Goodbye Kitty, or Japan's far-right
Argentina’s feminist outcry, Namibia’s wildfire, and new clues about China’s origins.
Hey, this is Sham Jaff, your very own news curator.
Issue #443: This week is about the things that get swept under the rug. Japan sells a Hello-Kitty version of itself to the world, but at home, politics are forming that are anything but “kawaii”. And in Argentina, a brutal crime has shocked the country, and feminists are saying it didn’t come out of nowhere, but out of the structures nobody wants to face.
Plus, life under siege in El Fasher, a wildfire tearing through one of Africa’s biggest reserves, Mali’s messy split with France, a badly timed MILF joke in Turkey, new clues about China’s origins, and why environmental battles in Kurdistan are always political. And so much more.
Talk soon,
Sham
In Japan, the far-right has a loud megaphone, and now, there’s a louder mainstream conversation on who is “really Japanese”
What happened
Japan’s right-wing and far-right parties are testing how far anti-foreigner politics can go.
Tell me more
Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), on September 17, pushed the Ministry of Justice to make it more difficult for foreigners to immigrate to Japan and even explore ways to strip naturalized citizens of their Japanese nationality. The party is not in government, but they’re a major opposition force. The far-right Sanseitō pushed it even further, saying they shouldn’t even be allowed to run for office under their party. They frame naturalized Japanese as outsiders and claim the government is betraying “real” (ethnic) Japanese by protecting these outsiders.
Did you know that when people become a Japanese citizen, i.e. become naturalized, they don’t call them “Japanese”? They call them Kikajin (帰化人). For the most part, it’s been considered a neutral description, but it’s getting more and more of a bad rep now.
Why this matters: Legally, once you naturalize in Japan, you’re supposed to be exactly the same as a native-born citizen. Same political rights, same protections. The country also makes naturalized citizens give up their other nationality. So they don’t get to protect themselves with dual citizenship the way some countries allow. If these parties succeed in creating rules to strip kikajin of citizenship, you’d have people with no passport anywhere, i.e. they would be legally stateless. That’s a massive human rights issue and would put Japan in violation of international norms.
I haven’t been following domestic politics in Japan. Give me an overview
Japan is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, but in practice it operates like one party ruled the entire country. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power for decades. Those two parties I mentioned above are not part of the government right now, but recently, the LDP’s grip is weakening. They lost their majority in the lower house after the 2024 general election, and last year, in the July 2025 upper house (House of Councillors) elections, the LDP/Komeito coalition lost seats and couldn’t hold a majority. That creates room for smaller parties to participate, especially in times when people feel poor, the population keeps shrinking, and more foreigners arrive to fill jobs.
Who’s gaining ground now?
Far right populists like Sanseitō. The far-right party jumped from 1 to 15 seats in 2025. They’re anti-immigration, nationalist, and love stirring the pot. They can’t pass laws alone, but their rhetoric gets airtime and pressures bigger parties like the LDP and Ishin to lean more exclusionary. The other parties are a bit more fragmented, so coalition-wise, no bueno. But just to give you a quick overview of who else is on the playground: The CDP is the main liberal opposition. The DPFP sits in the middle between the ruling LDP and the extremes. Reiwa Shinsengumi is small but progressive and anti-establishment. The Communist Party still carries moral weight. And Ishin no Kai (more of a regional force right now) mixes reformist and neoliberal ideas (and they’re a bit more influenced by the far-right).
What do “normal people” think?
Public opinion seems to lean very nationalist. A survey found 95% of young Japanese said, “you cannot become Japanese by citizenship.” That reflects the deep idea that “Japaneseness” is about bloodline, not law. This has opened the door to hate speech, conspiracy theories, and pressure for kikajin to “prove” their loyalty. There are some naturalized citizens in politics, but oh my, they get hammered with hate speech about their origins. Even mainstream Japanese TV has given airtime to the questions if naturalized citizens are truly loyal, since there’s no pledge of allegiance.
BTW, the conspiracy talk has gone quite far. Ultra-right groups in Japan pushed a fake story that 600 of Japan’s 720 lawmakers are naturalized citizens. It spread online as proof that “real” Japanese have lost control of their own parliament. So, like QAnon or “Great Replacement” theories elsewhere, it’s less about facts and more about creating paranoia that outsiders are secretly running the country.
What is the government doing?
No protection, no pushing back against the discrimination. Instead, in July, it set up an office with a friendly name, but its main job is to monitor “crimes” by foreigners. Oh, and they also do not call them Kikajin officially, but “people who acquired Japanese citizenship“. As it stands now, to escape hostility, naturalized citizens are expected to blend in more completely, i.e. names, manners, accent.
