The US and Japan strengthened their ties
During a lavish ceremony at the White House, President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said their countries would strengthen cooperation as part of international efforts to counter China’s aggression.
Biden said the US and Japan would create an expanded defense architecture with Australia, engage in trilateral military exercises with Britain and explore ways for Japan to join a US-led coalition with those two countries. .
Economic and climate initiatives were also high on the agenda. Biden also announced that a Japanese astronaut would go to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which would be the first time a non-American would set foot on the lunar surface. (A later statement specified that two Japanese astronauts could join the program.)
The day ended with an elaborate state dinner, an honor reserved only for the US’s closest allies. It featured a performance by Paul Simon and a guest list that included Bill and Hillary Clinton and Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
Subject: The visit comes amid arguments in Washington and Tokyo over the potential return to power of Donald Trump, whose unpredictable foreign policy as president has kept many world leaders on edge. One goal of the summit, officials said, was to strengthen the relationship with Japan ahead of the election.
South Korean leader’s party crashes in parliamentary elections
Voters handed President Yoon Suk Yeol and his party a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections, handing the opposition one of its biggest electoral victories in decades. Now, Yoon faces the possibility of being crippled for the remainder of his five-year term.
It appeared that the opposition Democratic Party, along with an allied party, would win well over half of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung narrowly lost to Yoon in 2022. Yoon’s People Power Party and its satellite party were expected to win more than 100 seats, according to the Associated Press. Final official results are expected later today.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and all of Yoon’s top advisers, except those in charge of security, have offered to resign, the AP reported. Yoon’s office did not immediately say whether the resignations had been accepted.
Yun’s missteps and opposition control of Parliament have hampered his business-friendly domestic agenda, and his goals will remain in jeopardy from the lopsided election results. Instead, Lee, who hopes to run for president again in 2027, is likely to get a big boost from the election.
Israeli ground troops have largely withdrawn from Gaza, but Israel continues to carry out airstrikes across the territory. The Israeli military confirmed the deaths, noting that the three sons were Hamas soldiers.
“The enemy is delusional if it thinks that by killing my children, we will change our positions,” Haniyeh, who heads Hamas’ politburo from exile and has been involved in stalled cease-fire negotiations, said in a statement .
MORE TOP NEWS
Wanted: Someone who can write a short novel about a dancing green octopus set in the FTX offices of Sam Bankman-Fried on November 8, 2022.
This is an essay question on a test for people applying to work as AI tutors — that is, contractors who get paid to train AI models. As AI technology has become more sophisticated, so have the jobs of those who must painstakingly teach the systems, meaning that yesterday’s photo tagger is today’s essay writer.
DISCUSSION STARTERS
-
Taiwan: An earthquake rescue dog has won hearts for helping to find a victim’s body. (The dog was too friendly to sniff out drugs.)
-
He frames himself: A museum in Munich said it fired a worker for hanging one of his works in its collection.
-
Copyright: Italy and German puzzle maker Ravensburger are fighting over who has the right to reproduce and profit from Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
sport News
Restoring their sovereignty: Lowly Bayern Munich showed hunger and energy.
A slow and insidious death: The fall of the House of Ajax.
Masters 2024 Big Board: How Tiger Woods, Scotty Scheffler and Everyone else Stack Up.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Is free the right price for a football game?
Last November, Paris FC became home to an unlikely revolution, announcing they were scrapping ticket prices for the rest of the season. The experiment raised the question of whether fans should pay to watch a match or – in an age when football, like all sports, is a televised business – whether spectators in a stadium are part of the production.
The move amounted to a marketing strategy, as tickets cost only about $6, and Paris FC has long trailed Paris St.-Germain as the City of Light’s favorite team. Months later, most metrics suggest the game worked.
That’s it for today’s update. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us and see you tomorrow. — Dan
You can reach Dan and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
