News Snapshot:
Russia could have had a rematch of one of its most "humiliating" military defeats, had the country followed through with recently revealed plans to attack Japan last year. A whistleblower at Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) shared with Newsweek a leaked letter that claimed Russia was "quite seriously preparing for a localized military conflict with Japan" in August 2021, only months before choosing to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine instead. The attack plans may have been related to a longstanding territorial dispute concerning the strategically important Kuril Islands, which are occupied by Russia but claimed by Japan. Russia and...