Kuriles, Russia
Japan this week demanded that Russia return four islands that it occupied at the end of World War II. The rocky islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kuriles and Japan calls the Northern Territories, had been under Japanese control for more than a century when the Allies promised them to the Soviet Union at the 1945 Yalta peace conference. The Soviets occupied the islands the following year, and kicked out the few thousand Japanese who lived there; today the Kuriles are home to some 15,000 Russian citizens. Japan and the Soviet Union never concluded a formal peace treaty after World War II because of the dispute, and this week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that his country would not sign a trade agreement with Russia until the islands were returned.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meatThe Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human bloodUnder the radar Drugging the bugs
