TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Japan accepted just 28 refugees last year when a record number applied for asylum, a government document dated for release on Friday showed, throwing a spotlight on the nation’s reluctance to accept foreigners. In 2016, 10,901 people sought asylum in Japan, up 44 percent from a year earlier, when the country accepted 27.   (UPDATE 1-Japan took in just 28 refugees in 2016, despite record applications CNBC/REUTERS Ami Miyazaki and Minami Funakoshi Thursday, 9 Feb 2017 | 4:05 AM ET)

Despite a worldwide refugee crisis, and pressure from opposition politicians and human rights groups, Japan remains one of the most unwelcoming countries for refugees – only 28 were given asylum in 2016, after 27 in 2015, the latest statistics reveal.The figure was obtained by Reuters from a government document scheduled for release Friday. In total, there were 10,901 asylum applications, an increase of 44 percent on 2015, and nearly 10 times as many as in 2010. (Japan accepted only 28 refugees last year, despite soaring applications RT 10 Feb, 2017 02:26)

トルコは310万人、日本はたったの28人　何の数?　史上最多の難民申請を受けた日本だが、日本政府が発行した報告書は難民の数に関する事実を明るみにした。(引用元： 国民の勝利 09.02.2017 ~ 17.02.2017)

Ten countries ‘host half of world’s refugees’ 2016/10/04

Ten countries – which account for just 2.5 percent of the global economy – are hosting more than half the world’s refugees, a rights group has said, accusing wealthy countries of leaving poorer nations to bear the brunt of a worsening crisis. (Ten countries host half of world’s refugees: report aljazeera.com 4 October 2016)

A record 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in the 28 member states of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland in 2015 – nearly double the previous high water mark of roughly 700,000 that was set in 1992 after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency. (Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015 By Phillip Connor Pew Research Center August 2, 2016)

Canada places 15th among industrialized countries in accepting refugees, data released Monday shows.The 14 countries that have accepted more refugees than Canada include all Scandinavian countries, most major European countries and the United States. (These 14 countries have taken more refugees than Canada By Patrick Cain September 20, 2016 12:09 pm Globa News)

イントリ～ギュ～と言いかけて口ごもり、いつもＷＨＡＴ？と聞き返されるのがこの単語、intriguing。

使い慣れない単語を使うもんじゃないと思いつつ、それじゃいつまで経っても使えるようにならない！というジレンマに陥っています。

動詞は、intrigue
意味は、
to interest someone a lot, especially by being strange, unusual or mysterious (Cambridge Dictionary)

intrigue=interest＝興味をそそる
と覚えると意味を覚えやすいです。

TheFreeDictionaryによるとアクセントは、in-または-tri-で、両方あり得るみたいです。

それが自分の中でいつまでも混乱している原因なのかもしれません。

例文
The findings pose intriguing questions about ocean chemistry and the co-evolution of Earth and life.
http://esciencenews.com/
この発見は、海洋化学や地球と生命の共進化に関する非常に興味深い問題を提起する。

intriguing quesions
intriguing news
an intriguing finding

のような組み合わせで使われることが多いです。

confidante:

【名】confidant（男の親友）の女性形、親友　
http://eow.alc.co.jp/

confidant:
a person you trust and share your feelings and secrets with
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=16082&dict=CALD

Who would have guessed, in our gabby tell-all culture, that people interviewed in the 2004 General Social Survey would report an average of only two “core” confidants with whom they “discuss important matters,” down from the mean of three close ties elicited by the same question in 1985?
(July 16, 2006, New York Times)
ちょっと古い記事から例文を取りましたが、親友と呼べる友達の数が減ってきたことを問題視している内容です。

ventriloquism
the ability to speak without moving your lips so that your voice seems to be coming from someone or something else, usually as a way of entertaining people
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=87976&dict=CALD

腹話術
http://eow.alc.co.jp/ventriloquism/UTF-8/

ventriloquist
腹話術師
http://eow.alc.co.jp/ventriloquist/UTF-8/

schism

a division into two groups caused by a disagreement about ideas, especially in a religious organization
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=70300&dict=CALD

分裂、分派
http://eow.alc.co.jp/schism/UTF-8/?ref=sa

例文
The failure to heal the internal Palestinian schism, now almost two years old, leaves the Islamic group Hamas in control of Gaza and the powers of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, confined to the West Bank. (from April 28, 2009 New York Times)　
パレスチナの内部分裂を修復する試みが失敗した結果、もう2年ほど経つがイスラム派ハマスのガザ地区支配を許すこととなり、西側の支援を受けるパレスチナ自治政府はファタ派のマフムド・アバスによって率いられるがヨルダン川西岸に限局させられた状態にある。

だらだらと長い文章のため訳してて日本語がわかりにくくなったので念のため文の構造を書いておくと、

主語（failure）＋動詞（leaves)+目的語１（Hamas)　＋　補語1(
in control of Gaza)　and 目的語２（the powers）+補語２（confined）

ということになります。

eclectic

employing individual elements from a variety of sources
http://www.answers.com/topic/eclectic

折衷的な、多岐にわたる、さまざまな要素を含んだ
http://eow.alc.co.jp/eclectic/UTF-8/?ref=sa

最初この単語を見たとき、electricの間違いじゃないよなぁ？と思いました。そしたらやっぱり似ている、ということなんでしょう、新聞記事の見出しでeclectic and electricと並べて使われている例がありました。ありがちな、言葉遊び的な見出しの付け方です。

【使用例】
（記事の見出し）Sounds Both Eclectic and Electric　
（記事）DEREK BERMEL, like many composers born in the late 1960s, is a natural eclectic who uses classical forms and timbres as his principal medium and draws on jazz, pop and world music when he wants a particular melodic, harmonic or rhythmic twist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/arts/music/10reco.html
（By THE NEW YORK TIMES　Published: May 8, 2009 ）

drab
boring, especially in appearance; lacking colour and excitement
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=23591&dict=CALD

例文
Almost lost in the traffic that swirls around Hyde Park Corner, Apsley House has always looked forlorn and abandoned, an odd fate for the London home of the first Duke of Wellington in a land that still relishes his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Donated to the nation by the Iron Duke’s heirs in 1947, the late-Georgian mansion became the Wellington Museum in 1952, the 100th anniversary of his death. But in recent years, even the inside of the house looked drab; the number of visitors fell off and its valuable art collection was forgotten.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/22/arts/refurbished-digs-of-the-iron-duke-evoke-art-and-war.html

psychosis
any of a number of the more severe mental diseases that make you believe things that are not real
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=63895&dict=CALD
精神病
http://eow.alc.co.jp/psychosis/UTF-8/?ref=sa

語句説明
Psychosis is a loss of contact with reality, usually including false ideas about what is taking place or who one is (delusions) and seeing or hearing things that aren’t there (hallucinations).
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/major-depression-with-psychotic-features/overview.html?scp=1&sq=psychotic&st=cse

intervention
介入、市場介入,調停、仲裁,おせっかい、干渉、内政干渉《医》診療行為

intervene (GET INVOLVED)
to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=41618&dict=CALD

間に入る、介在する、干渉する、介入する、立ち入る、邪魔する、邪魔に入る、挟まる、仲裁する、調停する、取りなす
http://eow.alc.co.jp/intervene/UTF-8/

ひとこと：
こういうわかりやすい説明を読むと、ケンブリッジの英英辞書を引いて良かった！と思います。日本語の辞書の説明にあるようないろいろな単語を覚えるよりも、頭にバシッと入ります。