Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni agreed Monday to work together toward the success of the Group of Seven summit in June, with Italy taking over the presidency from Japan this year. During their talks in Tokyo, the two leaders discussed the achievements of the G7 summit that was held in Kishida's home constituency of Hiroshima in May 2023, including the establishment of rules to prevent the misuse of artificial intelligence technology. Kishida and Meloni also reconfirmed their cooperation in supporting Ukraine, which has been under Russian invasion for the past two years, while exchanging views on how to tackle China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

The head of Britain's MI6 intelligence service has asked Russians angry with the invasion of Ukraine to "join hands" with the United Kingdom to help end the bloodshed, an invitation that is sure to stir fury at the Kremlin. "I invite them to do what others have done this past 18 months and join hands with us. Our door is always open … Their secrets will be safe with us and together we will work to bring the bloodshed to an end," Richard Moore told Politico on Wednesday, at the British embassy in Prague. A similar invitation was made two months ago by Washington, when the CIA released a video urging Russians to get in touch. Perhaps the people around you don't want to hear the truth.

Republican Rep. Lance Gooden is concerned that AI could eventually replace human decision-making in government and other critical areas of society. The head of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency said artificial intelligence will not replace the need for human spies during a rare public speech in Prague Wednesday. Richard Moore, chief of the U.K.'s Secret Intelligence Service, spoke on the evolving threats to the West from Russia and Iran at the British Embassy in Prague on Wednesday. He also addressed the importance and necessity of the "human factor" despite rapidly evolving machine learning, according to the Associated Press. "AI is going to make information infinitely more accessible and some have asked whether it will put intelligence services like mine out of business," the spy chief said.

NAGOYA – Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. have agreed to form a tie-up in advanced technology development and other operations, sources close to the matter said Saturday. The two automakers will continue to discuss whether to expand the partnership to include a capital alliance, the sources said. The comprehensive tie-up comes after Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker by volume, and Suzuki, a small-car specialist, said in October they would start talks on how they could join forces. The deal is expected to be announced Monday, according to the sources. The global auto industry is facing soaring costs to meet stricter emissions regulations and develop advanced safety technology for electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems.