Through silence and prayers, people across Japan on Sunday remembered the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.

A moment of silence was observed at 2:46 p.m. — the exact time the magnitude-9.0 quake struck on March 11, 2011.

A solar storm shook the Earth's magnetic field early Friday, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems.

After reports Thursday of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field.

Indie-rock favorites The Shins are back with a new album, a new lineup and a more upbeat sound that lead singer-songwriter James Mercer credits in part to his tranquil family life.

The band's fourth album, "Port of Morrow," is set for release March 20 in the U.S. It comes five years after The Shins' Grammy-nominated album "Wincing the Night Away" entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2.

This year's Cannes Film Festival is opening with a New England accent.

Cannes organizers said Friday that American filmmaker Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" will kick off the 12-day festival.

Whitney Houston's sister-in-law said she feared that drugs would end the singer's life.

In a partial transcript of an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled to air Sunday, Patricia Houston said she would be "kidding herself" to say otherwise.

A calm James Cameron has broken his own record with the world's deepest solo submarine dive, plunging 5.1 miles (8.2 kilometers) in the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea, the filmmaker said Thursday.

Still, he is not satisfied. Later this month he says he plans to descend to the deepest place on Earth.

Hailed as the greatest club side of all time after their European master class, Barcelona face humble Racing Santander Sunday, trying to hunt down Real Madrid, the best team in Spain.

Lionel Messi's record-breaking five goals in the 7-1 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen eased Barcelona into the quarterfinals, but it's Real Madrid who rule the roost on the home front, boasting a 10-point lead going into the weekend.

FIFA will interview the match referee and players during a probe of Bahrain's "unusual" 10-0 win over Indonesia in a World Cup qualifier.

FIFA says it is "proceeding with this investigation as a priority" from security division offices in Jordan and Malaysia.

Six world champions on the grid for the opening Grand Prix of the season represents an unprecedented array of talent for Formula One, yet few would count on anything other than another Sebastian Vettel title this season.

Kimi Raikkonen's return from a year away in rally racing has added one more former champion to F1 ranks this season, joining Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button.

The leader of Syria's main opposition group rejected calls Friday by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad's government, saying they were pointless and unrealistic as the regime massacres its own people.

As the prospects for diplomacy faltered, Turkey's state-run television TRT said two Syrian generals and a colonel defected to Turkey on Thursday.