Millions of people in Japan are reported to be addicted to online gambling, with the amount of money spent on illegal gambling reaching 1.2 trillion yen annually, a police survey revealed on Thursday.

According to the report of Japan's National Police Agency, about 3.37 million people in Japan are estimated to have used overseas online casinos despite the ban in the country. The findings of its first study are released following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality, local media reported

Some 40 per cent of the users were unaware online casinos are illegal, the survey by the National Police Agency showed. "There is a possibility that a lack of awareness about illegality encourages people to use online casinos," an NPA official said, leading Japanese daily, The Japan Times reported

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have begun their training camp ahead of the commencement of Season 18 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Thursday, starting their preparations for the mega event at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium in Dharamshala. The camp has been designed to fine-tune the team’s strategy ahead of the tournament as the players train under the coaching staff to get in the groove.

The camp has been scheduled from March 12 to March 15 in Dharamsala and will be attended by key Indian players, including wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, all-rounder Shashank Singh, and veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Head coach Ricky Ponting, assistant coach Brad Haddin, and fast bowling coach James Hopes will also be joining the team at HPCA.

Revealing the reason behind selecting Dharamsala as the training ground, head coach Ricky Ponting said, "It feels great to come here, and a lot of the guys haven't played at this ground, and we've got three games in a row at the back end of the tournament here. So the thinking behind deciding to come here was to give the boys a bit of a feel of this ground."

He added, "We'll make the most of the training days here, and then we've got the possibility of five or six days training in Chandigarh."

The newly appointed mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Dwayne Bravo, has made it clear that the defending champions will stick to their winning formula in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they prepare for the 2025 season. While Bravo brings his own style, he emphasised the importance of continuity, drawing insights from former mentor Gautam Gambhir, who led KKR to their third title last year before taking charge of the Indian team.

As KKR gears up for a fresh season with a new mentor and captain, Bravo made it clear—there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.

Having spoken to Gambhir, the architect of KKR’s 2024 triumph who has now moved on to coach Team India, Bravo emphasised the importance of continuity.

Pakistan's financial capital Karachi continues to witness a surge in crime rate as armed robbers looted Rs 1.15 million in cash from the staff of the Peoples' Bus Service in Gulshan-e-Hadeed late Wednesday night. They later escaped with the cash, weapons and mobile phones. According to the driver, the robbery took place at the last stop of the bus service, where the staff was resting.

Elaborating on the incident, the driver of the bus said six assailants arrived in a vehicle, and four armed men forced them inside the bus at gunpoint before looting Rs 1.15 million in cash, local media reported.

Last week, three armed robbers stormed a shop and looted mobile phones, cash, and other valuables in Karachi. Despite the presence of several people at the shop, the robbers managed to escape without facing any resistance,

2025 is turning out to be no different than 2024 for residents of Karachi in terms of rampant street crime incidents, which have resulted in the death of at least 19 people since January in the provincial capital.

Saika Ishaque and Danielle Gibson have come in for the crucial clash as the Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator clash of the 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.

The winner of Thursday’s clash will book a place in the final against Delhi Capitals on Saturday. MI are playing an Eliminator for the third straight time, while it’s the first time GG find themselves in the playoffs. In head-to-head clashes between both teams, MI have a 6-0 record over GG.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab Senior leader and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema highlighted the success of the Punjab Government's anti-drug campaign 'War Against Drugs' (Yudh Nashian Virudh) and shared details of police actions conducted over the last 13 days with the media.

Addressing a press conference related to this campaign at Punjab Bhavan on Thursday, Harpal Cheema stated that the results of the 'War Against Drugs' campaign are highly encouraging and its positive impact can be seen everywhere.

He said this campaign is running very successfully across Punjab. So far, over 81 kg of heroin, more than 51 kg of opium, and more than ₹60 lakh in cash have been recovered. Meanwhile, 1259 FIRs have been registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), and 1759 drug traffickers have been arrested

Two South Korean Air Force fighter jet pilots were booked on Thursday for charges related to last week's accidental bombing of a village after pilot error was found to be the cause of the accident, the Defence Ministry said.

Last Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometres north of Seoul, during live-fire drills, injuring 38 people, including 24 civilians.

"The Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed in the probe to date that the pilots' erroneous entry of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident," the Defence Ministry said in a notice to reporters.

The pilots, booked as of Thursday, have been charged with professional negligence resulting in injury, according to the ministry, news agency reported.

They were also charged for damaging military facilities, including a church, the ministry said.

Tearaway England pacer Mark Wood has been ruled out of all forms of cricket for four months after undergoing left knee surgery, caused by a ligament damage he suffered during the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The injury is also likely to keep Wood out of England’s five-match Test series against India happening from June 20 to August 4. Wood, 35, injured his left knee in the fourth over of England's defeat to Afghanistan and even spent time off the field.

Though Wood returned to bowl a further four overs and ended with figures of 0-50, he was visibly uncomfortable by limping throughout his second spell. Now the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said scans showed the ligament damage on Wood’s left knee and he underwent surgery for the same on Wednesday.

As per United Nations Environment Programme Food Waste Index Report 2024, the estimated food wastage in India in 2022 is 55 kg/capita/year which is significantly lower than the global average of 79 kg/capita/year, shows official data.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) takes measures to prevent food wastage, including “Save Food Share Food” Initiative to promote surplus food donation by industry, including food caterers.

According to Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution B.L. Verma, to combat the problem of minimal outreach of surplus food distribution agencies, a pan India network of surplus food distribution agencies has been created as Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA).

A major fire broke out in Gurugram's Kingdom of Dreams (KOD) in Sector-29 on Thursday, police said.

Officials said that there were no casualties in the fire accident that took place around 11 a.m.

An electrical short circuit inside the KOD is suspected to be the cause of the fire.