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In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, one cannot escape the hype surrounding ChatGPT. Released by OpenAI in November 2022, ChatGPT…

But observers say Thursday’s ruling won’t likely hurt bilateral ties much since Seoul and Tokyo, now governed by different leaders, are pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges like North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats and China’s increasing assertiveness.

The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must provide between 100 million and 150 million won ($76,700 and $115,000) in compensation to each of four plaintiffs — bereaved families of its former employees who were forced to work for the company during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The court also said Nippon Steel Corp. must give 100 million won (about $76,700) to each of seven Korean plaintiffs for similar colonial-era forced labor.

In two separate verdicts in 2018, the top South Korean court ordered Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel to compensate a total of 15 other Korean employees for forced labor. That irked Japan, which has insisted all compensation issues were already settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized their diplomatic relations. But the 2018 South Korean court rulings said the treaty cannot prevent individual rights to seek compensations for forced labor because Japanese companies’ use of such laborers were “acts of illegality against humanity” that were linked to Tokyo’s illegal colonial occupation and its war of aggression.

In Thursday’s ruling, the South Korean Supreme Court cited that argument in one of the 2018 verdicts, saying it paved the way for “a judicial remedy for forced labor victims within Republic of Korea.” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called the ruling “absolutely unacceptable” as it clearly violated the 1965 treaty.

The wrangling touched off by the 2018 rulings led to the two countries downgrading each other’s trade status, and Seoul’s previous liberal government threatening to spike a military intelligence-sharing pact. Their strained ties complicated efforts by the United States to build a stronger trilateral cooperation to counter challenges posed by North Korea and China.

The Seoul-Tokyo relations, however, began thawing after South Korea’s current conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, announced in March that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate the forced labor victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during a Seoul visit. The two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew economic retaliatory steps against each other.

Eleven of the 15 former forced laborers or their families involved in the 2018 rulings had accepted compensation under Seoul’s third-party reimbursement plan, but the remaining four still refuse to accept it, according to their support group.

“I believe the South Korean government will continue its utmost effort in order to gain the understanding of the plaintiffs,” Hayashi said.

Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute Policy Institute in Seoul, said Thursday’s ruling “won’t likely cause big troubles in Korea-Japan relationships” as South Korea has already determined how to handle such verdicts with the establishment of the domestic compensation fund.

Choi said that, because some forced labor victims refuse to accept compensation under the third-party reimbursement system, the South Korean fund hasn’t completely resolved the issue. But she said an attempt by a future South Korean government to spike the system would undermine South Korea’s credibility in Japan and deteriorate bilateral ties severely.

Yoon’s push to improve ties with Japan drew strong backlash from some of the forced labor victims and liberal opposition politicians, who have demanded direct compensation from the Japanese companies. But Yoon defended his move, saying it’s essential to boosting ties with Japan to jointly cope with North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal, the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and global supply chain challenges.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

But observers say Thursday’s ruling won’t likely hurt bilateral ties much since Seoul and Tokyo, now governed by different leaders, are pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges like North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats and China’s increasing assertiveness.

The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must provide between 100 million and 150 million won ($76,700 and $115,000) in compensation to each of four plaintiffs — bereaved families of its former employees who were forced to work for the company during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The court also said Nippon Steel Corp. must give 100 million won (about $76,700) to each of seven Korean plaintiffs for similar colonial-era forced labor.

In two separate verdicts in 2018, the top South Korean court ordered Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel to compensate a total of 15 other Korean employees for forced labor. That irked Japan, which has insisted all compensation issues were already settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized their diplomatic relations. But the 2018 South Korean court rulings said the treaty cannot prevent individual rights to seek compensations for forced labor because Japanese companies’ use of such laborers were “acts of illegality against humanity” that were linked to Tokyo’s illegal colonial occupation and its war of aggression.

In Thursday’s ruling, the South Korean Supreme Court cited that argument in one of the 2018 verdicts, saying it paved the way for “a judicial remedy for forced labor victims within Republic of Korea.” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called the ruling “absolutely unacceptable” as it clearly violated the 1965 treaty.

The wrangling touched off by the 2018 rulings led to the two countries downgrading each other’s trade status, and Seoul’s previous liberal government threatening to spike a military intelligence-sharing pact. Their strained ties complicated efforts by the United States to build a stronger trilateral cooperation to counter challenges posed by North Korea and China.

The Seoul-Tokyo relations, however, began thawing after South Korea’s current conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, announced in March that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate the forced labor victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during a Seoul visit. The two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew economic retaliatory steps against each other.

