World's Oldest Person, Japanese Woman Tomiko Itooka, Passes Away at 116

Rescue teams in Yashio, Saitama prefecture, Japan, are racing against time to save a 74-year-old truck driver trapped in a large sinkhole since January 28. The sinkhole, measuring approximately 10 meters across and 10 meters deep, opened suddenly at an intersection, swallowing the driver and his two-ton vehicle. According to media reports, initial contact with the trapped man has ceased as water has begun to accumulate in the hole, raising concerns for his condition. Rescue efforts faced setbacks, including a second sinkhole formation on January 30, which merged with the first hole. Local authorities have evacuated residents within a 200-meter radius due to potential hazards posed by an underground gas pipe. Motohiro Ono, the governor of Saitama prefecture, expressed concerns about the possibility of further collapses, attributing the initial sinkhole to a ruptured sewage pipe. In reaction to the ongoing crisis, local officials have begun discharging wastewater into a nearby river, affecting approximately 1.2 million residents instructed to conserve water while emergency services continue their operations.

Japan has announced its refusal to fund a UN women's rights committee following calls for the country to change its male-only royal succession laws. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi stated on Thursday that Japan will not proceed with a planned visit by a committee member and will suspend financial contributions, which historically range between ¥20 to ¥30 million (approximately $150,000 to $225,000) annually, to the UN High Commissioner for Women. The UN committee previously urged Japan to ensure both women and men can claim the throne, in line with practices in other monarchies. However, Japan has demanded that these recommendations be retracted, asserting that succession rights are unrelated to human rights or gender discrimination. Currently, only sons of royal fathers are eligible to become emperor, leading to concerns about succession as Emperor Naruhito’s heir is significantly older than prospective successors, with only 18-year-old Prince Hisahito as a youthful option. Despite opinion polls indicating public support for allowing female succession, traditional views remain strong, hindering parliamentary discussions on the matter.

Japanese investment group SoftBank is reportedly in discussions to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion in OpenAI, potentially making it the largest financial backer of the San Francisco-based AI startup behind ChatGPT. This claim was made by the Financial Times, stating that the deal would solidify SoftBank’s position in the burgeoning AI sector, having previously supported a funding round that valued OpenAI at $157 billion. SoftBank, led by CEO Masayoshi Son, is already an investor in OpenAI and has partnered with Oracle to launch a major initiative called Stargate, aimed at creating AI infrastructure with an initial expenditure of $100 billion. The news follows competition from a Chinese rival, DeepSeek, which recently topped app charts and caused fluctuations in AI stocks. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, maintained that the investment discussions are beneficial for the country, despite skepticism from other industry figures, including Elon Musk, regarding the funding’s viability. As of now, both OpenAI and SoftBank have declined to comment further on the negotiations.