The Netherlands today held municipal elections in hundreds of cities and towns across the country. The Freedom Party, a populist, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigration party led by Geert Wilders, ran in just two of those elections. In one city, it came in first, and in the other city, the Hague, it came in second. The party wants to outlaw Muslim headscarves in Holland.

There was a stark reminder today of the ongoing challenges in Iraq -- a series of bombings that killed at least 128 and wounded hundreds more in Baghdad. Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the possible ramifications of the violence. Also, Al Jazeera English's Tareq Bazley reports from Baghdad.

Yukio Hatoyama will usher in a new era of progressive and more liberal politics and government in Japan. Kenji Kohno is the Washington bureau chief of the Japanese television network NHK and discusses what this historic election means for Japan and U.S. relations.

In Japan, unemployment soars on the eve of national elections. A youth movement is sweeping the country, and the party that has ruled Japan for decades may be on the way out.

Worldfocus contributor Scott Bohlinger is a political analyst living in Afghanistan. He compares how people talk about politics and their candidates in the U.S. and Afghanistan.