Eleven of the 15 former forced laborers or their families involved in the 2018 rulings had accepted compensation under Seoul’s third-party reimbursement plan, but the remaining four still refuse to accept it, according to their support group.

“I believe the South Korean government will continue its utmost effort in order to gain the understanding of the plaintiffs,” Hayashi said.

Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute Policy Institute in Seoul, said Thursday’s ruling “won’t likely cause big troubles in Korea-Japan relationships” as South Korea has already determined how to handle such verdicts with the establishment of the domestic compensation fund.

Choi said that, because some forced labor victims refuse to accept compensation under the third-party reimbursement system, the South Korean fund hasn’t completely resolved the issue. But she said an attempt by a future South Korean government to spike the system would undermine South Korea’s credibility in Japan and deteriorate bilateral ties severely.

Yoon’s push to improve ties with Japan drew strong backlash from some of the forced labor victims and liberal opposition politicians, who have demanded direct compensation from the Japanese companies. But Yoon defended his move, saying it’s essential to boosting ties with Japan to jointly cope with North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal, the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and global supply chain challenges.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Whelan, who denies spying on Russia, was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel on Dec. 28, 2018. Investigators said he was caught red-handed with a flash drive containing sensitive information.

The United States has repeatedly denied that Whelan is a spy and repeatedly demanded his release, offering several different proposed deals to get Whelan home. Washington says he was “wrongfully detained”.

Whelan told the BBC he felt “abandoned” by the United States and said a previous swap which left him behind in Russia was a “serious betrayal”.

“I know the U.S. have all sorts of proposals, but it’s not what the Russians want. So they go back and forth, like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks,” the BBC quoted him saying.

“The problem is, it’s my life that’s draining away while they do this. It’s been five years.”

The United States has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia immediately and warns that those who stay are at serious risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.

Last December, U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. Whelan was not released in that swap.

President Vladimir Putin, when asked this month about a possible prisoner swap for the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Whelan, said he hoped an agreement would be reached, but that the U.S. had to listen to Russia’s conditions.

“It is not simple, I will not go into details now, but in general, it seems to me that we speak a language that is understandable to each other,” Putin said. “I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said after the Putin remarks that discussions were ongoing but Russia had rebuffed a serious proposal. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States wanted a deal.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Michael Perry)

Whelan, who denies spying on Russia, was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel on Dec. 28, 2018. Investigators said he was caught red-handed with a flash drive containing sensitive information.

The United States has repeatedly denied that Whelan is a spy and repeatedly demanded his release, offering several different proposed deals to get Whelan home. Washington says he was “wrongfully detained”.

Whelan told the BBC he felt “abandoned” by the United States and said a previous swap which left him behind in Russia was a “serious betrayal”.

“I know the U.S. have all sorts of proposals, but it’s not what the Russians want. So they go back and forth, like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks,” the BBC quoted him saying.

“The problem is, it’s my life that’s draining away while they do this. It’s been five years.”

The United States has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia immediately and warns that those who stay are at serious risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.

Last December, U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. Whelan was not released in that swap.

President Vladimir Putin, when asked this month about a possible prisoner swap for the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Whelan, said he hoped an agreement would be reached, but that the U.S. had to listen to Russia’s conditions.

“It is not simple, I will not go into details now, but in general, it seems to me that we speak a language that is understandable to each other,” Putin said. “I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said after the Putin remarks that discussions were ongoing but Russia had rebuffed a serious proposal. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States wanted a deal.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Michael Perry)

California is planning to file an appeal of the decision, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday, adding that “the court got this wrong.”

The law, among a series of gun control measures signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, applies to those with licenses to carry a concealed weapon.

US District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction, and indicated that provisions of Senate Bill 2 that were being challenged “unconstitutionally deprive” concealed carry holders of their rights to carry a handgun.

The judge called the coverage of California’s law “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”

“SB2 turns nearly every public place in California into a ‘sensitive place,’ effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public,” Carney wrote in his order.

The California Rifle and Pistol Association and Gun Owners of America were among the plaintiffs in the challenge to the law.

Gun rights groups quickly celebrated Carney’s decision Wednesday.  

“This is a great day for Californians and human liberty,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs. “The court’s decision is both well-reasoned and the required result under the Constitution and binding Supreme Court precedent.”

The 67-year-old Amanda, Ohio, resident then does the same for her 5-year-old dilute tortoiseshell cat, Lola-Pearl, who is missing her left hind leg.

