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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on April 7.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2025

Bypassed by Trump, Israel dismayed but silent

Israel has maintained a diplomatic silence this week even as their assumptions about their standing with the U.S. were shaken by Trump's moves.
In part due to low awareness that placing bets using overseas sports gambling sites is illegal, access to such platforms in Japan has surged in recent years.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2025

Illegal wagers on overseas sports betting sites top ¥6.4 trillion, study finds

The findings, reported by a sports organization, comes after two baseball players were sent to prosecutors earlier this month for allegedly placing bets from Japan.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025

Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan

The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
LIFE / Digital
May 17, 2025

In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving

“Of course, we’re all in the shadow of Nintendo, but we’re also here because of Nintendo,” says one British indie game developer.
Ice calves off from the Perito Moreno glacier into the Lago Argentino (Argentine Lake), in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, near the city of El Calafate in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, on April 21
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 16, 2025

Huge ice falls at Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier stir awe and concern

Recently the size of the ice chunks breaking off — a process called "calving" — has been starting to alarm local guides and glaciologists.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden departs Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 18, 2025

Release of 2023 Biden recording renews debate on his capabilities

The four-minute audio clip comes as a book is being released alleging the White House staff covered up Biden's decline even as he was seeking reelection.
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025

Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability

Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington on Jan. 17.
WORLD / Politics
May 19, 2025

Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

The former U.S. president has a form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, and is reviewing treatment options, his office said Sunday.
A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 19, 2025

That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb

A tragic accident in Saitama shows how aging pipes, soft soil and climate threats are straining the country’s infrastructure.
Indonesian President Prabowo delivers a speech during a May Day rally in Jakarta on May 1.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2025

In Indonesia, fears grow that new history books may rewrite dark past

The 10-volume series would have an Indonesia-centric narrative and aims "to reinvent the Indonesian identity," Culture Minister Fadli Zon said.
The Europe League trophy on display in Bilbao, Spain, on Saturday, ahead of the league final game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United on Wednesday
SOCCER
May 20, 2025

Europa League final offers financial savior for Man Utd and Spurs

Both clubs head to Bilbao for the final assailed by stinging criticism amid their worst seasons of the Premier League era.
Hiroshima Victims Memorial Cenotaph in the Peace Memorial Park
JAPAN
May 20, 2025

Japan's emperor and empress to visit Hiroshima in June

The imperial couple will visit the city of Hiroshima to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
China has faced spates of extreme weather events, from searing heat and drought to downpours and floods, for several consecutive summers.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 20, 2025

Record May heat scorches north and central China

China has endured spates of extreme weather events, from searing heat and drought to downpours and floods, for several summers running.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime during a news conference in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2025

Elections, Gaza and polarization drive political crime to record high in Germany

Far-right violence recorded by police surged 40.2% to 84,172 in 2024, a report published on Tuesday by the Interior Ministry showed.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Investors are shunning an auction of government debt and yields are soaring as the BOJ reduces its purchases of government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 21, 2025

Buyers recoil from Japanese bonds in warning to BOJ on balance-sheet cuts

The rout in the nation’s $7.8 trillion government bond market is most acute for longer-maturity debt.
Thai film "A Useful Ghost" won top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section of the Cannes film festival.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 22, 2025

LGBTQ Thai ghost story wins prize in Cannes

Film director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke says he hoped his LGBTQ story could touch more on politics.
Iga Swiatek has won the last three French Open titles.
TENNIS
May 22, 2025

Iga Swiatek's French Open reign under threat after turbulent year

Swiatek dropped to No. 5 in the world rankings this week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2025

Ishiba and Guterres agree to deepen Japan-U.N. cooperation

Ishiba stressed the importance of the role played by the United Nations at a time when the international community faces a host of challenges.
Director Koji Fukada and actor Kyoko Saito pose during a photocall for Fukada's new film, "Love on Trial," in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 25, 2025

At Cannes, Fukada spotlights J-pop’s ban on idol romance

Director Koji Fukada’s new film, "Love on Trial," explores Japan’s idol industry and the contracts that ban young women from dating.
Posters, flowers, and letters are placed at a memorial honoring victims of police violence in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on May 18.
WORLD / Society
May 25, 2025

George Floyd's uncertain legacy is marked five years on

Americans on Sunday mark five years since George Floyd was killed by a U.S. police officer, as President Donald Trump backtracks on reforms designed to tackle racism.
The U.S. military’s longstanding dominance is eroding as China exploits its vulnerabilities with cheaper, faster and smarter warfare, demanding urgent American reinvention in energy, logistics and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

America’s hard power must get harder — quickly

Aircraft carriers and fighter jets look a lot less stealthy in a world of limitless drones and autonomous submarines.
Emperor Naruhito plants seedling at the 75th National Tree-Planting Festival at Chichibu Muse Park in Saitama Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025

Emperor attends tree-planting festival and calls for nurturing healthy forests

The emperor arrived in Saitama on Saturday for a two-day visit, where he inspected a research institute on tea, a local specialty, and a special-needs school.
Aryna Sabalenka hits a return against Kamilla Rakhimova during the first round of the French Open in Paris on Sunday.
TENNIS
May 26, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka off to strong start at French Open; Rafael Nadal says goodbye

Women's world No. 1 Sabalenka needed just an hour to sweep aside Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
A person is taken away on a stretcher after multiple people were hit by a car during a parade marking Liverpool's Premier League title win, in Liverpool, England, on Monday.
WORLD
May 27, 2025

Car plows into fans at Liverpool title parade

Videos on social media showed people thrown into the air as the car rammed into spectators.
A Liverpool football club scarf lies on the ground at the scene of an incident where a car plowed into a crowd of Liverpool fans during a parade celebrating their side's Premier League soccer title, in central Liverpool, Britain, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2025

Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after Liverpool parade crash

British police believe the incident, in a packed Liverpool city center on Monday, was isolated and not an act of terrorism.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a news conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

Macron weighs recognition of Palestinian state as Gaza toll mounts

French officials are considering the move ahead of a United Nations conference France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting from June 17 to 20.
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the third round of the French Open by defeating Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Paris on Wednesday.
TENNIS
May 29, 2025

Reigning champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at French Open

Alcaraz defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
People hold up signs during a rally in support of international students at the Harvard University campus in Boston on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025

Halt of U.S. visa process puts Japanese students' futures in question

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has confirmed that the embassy and U.S. consulate offices in Japan have suspended scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants.
As humidity rises in the rainy season, it’s a good idea to get some moisture absorbers and place them around the home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 30, 2025

How to talk about change in Japanese — one forecast at a time

Use the changing seasons as a springboard to learn how Japanese expresses cause-and-effect shifts.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers