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Beijing is quietly supporting the Kremlin’s war machine. For China, the longer the West stays distracted with the Ukraine war, the better.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2024

The West is hastening its own decline

Unless it changes course, the West is likely to lose its global supremacy, including its hold on the international financial architecture.
AI-powered disinformation campaigns particularly during elections can create varied and nuanced content, making detection more challenging.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2024

If AI wrecks democracy, we may never know

AI-powered disinformation campaigns can create varied and nuanced content, making detection more challenging.
The idea of quitting tends to be associated with weakness, but moving on from a problematic situation can sometimes be extremely positive.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 10, 2024

Sometimes there's power in quitting

Modern society tends to see quitting as a sign of weakness, but Buddhist teaching has extolled the benefits of letting go of something at the right time.
Pete Reynolds (front row, right) has trained for 38 years with the Bujinkan, an organization that teaches skills used by ninja. The American moved to Japan in 2000 and is now a senior instructor at the organization’s dojo in the Nezu neighborhood in Tokyo.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2024

The unexpected acolytes helping to keep ninja heritage alive

What may have started as youthful fantasy has led to a deeper passion in an area of Japanese history by non-Japanese martial arts practitioners.
Having succeeded her father, Akira Mori, Miwako Date has been CEO of real estate development firm Mori Trust since 2016.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
May 19, 2024

Leading a major property developer with an eye on art and culture

Third-generation CEO Miwako Date is making her mark with Mori Trust's regional luxury hotels.
Current AI systems, designed to be honest, have developed a troubling skill for deception, from tricking human players in online games of world conquest to hiring humans to solve "prove-you're-not-a-robot" tests, a team of scientists argue in the journal Patterns on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 11, 2024

AI systems are already deceiving us — and that's a problem, experts warn

Current AI systems have tricked human players in online games and even hired humans to solve "prove-you're-not-a-robot" tests.
A Palestinian student, who plans to return to his homeland after graduation and who wishes to remain anonymous, poses for a portrait while wearing a kaffiyeh along with his commencement cap at the Auraria Campus in Denver on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Campus Gaza rallies may subside, but experts see possible 'hot summer of protest'

Academics say it's difficult to maintain the people-power energy on campus if most of the people are gone.
The eighth edition of the Yokohama Triennale, held at the Yokohama Museum of Art, opened in March this year with the theme “Wild Grass: Our Lives."
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2024

Yokohama Triennale's eighth edition makes room for context

Curators Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu's dynamic and vital show positions art at the vanguard of social change.
A new era in Japan-U.S. military cooperation is set to begin after Japan's parliament enacted new laws to establish a joint command headquarters for the nation’s Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2024

Let the real work on Japan’s defense modernization begin

Scheduled to go into effect in March 2025, the Japan Joint Operations Command will centralize command of the country’s military services.
Relations between Russia and Western nations have been in the deep freeze since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Norway has been keen to keep some limited cooperation alive through the Arctic Council.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2024

West and Russia manage limited cooperation in Arctic despite chill in ties

Norway has been keen to keep some limited cooperation between Russia and the West alive.
A man uses a sheet of cardboard to shade from the sun during high temperatures in Bangkok on April 28. Thailand has been bracing for hotter-than-normal days due to the El Nino weather pattern that’s forecast to last until June.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 15, 2024

Asia’s killer April heat wave was made much worse by climate change

In countries such as Palestine and Israel, climate change made the heat wave five times more likely than it would have been in pre-industrial times.
If OpenAI’s mostly male engineers are trying to build the perfect girlfriend, they are on the right track. If they are trying to build a more reliable AI model, there is still more work to do.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2024

OpenAI's new ChatGPT can flirt. What could go wrong?