The duo is one of an estimated 200 therapy cat teams registered in the U.S. through Pet Partners. The nonprofit sets up owners and their pets as volunteer teams providing animal-assisted interventions, where they might visit hospitals, nursing homes or schools to aid in therapy and other activities to improve well-being in communities.

“A therapy animal is an animal who’s been assessed based on their ability to meet new people and not just tolerate the interaction, but actively enjoy it,” said Taylor Chastain Griffin, the national director of animal-assisted interventions advancement at the organization.

Pet Partners registers nine different species as therapy animals: dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, birds, mini pigs, and llamas and alpacas.

As part of her research, Chastain Griffin studies the impact of therapy cats and argues more research needs to be done. There’s abundant research on other therapy animals like dogs, she said, but there’s often a “shock factor” involved with therapy cats because many don’t know they exist.

“They go into a setting and people are like, ‘Whoa, there’s a cat on a leash. What’s happening?’” Chastain Griffin said. “It kind of inspires people to connect in a way we haven’t traditionally heard talked about in other therapy animal interventions.”

Mengel said she knew Lola-Pearl would be a good therapy cat after she brought her on a whim to an amputee coalition conference about a month after she adopted the domestic shorthair.

“She was so good with people I just knew she would be a good therapy cat,” Mengel said. “People really were attracted to her, too.”

During a recent visit to a limb loss support group meeting, Mengel pushed Lola-Pearl around in a stroller — labeled “Therapy Cat” — so attendees could pet the kitty as she woke up from a nap.

Whether she was sitting in the stroller, walking in between participants’ legs or cuddling on their laps, Lola-Pearl brought a smile to whoever she decided was worthy of her attention in that moment.

“She’s very intuitive of people,” Mengel said.

Lola-Pearl isn’t the only cat in Mengel’s life; the former traveling nurse who lost her left leg in 2006 after years of surgeries following a near-fatal car accident is a mother to seven felines, most of which have disabilities.

“They find you, you don’t find them,” she said.

Lola-Pearl was found at only a few weeks old with her back legs completely twisted together. She was unable to walk and brought to a friend of Mengel’s at an animal shelter in Missouri, where veterinarians could not help her. The shelter found specialists in Iowa who were able to splint Lola-Pearl’s legs as an attempt to save them, but they decided her left hind leg needed to be amputated.

Meanwhile, Mengel had been in talks with her friend in Missouri about adopting the cat, and after Lola-Pearl healed from surgery, Mengel officially adopted her.

Despite the obstacles Mengel has been through, she exudes a spirit of gratitude for Lola-Pearl and for the work they do together.

“It’s a really rewarding experience,” she said, “I get just as much out of it as the people that I visit.”

The 67-year-old Amanda, Ohio, resident then does the same for her 5-year-old dilute tortoiseshell cat, Lola-Pearl, who is missing her left hind leg.

The duo is one of an estimated 200 therapy cat teams registered in the U.S. through Pet Partners. The nonprofit sets up owners and their pets as volunteer teams providing animal-assisted interventions, where they might visit hospitals, nursing homes or schools to aid in therapy and other activities to improve well-being in communities.

“A therapy animal is an animal who’s been assessed based on their ability to meet new people and not just tolerate the interaction, but actively enjoy it,” said Taylor Chastain Griffin, the national director of animal-assisted interventions advancement at the organization.

Pet Partners registers nine different species as therapy animals: dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, birds, mini pigs, and llamas and alpacas.

As part of her research, Chastain Griffin studies the impact of therapy cats and argues more research needs to be done. There’s abundant research on other therapy animals like dogs, she said, but there’s often a “shock factor” involved with therapy cats because many don’t know they exist.

“They go into a setting and people are like, ‘Whoa, there’s a cat on a leash. What’s happening?’” Chastain Griffin said. “It kind of inspires people to connect in a way we haven’t traditionally heard talked about in other therapy animal interventions.”

Mengel said she knew Lola-Pearl would be a good therapy cat after she brought her on a whim to an amputee coalition conference about a month after she adopted the domestic shorthair.

“She was so good with people I just knew she would be a good therapy cat,” Mengel said. “People really were attracted to her, too.”

During a recent visit to a limb loss support group meeting, Mengel pushed Lola-Pearl around in a stroller — labeled “Therapy Cat” — so attendees could pet the kitty as she woke up from a nap.

Whether she was sitting in the stroller, walking in between participants’ legs or cuddling on their laps, Lola-Pearl brought a smile to whoever she decided was worthy of her attention in that moment.

