Two lawmakers in the United States Congress are pushing to repeal a section in an upcoming defence budget that would deepen integration between the US and Israeli militaries. Their effort comes amid outcry against the latest draft of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill that sets the budget for the US military. On Sunday, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said he would use his seat on the House Armed Services Committee to put forward an amendment to remove Section 224 from the bill. His Republican colleague Thomas Massie also warned that, if the bill is approved by the committee, he would work to oppose it on the floor of the House of Representatives. He framed the issue as a question of US independence from foreign governments.

Why Iran won't give up Hormuz Could Israel sabotage US-Iran deal? Lawmakers in the United States are quietly advancing a proposal that could deepen military ties between the US and Israel in unprecedented ways, at a time when public support for Israel among Americans is increasingly fractured. Among the provisions included in the 2027 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) released this week is Section 224, the "United States-Israel Defence Technology Cooperation Initiative". Some legislators have already signalled opposition, with Representative Thomas Massie saying he would seek to remove the provision if it reaches the House floor. The measure remains at an early stage, but analysts say if passed, it would limit political oversight over the defence relationship.

A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type-88 surface-to-ship missile is fired during the Balikatan exercises at Culili Point Sand Dunes in Paoay, Ilocos Norte province, Philippines, on May 6. | REUTERS Singapore - Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, affirmed Sunday that talks will be launched on the export of surface-to-ship missiles from Japan to the Southeast Asian nation. Koizumi revealed this in talks with reporters after holding a meeting with the Philippine defense chief in Singapore earlier in the day. Type-88 surface-to-ship guided missiles of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force are expected to be up for consideration. The Philippine side is believed to have shown an interest in procuring the missiles as the Self-Defense Forces used them in the Balikatan multilateral exercises conducted in Manila between April and May. The SDF, which had taken part in the annual exercises organized by the United States and the Philippines as an observer since 2012, joined the drills on a full scale for the first time this year following the entry into force of the Japan-Philippine reciprocal access agreement in September 2025. The possible procurement of Type-88 missiles is expected to help reinforce the deterrent and response capabilities of the Philippines, which is in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Bogota - Colombians vote Sunday in a presidential election that will determine the conflict-ridden nation's response to spiraling violence, either staying left and opting for dialogue or tacking right towards all-out war. The constitution forbids a second term for the country's first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, whose "total peace" strategy has failed to negotiate an end to conflict with armed groups. Despite his absence from the ballot, "the campaign revolves around Petro," said Yann Basset, political science professor at Bogota's University of Rosario. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.

From specialized motors to the use of machine-learning algorithms, Turkey's billion-dollar hair-transplant industry is the result of a constant process of innovation. The astounding growth of the hair-transplant industry in Turkey is not just a medical tourism success story; it's also a tale of "hacked" medical equipment and algorithmic craftsmanship. From a biological and evolutionary perspective, human hair is often viewed as an unremarkable mass of keratin that still plays some important functions--protecting our scalps from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays and regulating our body temperatures--but, for the most part, is no longer essential to our survival. Yet, since ancient times, our subconscious perceptions of whether another person is healthy, young, or fertile have been based on visual cues such as skin radiance, the integrity of teeth, and hair density. Deep within our perceptions, hair has become one of the most powerful representations of our identity and self-confidence. Today, the global hair-transplant and restoration industry, which has evolved around this deep psychological and evolutionary need, has grown into a massive, multibillion-dollar industry. Various research firms have estimated the total size of the global hair-transplant market as sitting somewhere between $7.33 billion and $11.61 billion in 2024. And those figures don't include the underground economy.

Junya Ogawa, leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, attends a news conference on Friday in Tokyo. Moves to launch a new party have emerged among three opposition parties in Japan, sources said Sunday. The idea arose in the course of talks on the possible integration of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito into the Centrist Reform Alliance. The CRA and Komeito are keen about the new opposition party option. Some senior members of the CDP and officials of a major labor union supporting the initiative are also positive, according to sources familiar with the matter. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

KYOTO - Nidec President Mitsuya Kishida has said the major Japanese motor maker will suspend business acquisitions for the time being to focus its efforts on reconstructing the firm rocked by accounting and product quality fraud. Business acquisitions have been a growth driver for Nidec, based in Kyoto. "I will work on rebuilding our company's governance system," Kishida said in an interview Friday, showing a plan to spend ¥130 billion over five years on measures to prevent irregularities. A panel of outside experts that investigated the accounting fraud has concluded that excessive pressure from Nidec's founder, Shigenobu Nagamori, on company staff to meet performance targets was among the factors behind the irregularities. Pointing out that Nidec had "a corporate culture to pursue short-term profits," Kishida said, "We will build a system that makes it impossible to commit irregularities regarding accounting and product quality control." On future business management, he said, "We will review our operations, including the possibility of ceding what we have in our group to partner entities," suggesting that consolidating some of its existing operations could be an option.

Yo Kitamura won the fifth prize in the cello division of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels on Sunday. Brussels - Yo Kitamura of Japan won the fifth prize in the cello division of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels on Sunday. In the final selection process joined by 12 cellists, Kitamura, 22, who is from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, played Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto and other works with the Belgian National Orchestra on Tuesday. "I couldn't make it to the top three, but I think it is a meaningful experience because I was able to grow so much," Kitamura told reporters. "I want to face my big dream of making the world peaceful with music." The winner of the cello division is Ettore Pagano, 23, from Italy.

Australian researchers teach brain cells to play'Doom' video game Scientist Brett Kagan looks at cortical and hippocampal cells on cell culture plates as they attempt to decode morse code, at Cortical Labs' Physical Containment Level 2 laboratory in Melbourne. Melbourne - Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the '90s shooter game Doom and say they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It's the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain's networking system. Each so-called "biological computer" contains around 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

With Sunday marking World No Tobacco Day designated by the World Health Organization, experts urge Japan to introduce pictorial warnings about the dangers of smoking on tobacco packages. Many countries require cigarette packages to display images warning of health hazards related to smoking, such as a blackened lung. But there is no such requirement in Japan. A survey by a team at Japan's health ministry has found that warning labels featuring images are more effective in discouraging smoking than text-only warnings. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.