Good to know: About 80% of kikajin come from Chinese or Korean backgrounds.
Three young women were tortured and killed, likely by drug traffickers. And their murders were live-streamed on social media
What happened
Last weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in Buenos Aires and other cities across the country after three young women were brutally murdered. According to state authorities, the crime was livestreamed on TikTok and Instagram. The victims were Lara Gutierrez, just 15, and two 20-year-olds, Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo.
Why this matters: Some say this was just a brutal gang crime. Others point to the gendered nature of the killings and call it femicide. I think we need to see the bigger picture: violence like this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s tied to poverty, and to how criminal groups step in when the state is pulling back.
Tell me more
Investigators say the three were tricked into a van on September 19, told they were going to a party. Instead, it was a setup. A gang allegedly wanted to “punish” them for breaking its rules and send a warning to others. Five days later, their bodies were found buried in a suburb of Buenos Aires. On Saturday, the victims’ families marched to Parliament demanding justice. “Women must be protected more than ever,” said Brenda’s father, Leonel del Castillo. Feminist groups are pointing to how gender and poverty shape the crime, calling it a triple femicide (women killed because they are women). The three women lived in La Tablada, a poor neighborhood just outside Buenos Aires. Verdi’s mother told police they worked as sex workers. Officials stressed they were simply young women trying to build a future in tough circumstances. “Nobody deserves what happened to them,” said Buenos Aires security minister Javier Alonso.
Good to know: One woman is killed by a man every 36 hours in Argentina, according to a femicide monitoring group in the country.
Who did it?
Police say a drug gang carried out the killings and filmed them as a warning. Five suspects — three men and two women — have already been arrested. Under questioning, one of them showed investigators a video where a gang leader says: “This is what happens to those who steal drugs from me.” The alleged mastermind is a 23-year-old Peruvian known as Pequeño J or Julito. He’s still on the run. Authorities released his photo, hoping someone will recognize him.
Is the crime really just “revenge”?
Many point out that this crime didn’t happen in isolation, and that wider policies set the stage. Feminist journalist Belén del Huerto told Peoples Dispatch that Argentina’s economic collapse under Milei’s neoliberal program has forced families to juggle two or three jobs just to survive. In that context, she said, the two young women and the minor ended up in prostitution, according to their families and friends. Milei’s government scrapped public gender policies, youth unemployment is high, and when a minor is pushed into prostitution, that is sexual exploitation. She also says that the murders weren’t just “gang revenge.” Filming the torture was part of what she calls a “pedagogy of cruelty”, gangs using fear to control communities and treat women as disposable. She argues this happens because the state is pulling back, and that leaves space for drug gangs to grow. Georgina Orellano of the sex workers’ union AMMAR says: “Stop saying this could happen to any woman. It happens to poor women.”
What now?
Buenos Aires governor Axel Kicillof called for calm and accountability. “We have to be serious and responsible,” he said, stressing that drug trafficking crosses all borders and fuels gender-based violence. He added that updates will come as the courts move forward.
what else happened
Bad
Nigeria: Gold mine pit collapsed feared to kill about 100. (Reuters)
Israel / Gaza: Israel carried out about 140 airstrikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours. Tanks also pushed further into central and western Gaza City. Local medics say at least 77 people were killed in the same period. (The Guardian)
India: At least 39 people, including eight children, were killed in a crowd crush at a political rally in Tamil Nadu. Another 40 were injured. The rally was led by Vijay, a hugely popular actor who recently launched his own political party. (Al Jazeera)
Taiwan / China / Hong Kong: A giant storm called Super Typhoon Ragasa ripped through Taiwan, Hong Kong, and southern China. In Taiwan, 14 people died after heavy rains caused a lake to burst. (Reuters)
Ukraine / Russia: Russia hit Ukraine with one of its heaviest bombardments since the war began. Over 12 hours, Moscow launched around 600 drones and 40 missiles. Kyiv and several other regions were targeted. At least four people were killed and more than 70 injured. (The Guardian)
Sudan: El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has been under siege for 17 months. The RSF (Rapid Support Forces) have surrounded the city since May 2024, cutting off aid and supplies. The Guardian has a deep dive on one of the world’s longest ongoing urban sieges.