“She’s very intuitive of people,” Mengel said.

Lola-Pearl isn’t the only cat in Mengel’s life; the former traveling nurse who lost her left leg in 2006 after years of surgeries following a near-fatal car accident is a mother to seven felines, most of which have disabilities.

“They find you, you don’t find them,” she said.

Lola-Pearl was found at only a few weeks old with her back legs completely twisted together. She was unable to walk and brought to a friend of Mengel’s at an animal shelter in Missouri, where veterinarians could not help her. The shelter found specialists in Iowa who were able to splint Lola-Pearl’s legs as an attempt to save them, but they decided her left hind leg needed to be amputated.

Meanwhile, Mengel had been in talks with her friend in Missouri about adopting the cat, and after Lola-Pearl healed from surgery, Mengel officially adopted her.

Despite the obstacles Mengel has been through, she exudes a spirit of gratitude for Lola-Pearl and for the work they do together.

“It’s a really rewarding experience,” she said, “I get just as much out of it as the people that I visit.”

Photographers chronicling life in North America in 2023 captured images that evoked all the emotions, from the giddy silliness of people racing in inflatable dinosaur costumes to the wrenching sorrow of a vigil for victims of a mass shooting.

This gallery from The Associated Press showcases a year that included unprecedented events — such as the first ever criminal indictment of a former president, Donald Trump, in connection to a hush money scheme from his 2016 campaign. Trump was photographed surrounded by security as he was escorted to a Manhattan courtroom in April.

Some of the images focused on issues that the country continues to wrestle with, like immigration at the southern border where people come from around the world in hope of seeking asylum in the United States: A grim-faced man waits while cradling a sleeping child, reminiscent of Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 “Migrant Mother”; a small child is passed under concertina wire by the Rio Grande.

A weeping child on a bus, leaving the site of a school shooting in Tennessee, shows the toll of another year of gun violence.

The impacts of climate change are present in a number of images. Canada’s worst wildfire season on record sent haze wafting down into the United States, turning skies as far away as New York City a post-apocalyptic orange. And a furious wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina.

But nature’s beauty is there, too, in a sea lion swimming in San Diego’s La Jolla Cove and a puffin carrying food to its chick off the coast of Maine.

Moments of fun and celebration had their place, such as dancers rehearsing for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes,” and the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights crowding together after winning their first Stanley Cup.

There were also those who inspired us: Simone Biles, soaring as she returned to competitive gymnastics and won the U.S. Classic, two years after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.

And no gallery would be complete without the woman who may have had the most interesting 2023 of all. There she is, in all her sparkly, record-breaking, history-making glory — Taylor Swift.

___

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Photographers chronicling life in North America in 2023 captured images that evoked all the emotions, from the giddy silliness of people racing in inflatable dinosaur costumes to the wrenching sorrow of a vigil for victims of a mass shooting.

This gallery from The Associated Press showcases a year that included unprecedented events — such as the first ever criminal indictment of a former president, Donald Trump, in connection to a hush money scheme from his 2016 campaign. Trump was photographed surrounded by security as he was escorted to a Manhattan courtroom in April.

Some of the images focused on issues that the country continues to wrestle with, like immigration at the southern border where people come from around the world in hope of seeking asylum in the United States: A grim-faced man waits while cradling a sleeping child, reminiscent of Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 “Migrant Mother”; a small child is passed under concertina wire by the Rio Grande.

A weeping child on a bus, leaving the site of a school shooting in Tennessee, shows the toll of another year of gun violence.

The impacts of climate change are present in a number of images. Canada’s worst wildfire season on record sent haze wafting down into the United States, turning skies as far away as New York City a post-apocalyptic orange. And a furious wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina.

But nature’s beauty is there, too, in a sea lion swimming in San Diego’s La Jolla Cove and a puffin carrying food to its chick off the coast of Maine.

Moments of fun and celebration had their place, such as dancers rehearsing for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes,” and the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights crowding together after winning their first Stanley Cup.

There were also those who inspired us: Simone Biles, soaring as she returned to competitive gymnastics and won the U.S. Classic, two years after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.

And no gallery would be complete without the woman who may have had the most interesting 2023 of all. There she is, in all her sparkly, record-breaking, history-making glory — Taylor Swift.

___

Get the best of The AP’s photography delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Sign up for The World in Pictures.

These days, when I’m in charge, I like to choose my menu based on what I can make and bake in advance. It gives me more time to spend with family and friends at my home and less time in the kitchen while everyone else celebrates.