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The integration of large language models into war-game simulations and planning promises faster scenario analysis, but recent research highlights significant issues, including a risk of escalation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2024

Resist the seductive power of AI in military decision-making

The maturation of AI and the creation of large learning models have driven the war-gaming industry — and it is an industry — to new heights of fever and frenzy.
Lufthansa Group decided to resume overflying Afghan airspace from early July, as airlines became concerned about the airspace in the Middle East.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2024

Airlines fly over Afghanistan as Middle East becomes the greater risk

Carriers mostly stopped transiting Afghanistan, which lies on major routes between Asia and Europe, when the Taliban took over and air traffic control services stopped.
Sarvam AI, often described as India’s OpenAI, introduced software for businesses that can interact with customers using spoken voice rather than just text.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 26, 2024

Cheap AI voice bots are suddenly everywhere in India

Startups may turn India into a proving ground for what could be the next frontier of generative artificial intelligence products.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 26, 2024

Interoperability with Japan ‘crucial,’ Italian defense chief says

Engagement between the two partners is already paying dividends, including in terms of lessons for the future deployment of F-35Bs from MSDF carriers.
An ISIS flag hangs in the bombed-out remains of a palace that militants used as a headquarters in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2024

Islamic State supporters turn to AI to bolster online support

Digital experts say groups like IS and far-right movements are increasingly using AI online and testing the limits of safety controls on social media platforms.
An artificial intelligence process sign in the Samsung Electronics hall at the IFA Consumer Electronics and Home Appliances trade fair in Berlin in 2022
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 27, 2024

Is that voice real or AI? One startup says it can tell the difference

The latest wave of artificial intelligence technology can mimic the voice of almost anyone.
A satellite image shows Typhoon Shanshan south of Kyushu on Wednesday afternoon
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024

Typhoon Shanshan batters Kyushu ahead of likely landfall

Shanshan could make landfall later Thursday while still a very strong storm, and its slow movement means it will deliver dangerous impacts over a prolonged period.
A satellite image from Wednesday shows Typhoon Shanshan south of Kyushu as the storm was rapidly intensifying.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 30, 2024

From tropical storm to 'violent': Japan’s typhoon classifications

Japan's system differs from that used for hurricanes, and there also differences in how the storms are discussed in English versus Japanese.
Officials of the Osaka Municipal Government enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's factory, which was closed in December, in the city of Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2024

Japan makes supplement health damage reports mandatory

The measure is aimed at enabling administrative authorities to quickly grasp related information and prevent the spread of health damage.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said that Chinese ships passing through the Tokara Strait are exercising the right of transit passage, "which is completely legitimate and legal."
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2024

China says its military ships going through Tokara Strait have right of transit

The sailing was part of a series of recent moves by the Chinese military near Japan that Tokyo has said are “cause for concern.”
One survey revealed that 68% of recruiters admit to appearance-based hiring and 96% say interviews are influenced by visual impressions, which is why many employment experts advise job hunters to invest significantly in their appearance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

Why do I need a photo on my resume to apply for a job in Japan?

It is time to build a recruitment system in Japan that rewards people’s talents, irrespective of their looks
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan greet the press before welcoming leaders from African countries in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 5, 2024

Debt woes and funding needs in focus as China hosts African leaders

Africa and its ample mineral and oil resources have become the focus of intense geopolitical competition in recent years.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left), Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (center left), Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center right) and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles gather for their two-plus-two meeting in Queenscliff, Australia, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 5, 2024

Japan and Australia look to closer cooperation to deter China

The quasi-allies have committed to coordinate their national security policies “more closely than ever before.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland sits between Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray during a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, in Washington on Sept. 4. Federal prosecutors say Russia secretly paid the American company Tenet Media to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Russia secretly worms its way into America’s conservative media

The latest indictment reflects the growing sophistication of the Kremlin’s long-standing efforts to shape American public opinion and advance its geopolitical goals.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits O Jin U Artillery Academy in the country on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