What are the social and psychological consequences of regularly speaking to a flirty, fun and ultimately agreeable artificial voice?
Employees place items into boxes and envelopes at an Amazon fulfillment center.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Amazon workers say they struggle to afford food and rent

Amazon has long been criticized for its treatment of employees
A monk practices "zazen" (seated meditation), a practice that the monk Dogen said would help one cast aside the world in service of the Way.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
May 17, 2024

The joy of Zen — Part 1: Prose

The writings of the monks Eisai and Dogen sought to determine the proper way to live on this Earth, in harmony with the Way.
A demonstration condemning the killing of three Chinese teachers from the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute in April 2022. Terrorist groups in Pakistan are targeting Chinese nationals and threatening Beijing's Belt and Road initiative projects in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2024

Should we stay or should we go? China's dilemma in Pakistan

Beijing is pouring billions into Pakistan to complete a key Belt and Road initiative artery. But this is threatened by terrorist groups targeting Chinese nationals and interests.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (left) and then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin on May 7. While President Vladimir Putin has no real challengers, powerful actors within his government are vying against each other.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2024

The battle of ministries in Putin’s Russia

Historical parallels suggest that Putin’s top-down approach, like Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization and Gorbachev’s perestroika, risks sparking opposition by causing intra-elite infighting.
A young woman who has just turned 20 moves in with an eccentric distant cousin in Tokyo after her mother moves to China in Nanae Aoyama's “A Perfect Day to Be Alone.”
CULTURE / Books
May 21, 2024

'A Perfect Day to Be Alone': A touching and relatable examination of growing up

Nanae Aoyama’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novella captures the lonely juncture between adolescence and adulthood.
The modernization of Japan's defense strategy is not just about military capabilities, it is also about building consensus and fostering public understanding.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2024

The winding road to Japan's defense modernization

The government's efforts to engage the public on defense issues are crucial for building consensus and ensuring the sustainability of defense reforms.
Though the West has supplied desperately needed weapons and ammunition, it has done little else to address Ukraine’s needs or establish shared goals.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2024

The war in Ukraine needs a stronger unified Western strategy

Though the West has supplied desperately needed weapons and ammunition, it has done little else to address Ukraine’s needs.
Managing India's regional tensions will be critical for the nation's future, as demographic shifts and economic disparities threaten to exacerbate existing divides.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2024

Hindu-Muslim split isn’t India’s most dangerous divide

If the long-established consensus around states’ rights continues to erode, India will be in real trouble.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at a campaign rally for his Bharatiya Janata party in Chandrapur, India, on April 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2024

Modi’s 400-seat dream in doubt as India opposition gains steam

Party insiders, opposition members and analysts who have traveled across India to speak to voters say there’s little evidence of a "Modi wave.”
Yasuke, a historical Black samurai, will star in the newly announced Assassin's Creed Shadows — a choice that has riled some critics online.
LIFE / Digital
May 25, 2024

Gaming's latest culture war targets Yasuke, Japan's Black samurai

For a vocal minority of gamers, a Black protagonist of a game set in feudal Japan was a call to war.
In the digital age, it will get harder for institutions such a the British Museum to keep looted cultural possessions as communities in Africa and elsewhere learn about what was taken from them.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2024

How are museums still justifying keeping stolen artifacts?

As much as 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s cultural artifacts are outside of the continent, according to a 2018 report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron.
To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2024

The authoritarians have the momentum

To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in Beijing on May 16.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2024

The fragile fraternity of China and Russia

Putin’s Mao-like bid for a full-fledged military alliance with China, including commitments to mutual defense, also seems to have failed.
A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024

Government and society are at odds on national security

Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While some view artificial intelligence’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics of such arrangements.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

OpenAI is making journalism an offer it can’t refuse

While some view AI’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics and transparency of such arrangements.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak inspects troops at a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, on May 3. Sunak is making the question of protecting Britain and navigating dangerous geopolitical conditions central themes of his election campaign.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

War is at the heart of the U.K.’s summer election

British Prime Minister Sunak is nevertheless right to inject defense into the heart of the election campaign.
Some experts are concerned about the potential for worldwide conflict within the next few years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2024

Echoes of 1962, the Berlin crisis and a world teetering on war

There is the potential for worldwide conflict within the next three years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight