Politics
Japan rejects new militarism, says China is rapidly arming
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi accuses China of lacking military transparency and stresses the importance of dialogue for regional stability.
Published On 31 May 2026
Janese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has dismissed claims that Tokyo is pursuing new militarism and accused China of ridly expanding its military with limited transparency.
China continues to increase its defence spending at a high level, Koizumi said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singore.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
China’s external proach and military activities are matters of serious concern for Jan and the international community at the same time, he added.
Think about it. There’s a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weons and strategic bombers. Jan has neither of such weons, and yet Jan is labelled ‘new militarism’?
Koizumi said Jan’s record since World War II speaks for itself, citing its adherence to international law and commitment to the United Nations Charter alongside efforts to uphold a free and open international order.
In May, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Asia Pacific countries to be vigilant and jointly resist the reckless actions of Jan’s neo-militarism.
At the Singore forum, Chinese delegate Major General Meng Xiangqing criticised Jan.
I deeply doubt whether a country that has not thoroughly eradicated the toxic legacy of militarism is qualified to talk extensively about defence cooperation on international occasions and whether it can win the trust of the international community, especially the Asian countries it once invaded, he said.
Ties between Jan and China sank to their worst level in years after Janese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could draw a Janese military response.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory over the objections of the island’s government.
Koizumi said transparency comes from discussion and dialogue and lamented that China had not sent its defence minister to the conference, but he insisted Jan remains open to engagement.
We keep the door open, he said, reaffirming Jan’s commitment to dialogue with China and other regional players to foster stability.
As China has been ridly expanding and modernising its military, Jan has been reshing its own defence policy. Last month, Takaichi’s cabinet scrped a ban on lethal weons exports, a major change in its post-war pacifist policy.
Jan pushes for unity
Separately on Sunday, Koizumi praised US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for his commitment to the Asia Pacific but at the same time stressed the continued need for strong coalitions globally.
Division weakens deterrence. Unity strengthens deterrence, he told the conference in Singore.
If gs emerge among the United States, Europe and allies and like-minded countries, forces which take it as an opportunity will surely come in, he said.
We must prevent such a situation. We must keep our cooperation going on. Now is the time to make our cooperation even stronger.
US President Donald Trump has been harsh about fellow members in NATO, and the comments at the Shangri-La conference came the day after Hegseth again chided Western European allies at the forum for not devoting enough resources to defence.
Politics
Injustice done to RCB fans: DK Shivakumar slams IPL final venue, says Bengaluru was sidelined
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s successful defence of their IPL title on Sunday was accompanied by political criticism in Karnataka, with Chief Minister-designate DK Shivakumar alleging that Bengaluru had been unfairly denied the opportunity to host the final.
Powered by Virat Kohli’s fastest IPL half-century, RCB completed a comfortable chase of 156 to beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat and secured a second successive IPL crown.
As celebrations broke out across Karnataka, Shivakumar said RCB fans in Bengaluru had missed out on witnessing the title triumph in their home city.
“The RCB match was supposed to be held in Bengaluru. We have been wronged. Due to politics, they held it at a different venue. I won’t speak much on it,” Shivakumar said while reacting to the venue of the final.
He was talking to reporters in Bengaluru, when he added, “RCB match should have been held in Bengaluru, injustice has been done to us,” news agency PTI reported.
The remarks came as hundereds of fans celebrated RCB’s victory across Bengaluru, with supporters gathering in different parts of the city after the team’s five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans.
Later, Shivakumar congratulated the franchise on social media, praising the team’s achievement and its connection with the city.
RCB has created history by clinching a second consecutive IPL title. With grit, composure, and the heart of true champions, the team has once again made Bengaluru proud.
Congratulations to the players, coaches, support staff, and millions of fans who stood by the team every step of the way.
Karnataka’s outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah too congratulated Royal Challengers Bengaluru on winning a second consecutive IPL title.
“Throughout the tournament, the fearless brand of cricket displayed by the RCB boys seemed to leave opposing teams with no answers,” he said.
Hailing the title-winning campaign as a collective effort, Siddaramaiah said the victory had sparked celebrations among supporters across the country.
“This victory, earned through a united team effort, has created a festive atmosphere in the homes of RCB fans everywhere,” he said.
‘Celebrate indoors’
Even as celebrations continued, he pealed to fans to celebrate responsibly and follow police advisories issued for public safety.
“The State Police Department has issued certain guidelines regarding the celebrations of RCB’s victory. These are for your safety and well-being, so please make sure to follow them,” he said.
Bengaluru Police, meanwhile, urged residents to avoid public gatherings and street celebrations in the interest of law and order.
“Bangalore City Police has issued an advisory asking spectators and fans not to celebrate publicly on the streets and especially not to disturb peace and security. We are checking vehicles. And we will not allow any public celebrations. If anyone wants to celebrate, they can do so indoors,” news agency ANI quoted Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh as saying.
Politics
Sturgeon tells BBC: Im serving a sentence for crime I didnt commit
In the interview, broadcast on Sunday, Sturgeon said: “For my own sake, but for the sake of people out there, a lot of women who end up finding themselves blamed for the actions of the men in their lives, I’m not going to contribute to that kind of sense that I am responsible for somebody else’s crimes.”
Politics
Repeated reminders, resolute Rabri: Why a high-profile address in Patna is at centre of BJP-RJD tiff
Bihar is in the middle of a new political row, this time over a high-profile address in Patna: 10, Circular Road. The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the ruling BJP is sparring over the high-profile residence allotted to former chief minister Rabri Devi.
The issue emerged after the building construction department issued an order to allot the bungalow to Dairy and Fisheries Minister Nand Kishor Ram.
Rabri Devi, who had been away on a vacation when the order was passed, flew back to Patna and remained resolute that she won’t vacate the house. Since, then a war of words has started between the rival camps in Bihar.
Samrat-RJD rivalry
Bihar politics has traditionally oscillated between few families and traditional camps, where alliances are slippery and the prestige battle at its highest.
While the government bungalows allotted to the heads of state or their rivals matter less amid changing ties and shifting alliances, some addresses matter more in Bihar’s power circles.
10, Circular Road is one of those addresses in Bihar, which holds more power beyond its nameplate. The house is adjacent to the chief minister’s residence and the Raj Bhavan.
1 Aney Marg, or the chief minister’s residence, is another address which holds significance.
While Nitish Kumar was at the helm of affairs till recently for the last two decades, parallelly Lalu family’s family, one of the stalwarts in Bihar politics, has been occupying the house since 2006.
The house was allotted to former chief minister Rabri Devi after Nitish took charge as the chief minister in 2005. Rabri Devi vacated the chief minister’s residence, 1 Aney Marg, and moved to the adjacent house at 10 Circular Road.
Why row emerged over 10, Circular Road
The house was allotted to her by the previous government under Nitish Kumar in her cacity as a former CM.
Rabri Devi was first asked by the government to vacate the house in November last year when Nitish was still the CM. The government had then allotted the house to Vijay Kumar Sinha, then a Deputy CM.
However, Sinha could never move to the location since the RJD leader refused to give up the bungalow.
Bihar minister for building construction Leshi Singh said the earlier order allotting 39, Hardinge Road to the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, still stands.
“So, Rabri Devi would do better to shift to that house,” Leshi Singh said.
Samrat-RJD rivalry
The latest battle holds more symbolism than it seems. The order comes weeks after Samrat Choudhary came to power in a first for a BJP leader to head the state.
Interestingly, Choudhary had served in Rabri Devi’s cabinet when the RJD leader was the chief minister. Choudhary joined the BJP in 2017.