Turkey: A Turkish YouTube host, Boğaç Soydemir, and his guest, rapper Enes Akgündüz, were jailed after a joke about the hadith “Alcohol is the mother of all evil” went viral. Soydemir quipped, “I like MILFs anyways, bro,” sparking backlash and an investigation for “inciting hatred and enmity.” Both denied intent, issued apologies, and asked for release, but the court ordered pre-trial detention. (bianet) In the same week, Kurdish journalists Metin Yoksu and Nedim Türfent faced prosecution and jail time, with Türfent’s old tweets recycled as evidence. (Medya News)
Namibia: A massive wildfire has burned through about a third of Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. The government has now sent in hundreds of soldiers. Etosha is one of Africa’s biggest reserves, home to 114 species of mammals, including the critically endangered black rhino. (The Guardian)
Interesting...
Malawi: Peter Mutharika won the presidency. He’s 85 years old. (BBC)
US / Colombia: The US revoked Colombian president Gustavo Petro’s visa after remarks he made during a pro-Palestine protest in New York. Petro had called on US soldiers to “disobey Trump’s order” and “not point their rifles at humanity.” Petro is Colombia’s first leftist president. (The Guardian)
France / Mali: Mali’s military rulers have cut off counterterrorism cooperation with France and kicked out five French Embassy staff. Mali is still fighting Islamist groups linked to al-Qaida and ISIS. But instead of working with France (its longtime security partner), the junta is leaning more on Russia. (AP)
The Philippines: Tens of thousands of people protested against government corruption. Billions of US dollars that were supposed to go to flood relief projects were allegedly stolen through fake schemes. (Rappler)
Good
Argentina: Scientists in Argentina found a new dinosaur fossil in Patagonia. It’s a megaraptor, a 23-foot predator with huge claws. They named it Joaquinraptor, after one of the paleontologist’s sons. The fossil is one of the most complete megaraptor skeletons ever discovered. Until now, scientists only had scattered bones, so this find is like a Rosetta Stone for the group. (NYT)
China: Archaeologists in Jiangsu province say they’ve found the earliest known prehistoric city in the lower Yangtze River region. The site is about 6,000 years old and covers 250,000 square meters. Experts say it offers important clues about the rise of early urban life and the origins of Chinese civilization. (China Daily)
Egypt: Alaa Abd El Fattah is free at last. The Egyptian-British activist and blogger spent most of the past 12 years behind bars. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardoned him and five others last week. Alaa was one of Egypt’s most famous political prisoners. (Al Jazeera)
recommendations
Read about why environmental struggles in Kurdistan can’t be separated from politics. Four Kurdish environmental activists in eastern Kurdistan/western Iran died this summer while fighting wildfires with almost no equipment. For local people, these deaths aren’t just tragic accidents. Ammar Goli for The Amargi writes about how, in Kurdistan, even seemingly neutral causes like environmental protection are treated as political threats. The Iranian state assumes any collective Kurdish organizing has links to separatism. Read the article in full here.
Watch… “The Sun Rises On Us All”, a new Chinese drama by Cai Shangjun that just premiered at TIFF 2025. Mediaversity gave it an A- after grading it on technicals, gender, “race” and disability. The movie is about two ex-lovers reuniting in Guangzhou, Meiyun (a 36-year-old shop owner) and Baoshu (fresh out of prison, now with stage IV cancer). Where it really shines is in how it shows Guangzhou, writes Li Lai. Instead of exoticizing Guangzhou, it just shows everyday working-class life: street badminton, bankrupt factories, overworked hospitals, livestream fashion sales. It’s a textured, plain portrait of the city. Watch the trailer here.
Listen to… a conversation on what happened in Nepal, and how mainstream Western media got it wrong in the beginning. Journalist Taylor Lorenz breaks it down with the help of Bal Krishna Sah, one of the top journalists in Nepal, who writes for The Himalayan Times. Listen / watch here.
music video of the week
Pitbull-meets-Drake of India | Yo Yo Honey Singh has dropped a new single, Mafia. The famous rapper was the dominant pop-rap voice of the 2010s, mixing Punjabi beats, Bollywood hooks with rap into a sound that reshaped India’s mainstream. His new music video is shot like a mini-film: big production teams, cinematic lighting, a Bollywood star (Nargis Fakhri), shiny visuals. Highly recommended watch.
on a funny note
China just pulled off one of the weirdest censorship moves yet in a body-horror film called “Together”, which has a same-sex wedding. In the version shown in mainland theaters, one of the grooms was AI-morphed into a bride. Basically, instead of cutting the scene, they deepfaked a straight couple and called it a day.
Now I’m imagining Hollywood romances where every Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone kiss is morphed into Gosling/another guy.
Cover photo is from Eduardo • Subscribe to my YT Channel❤️ on Pixabay.