Thursday Briefing – The New York Times

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During a pomp-filled ceremony at the White House, President Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan said their countries would enhance their cooperation as part of international efforts to counter China’s aggression.

Biden said the United States and Japan would create an expanded defense architecture with Australia, engage in tripartite military exercises with Britain and explore ways for Japan to join a U.S.-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 clarified that two Japanese astronauts could join the program.)

The day ended with an elaborate state dinner, an honor reserved only for America’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.

Background: The visit came amid concerns in Washington and Tokyo about the possibility of a return to power by Donald Trump, whose unpredictable foreign policy as president kept many world leaders on edge. One goal of the summit, officials said, was to strengthen the relationship with Japan ahead of the election.

Voters handed President Yoon Suk Yeol and his party a resounding defeat in the parliamentary elections, giving the opposition one of its biggest electoral victories in recent decades. Now, Yoon faces the possibility of becoming an outgoing candidate for the remainder of his only five-year term.

It looked like the opposition Democratic Party, along with a party allied to it, 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 his 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 issues offered to resign, the AP reported. Yoon’s office did not immediately say whether the resignations had been accepted.

Yoon’s missteps and the opposition’s control of Parliament have crippled his pro-business domestic agenda, and his goals will continue to be jeopardized by lopsided election results. By contrast, 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 still carries out airstrikes throughout the territory. The Israeli military confirmed the deaths and said the three children were Hamas military operatives.

“The enemy is deceived if it believes that by killing my children we will change our positions,” Haniyeh, who heads Hamas’ political bureau from exile and has participated in ceasefire negotiations that have stalled, said in a statement.

Wanted: Someone who can write a short piece of fiction about a dancing green octopus, set in Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX offices on November 8, 2022.

That’s an essay question on a test for people applying to work as artificial intelligence tutors, that is, contractors paid to train AI models. As AI technology has become more sophisticated, so have the jobs of those who must thoroughly teach the systems, meaning yesterday’s photo tagger is today’s essay writer.

  • Taiwan: An earthquake rescue dog has won hearts for helping find a victim’s body. (The dog was too friendly to sniff out drugs.)

  • Framing yourself: A Munich museum said it had fired a worker for hanging one of his own pieces in his 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.”

Restoring your domain: The humble Bayern Munich showed hunger and energy.

A slow and insidious disappearance: The fall of the House of Ajax.

Masters Big Board 2024: How Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler and everyone else compare.

Last November, Paris FC became home to an unlikely revolution by announcing it would virtually eliminate 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 era when football, like all sports, is a television business, whether observers in a stadium are part of the production.

The move represented a marketing strategy, since 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 tactic has worked.

That’s all for today’s briefing. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us and we’ll see you tomorrow. — Dan

You can contact Dan and the team at information@nytimes.com.