Russia presses invasion to outskirts of Ukrainian capital.
Russia pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital Friday after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
Explosions sounded before dawn in Kyiv as Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine's president pleaded for international help.
Ukraine's nuclear agency finds Chernobyl radiation rise.
Ukraine's nuclear energy regulatory agency says that higher than usual gamma radiation levels have been detected in the area near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, after it was seized by the Russian military.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said Friday that higher gamma radiation levels have been detected in the Chernobyl zone, but didn't provide details of the increase.
Propaganda, fake videos of Ukraine invasion bombard users.
The messages, videos and photos flying across Twitter, Facebook and Telegram far outnumber the airstrikes raining down on Ukraine.
They claim to show Russian fighter jets being shot down or Ukrainians dodging for cover in their own homes.
Some are real, horrifying images of this war. Others had been lurking on the internet for years before Russia launched the largest attack on a European country since World War II.
Tokyo recorded 30 ‘stealth Omicron’ cases by late January.
Tokyo confirmed 30 cases of infections with the BA.2 Omicron subvariant by the end of January, the metropolitan government said on Feb. 25.
The subvariant is known abroad as “stealth Omicron” because it is difficult to tell apart from other variants.
Although the number of new COVID-19 cases, along with how many patients have been hospitalized with the disease, have both stopped rising in the capital, experts voiced concerns for the highly transmissible subvariant.
Experts warn COVID-19 deaths surging as cases slowly recede.
While new cases of COVID-19 have been slowly falling, the number of people dying from the disease--mostly among the elderly--is not receding and is hitting record daily highs.
That is according to a new analysis of the sixth wave of novel coronavirus infections by a health ministry advisory board, published at its meeting on Feb. 24.
Order nixed for businessmen to pay 8 billion yen in back taxes.
The National Tax Tribunal has overturned a decision by regional tax authorities that ordered the founder of Sazaby League Ltd. and an asset management firm to pay a total of 8 billion yen ($69 million) in back taxes, sources said.
The tribunal cited a lack of clear basis for the order, according to the sources.
It is unusual for the tribunal to revoke an order for such a massive amount.
Internet ad revenue tops regular media for first time.
Internet advertising revenue topped the total of the four traditional media markets for the first time in 2021, advertising giant Dentsu Inc. announced on Feb. 24.
Spending on internet advertising soared by 21.4 percent to 2.7 trillion yen, topping the total ad revenue collected by newspapers, magazines, radio and TV for the first time since 1996, when records were first kept.
Shionogi seeks approval for its COVID-19 pills for mild patients.
Shionogi & Co. announced on Feb. 25 that it had applied for health ministry approval for manufacturing and selling its oral COVID-19 pill, which could greatly boost the supply of oral medications in Japan.
If approved, it will be the third oral treatment designated for COVID-19 patients in Japan with mild symptoms.
Japan to aid universities seen making world-leading findings.
The Japanese government adopted legislation on Friday to recognize and financially support domestic universities that are expected to produce world-leading research results.
Accredited universities will be given several tens of billions of yen in aid per school out of a planned 10-trillion-yen-fund. The government plans to select a few universities that will receive the aid starting in fiscal 2024.