In over 20 years since, the majority of which was ruled by Nitish Kumar, the house remained with Lal family. One of the reasons behind the move was shifting alliances of Nitish Kumar with the RJD and BJP. The JD(U) chief forged an alliance with the RJD twice in the past two decades.
Rabri Devi, the leader of opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council, was allotted 39, Hardinge Road some time ago. However, she refused to vacate her current residence.
RJD state president Mangani Lal Mandal had lift as a reason, saying the current house suited RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who has been ailing for a long time.
Lalu’s party also has 1, Polo Road residence, which is allotted to Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD’s working president, in his cacity as the leader of the opposition in the assembly. However, he spends most of his time at 10, Circular Road.
Politics
Rescues in eastern Syria after the Euphrates River bursts its banks
Video Duration 01 minutes 05 seconds
01:05
Politics
Officials blame cyberattack for CBSE revaluation portal glitches
The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) revaluation portal was hit by a malicious cyberattack that disrupted payment processing for around 50 Class 12 students and forced the board to defer the next phase of its re-evaluation process until the payment system was secured, education ministry officials familiar with the matter said on Friday.
According to a senior ministry official, the payment gateway linked to the CBSE’s revaluation portal was attacked shortly after the system went live on May 19.
There were some unauthorized attacks on the portal. The malicious cyberattack affected the payment gateway infrastructure, resulting in incorrect fee displays during transactions. Around 50 students were affected. In some cases, the fee displayed was as low as Re 1, while in others it shot up to nearly ₹67,000-68,000, the official said.
Speaking on the matter, a senior CBSE official, requesting anonymity, said, The board is processing refunds for students who paid more than the prescribed fee because of the glitch.
Officials confirmed that no student data was breached, and the attack was only concerned with the payment interface.
The portal, used by students to obtain scanned copies of evaluated answer books and ply for re-evaluation, has remained unavailable since May 26. It was originally scheduled to reopen the same day for students to submit question-wise objections after accessing scanned answer sheets. The reopening was later postponed to May 29 and has now been rescheduled to June 1.
The disruption came amid an unusually high volume of plications. More than 400,000 students sought scanned copies of their answer books between May 19 and May 25, accounting for nearly one-fourth of around 1.8 million students who peared for the Class 12 board examinations this year, the officials said.
As part of the corrective measures, CBSE has removed HDFC Bank’s payment gateway from the process and integrated payment systems of four public sector banks — State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda, the ministry officials said.
Officials said successful test runs of the new payment gateways were conducted on Thursday.
Following the disruption, the board sought an independent technical review of the platform and roped in experts from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur to audit the portal’s code, payment integrations and backend systems.
These teams are examining the code and the system to make it seamless and glitch-free, the CBSE official quoted above said, adding that the infrastructure has additionally been migrated to Amazon Web Services to improve scalability and handle heavy traffic.
Earlier on May 24, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan discussed the technical and payment-related issues with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, following which it was decided to strengthen the portal’s payment architecture through public sector bank integration.
CBSE officials said students who have already obtained scanned copies of their evaluated answer books will be able to submit question-wise objections once the portal reopens on June 1. The responses will then be reassessed by subject experts through the board’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.
-
Politics2 weeks agoTrump-critic Thomas Massie loses Kentucky primary to AIPAC-backed Gallrein
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago‘SNL’ Veteran Calls Out Elon Musk Over Lupita Nyong’o Remarks
-
Entertainment2 weeks agoAdam Driver and Kenneth Lonergan Reunite For ‘Tomorrow Is a Drag’
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Picturehouse Entertainment acquires UK rights to A Town In Nova Scotia
-
Tech2 weeks ago
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, May 18
-
Tech2 weeks agoIf Your iPhone Battery’s Draining Faster After iOS 26.5, Don’t Panic
-
Food2 weeks agoJuneteenth Foods: 23 Recipes for a Cookout Celebration
-
Politics5 days agoUN chief deeply concerned by Moscow plan for Kyiv strikes
