Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has swept to a landslide
victory in parliamentary elections.
The Liberal Democratic Party's final tally in Sunday's voting was 296 seats in the 480-seat lower house, giving the LDP a clear majority in parliament for the first time in 15 years.
The main opposition Democratic Party kept 113 seats, down from its previous 175 seats. Party leader Katsuya Okada has announced he will resign.
South Korea hopes to hold discussions with North Korea on working out a permanent peace treaty to end five decades of confrontation.
The last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip at daybreak today (Monday), ending 38 years of occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Americans paused Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks that killed nearly three-thousand people.
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