The Latest Breaking News from The Independent UK

The Japanese Cabinet has approved a record 8.7 trillion yen ($55 billion) defense budget plan for 2025 as Japan accelerates building up its strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles and starts deploying Tomahawks to further fortify the country against growing threat from China, North Korea and Russia

Arfat Sheikh became increasingly frustrated by mainstream movies’ representation of Kashmir and its people – so he decided to make his own. Maroosha Muzaffar reports

Here are the biggest stories leading Friday’s front pages.

Back-and-forth comes after Elon Musk and Ramaswamy weighed in on state of U.S. workforce and culture

A probe into the military’s role in the disappearance of four children in Ecuador this month was delayed for almost two weeks, even though police had access to surveillance videos implicating soldiers in the disappearance

‘The individual bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded an aircraft’ at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, TSA said in a statement

Rachel Reeves has ordered a line-by-line review of spending, with departments ordered to find savings of 5 per cent of their budgets

The Met Office has issued a yellow rain and snow warning that will be in force for the whole of Monday and Tuesday

Those celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland next week may be hit by ‘disruptive weather’, according to the Met Office.