellor ScholzGermany will continue to supply weapons to Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed during a parliamentary debate. Scholz emphasized that arms deliveries will persist, stating,Read More...
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Poland to temporarily halt right to asylum, announces PM TuskPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a broader strategy to address irregular migration.Read More...
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German SPD unveils campaign for industrial growth, job security, and tax incentivesGermany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, unveiled a new campaign on Sunday, focusing on tax breaks and investment incentives aimed at boosting industrialRead More...
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UK PM Starmer seeks to rebuild 'positive' relationship with EU on first Brussels visitBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his intent to restore a "stable and positive" relationship with the European Union during his first official visit to Brussels on Wednesday.Read More...
News
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Student numbers surge at Flemish university collegesFlemish university colleges are experiencing a substantial increase in student enrollment for the current academic year, with nearly 157,500 students enrolled—a 6% rise compared to last year.Read More...
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Over 4.2 million people received temporary protection in AugustAs of August 31, 2024, nearly 4.2 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine due to Russia's ongoing war of aggression were under temporary protection status in the European Union (EU).Read More...
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KU Leuven and UGent climb in Times Higher Education world university rankingsBelgium's two highest-ranked universities, KU Leuven and Ghent University (UGent), have both risen in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. KU Leuven movedRead More...
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Walckiers Park in Brussels reopens for the first time since the 1960sWalckiers Park in Brussels has reopened to the public for the first time since it closed in the 1960s. The park is noted for its exceptional biodiversity, particularly as a habitat forRead More...
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Sweden suggests Iran may be involved in attacks near Israeli embassiesSweden's security service, Sapo, has indicated that Iran may have been involved in recent explosions and gunfire near the Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen earlier this week.Read More...
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24 percent fewer asylum applications in Germany this yearAccording to EU data, the number of asylum applications in Germany has decreased more significantly than the European average. However, a sharp increase in refugees from one country mayRead More...
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Flemish government moves forward with road tax for foreign driversFlemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder (N-VA) announced on Tuesday that the government will begin work immediately on implementing a road tax for foreign drivers using Flemish roads.Read More...
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Economics
South Korea announced Wednesday a series of heavy-weaponry, live-fire military drills with the United States as part response to a recent landmine attack blamed on North Korea.
Four exercises, involving tanks, howitzers, attack helicopters and fighter bombers, will be held in the coming weeks in an area around 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the North Korean border, the defence ministry said.
"This will show our preparedness to retaliate against any provocative acts, including such a treacherous act of aggression as the landmine attack", a ministry spokesman said.
The first drill was to take place later Wednesday, with the last one conducted towards the end of the month.
Now 73 and sitting in his Tokyo home, Yohachi Nakajima fights back tears when he thinks of his Chinese adopted mother and the farming village he once called home -- a boy lost inside imperial Japan's crumbling empire.
He was just three years old when Tokyo surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II but also leaving about 1.5 million Japanese stranded in Manchukuo, Tokyo's puppet regime in northeastern China.
Farmers, labourers and young military reserves had migrated into the region from the early 1930s, attracted by government promises of a better life as Japan marched across Asia in a brutal expansionist campaign.
Nakajima's father, Hiroshi, was among those drawn to Manchukuo, but the frontier life proved miserable and the elder Nakajima was drafted into the military just three weeks before Japan's surrender. His fate is unknown.
Ill and poverty-stricken, Nakajima's mother sought out a local family to care for her son.
"Japan was an invader for them, clearly," Nakajima, who now lives in Tokyo, told AFP.
"It must have been pure humanity that convinced them to adopt and raise me, a child of the aggressor."
The malnourished boy, stomach bulging from starvation, was brought into the centre of the village as curious locals looked on.
One woman, Sun Zhenqin, volunteered to be his guardian and soon gave her scrawny charge a new name, "Lai Fu" (good luck coming).
"She would feed me from her mouth and gently massaged my stomach," Nakajima said.
"She was a midwife. It must have been almost on impulse that she took me in."
- 'Pearl in the palm' -
After Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender, the situation for Japanese migrants trapped in northeastern China deteriorated, with tens of thousands dying of hunger and disease as a frigid winter set in later in the year.
Some migrants-turned-refugees resorted to mass suicide, cramming into small houses that they blew up with grenades, while roving groups of sword-wielding male migrants stabbed women and children to death to end their suffering.
It is believed that just a handful of children were adopted by local families. Many others died of starvation, sickness and some were even killed by fellow Japanese out of mercy. There are no reliable statistics on how many survived.
The mother of Sun Shouxun, 58, a Chinese man who now lives in the northeastern city of Changchun, was one of those who took in a Japanese child.
He described his adopted Japanese sister as "a pearl in the palm" for his loving parents.
"Public opinion at the time was rather strong against raising a Japanese child and our relatives also opposed it, but my mother insisted on doing so," he said.
It is not known exactly how many Japanese children found new homes in China like Nakajima and Sun's sister, but Tokyo has confirmed just over 2,800.
Nakajima returned to Japan when he was 16 and afterwards spoke just once with his adopted mother, in 1966, during a trip to China when he acted as an interpreter on a cultural exchange.
However, the country, by then in the grips of the chaotic Cultural Revolution, was largely closed to foreigners and Nakajima only made brief contact by telephone with Sun who could only shout "Lai Fu! Lai Fu!" before the call got cut off.
The two never talked again and Sun died in 1975.
- 'No phone calls, no letters' -
Tokyo's efforts to repatriate those left behind in China only began several years after 1972, when it normalised diplomatic ties with Beijing.
New Zealanders were presented with 40 flag options Monday as the country moved a step closer towards voting on whether it wanted to change its national standard.
The government-appointed panel overseeing the project released its long list of designs, chosen from more than 10,000 public submissions.
The 40 will now be subject to further scrutiny, including an intensive intellectual property review, before being whittled down to four to be put to a public vote later this year.
A second referendum is planned for next year when the country will choose between the existing flag -- which features Britain's Union Jack -- and the most popular new design.
Project head John Burrows said the potential new flag had to be unmistakably from New Zealand and "celebrate us as a progressive, inclusive nation that is connected to its environment, and has a sense of its past and vision for its future".
"It is important that those designs are timeless, can work in a variety of contexts, are simple, uncluttered, balanced and have good contrast."
Common themes among the 40 flag offerings are silver ferns, the symbol used by New Zealand sports teams, and the Southern Cross constellation. Colour schemes are predominantly red, black or blue, and white.
A draft of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II includes the word "apology", public broadcaster NHK reported Monday.
The closely-watched remarks -- expected on Friday -- will be heavily scrutinised by China and Korea, which dispute Tokyo's version of its wartime history and who are waiting to see if Abe repeats earlier apologies for Japan's militarism in the 20th century.
NHK said an original draft of Abe's statement included the words "apology" and "aggression".
Those words appear in a landmark 1995 statement by then premier Tomiichi Murayama, who expressed "deep remorse" and a "heartfelt apology" over Japan's actions.
The so-called Murayama Statement said Japan "through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations".
Also Monday, the right-leaning Sankei newspaper said Abe was likely to use the word "aggression", though not necessarily linking it to Japan's warring.