Japan

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's snap election gamble could backfire this weekend, with his ruling party at risk of losing its majority for the first time in 15 years.

Ishiba took office and called an election less than a month ago after a tough contest within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed for all but four of the last 69 years.

A new exhibition at the Benaki Museum of Piraeus Street, titled “Ghika: A Journey from the West to the East,” sheds light on the significant travels of the great Greek painter, engraver, and sculptor Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika. Marking the 30th anniversary of his passing, the exhibit explores a pivotal journey that deeply influenced both his art and life.

Shares in Tokyo Metro, one of the world's busiest subways, soared almost 50 percent on its debut on Wednesday after its government owners raised $2.3 billion in Japan's biggest initial public offering in six years.

In a personal apology, the police chief in Japan expressed his regret to 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who spent 50 years in prison on death row for a crime that was later proven he did not commit.

A court determined that both the police and prosecution had fabricated and planted evidence against the former boxer, forcing him to confess through the use of violence.

In the film The War of the Roses, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner play a couple with two children whose divorce turns into a conflict within their home, which they have divided in two.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday he believed Serbia would get investment-grade credit ratings from both Fitch and Moody's next year at the latest.

BELGRADE - Serbia has a stable and predictable business environment reflected, among other aspects, in a stable monetary and fiscal policy, and education is developing in cooperation with businesses, which is reflected in the dual education system we have introduced, Serbian PM Milos Vucevic said at a Serbia-Japan business forum in Belgrade on Thursday.

A charter flight evacuated 169 more Turkish citizens from Lebanon on Oct. 17 as Israel's military continued its operations in the region, diplomatic sources have said.

Passengers were first flown to Mersin's Çukurova Airport in the country's south before being transferred to Istanbul.

BELGRADE - Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) President Susumu Kataoka said in Belgrade on Thursday he hoped Serbia would soon receive another investment from Japan and noted that, amid global geopolitical tensions, Japanese companies saw Serbia as a country with a strategic position.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday Air Serbia would launch direct flights between Belgrade and Tokyo within six months and that forging ties with Japan was of the utmost importance for Serbia.