After U.S.-South Korea nuclear drills, North girds for ‘long-term’ faceoff

Pyongyang vows to take “practical measures” after accusing Washington and Seoul of deploying nuclear-capable assets to the region and staging drills.
Hiroyuki Mano, director of the National Cancer Center Japan's (NCC) research institute, explains  on Wednesday the use of mice bearing patients' cancer tissues to screen drug candidates for their efficacy.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2024

New mouse models can boost Japan's drug development: National Cancer Center

The tumor-bearing mice retain many of the characteristics of the patients' cancer tissues, so favorable drug test results are likelier to be replicated in human trials.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in Saint Petersburg on Friday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

Russia sharing nuclear secrets with Iran fuels U.S.-U.K. worries

The nuclear information and technology may be in exchange for Tehran providing Moscow with ballistic missiles for its war in Ukraine.
There are worries that residents' personal information would be compromised if vulnerabilities in local government security systems are left unnoticed.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Japan to conduct mock cyberattack tests on local governments

The measure aims to strengthen local governments' security by checking for system vulnerabilities.
Members of the Secret Service counterassault team keep watch as U.S. President Joe Biden arrives aboard Marine One in New Castle, Delaware, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 21, 2024

Secret Service admits complacency over Trump shooting in July

A review "identified deficiencies in the advanced planning and its implementation," Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said.
A U.S. Marine aircraft at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 21, 2024

U.S. marine in Okinawa indicted for alleged sexual assault

The suspect has denied part of the charges, claiming that he had consent, investigative sources said.
Fluminense and Al Ahly players line up prior to a FIFA Club World Cup match in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last year
SOCCER
Sep 25, 2024

LGBTQ fans welcome in Saudi Arabia, 2034 World Cup bid chief says

In August, Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia failed to meet FIFA’s own human rights requirements in their bid for the World Cup.
An unearthed Nazca Lines geoglyph in southern Peru
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2024

AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert

Researchers found the geoglyphs through field surveys conducted at sites selected with artificial intelligence technology from aerial photographs.
CCP Committee Secretary and People's Bank of China head Pan Gongsheng in Beijing on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 25, 2024

Xi’s economic adrenaline shot is only buying China a little time

The measures include interest rate cuts, more cash for banks, bigger incentives to buy homes and plans to consider a stock stabilization fund.
Choi Min-kyong (right), a North Korean defector who said she was deported by China four times before making it to South Korea in 2012, and Shin Ju-ye (left), who fled North Korea in the 1990s and settled in China before defecting to South Korea last year, speak during an interview in Seoul on July 19.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 25, 2024

China cracks down on North Korean defectors with biometric surveillance

Facial-recognition cameras now monitor China's border with North Korea, documents show, while police have collected biometric data of North Koreans in the country.
Digital minister Taro Kono, who is contesting the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, shows a board saying "accomplishment of reformation" during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2024

How Taro Kono lost his mojo

Recent polls have shown the digital minister trailing behind his eight other rivals in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
WORLD
Sep 26, 2024

Russia has a secret war drones project in China, intel sources say

Both Russia and Ukraine are racing to ramp up their production of drones, which have emerged as highly effective weapons in the war.
A Japanese Self-Defense Force jet was forced to fire flares recently as a warning to Russian aircraft that violated the country's airspace, highlighting how both China and Russia tried to test Japan’s leadership during a period of political transition.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2024

China tests Japan. Are its new leaders ready?

Most of China's moves require considerable planning. That means that the signals they sent were anticipated and approved by political decision-makers.
Shigeru Ishiba, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a news conference after winning the party's leadership election in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024

Ishiba's foreign policy vision to face immediate tests as he takes helm

The new Japanese leader will be greeted immediately with the challenge of reining in escalating regional tensions and building up the U.S. alliance.
Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
CULTURE / Stage / Longform
Sep 29, 2024

Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh

The art form’s younger dancers are experimenting with long-standing approaches to the choreography, marketing and image of this captivating piece of Japanese culture.
Ryuichi Takai holds an orange-colored "dementia help mark" during its unveiling event in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 21.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2024

City in Aichi Prefecture creates 'dementia help mark'

The mark is designed to signal that the holders may need help and consideration.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?