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Nippon Steel headquarters in Tokyo. Nippon Steel said last month that it would make an additional investment of about $1.3 billion in U.S. Steel following the takeover.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Nippon Steel defends its U.S. Steel bid after Harris' opposition

Nippon Steel released a statement Tuesday arguing that the Japanese firm's planned acquisition of U.S. Steel would benefit the United States.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2024

U.S. Steel to remain American-led, Nippon Steel says

The Japanese firm said post-acquisition the majority of U.S. Steel's board of directors and all members of core senior management would be U.S. citizens.
Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel is opposed by politicians across the political spectrum, including both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2024

Japan miffed but reaction muted after shocking twist to U.S. Steel deal

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to reject Nippon Steel's acquisition of the American steelmaker, according to multiple unconfirmed reports released in recent days.
A voter casts a mail-in ballot at a drop box outside the Maricopa County Recorder and Elections Department's southeast Mesa office during the Arizona state primary election in Mesa, Arizona, on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

U.S. election prompts cities to get a grip on fake news

Local officials are increasingly forced to address false information about public health, migration, and urban planning strategies, which intensify during polls.
Atsushi Sakima (center) celebrates his victory in the Ginowan mayoral election with his supporters in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Ruling camp-backed candidate wins Ginowan mayoral election

Atsushi Sakima, a former Ginowan mayor, defeated Isao Tobaru, a former member of the Ginowan assembly, and corporate representative Takashi Higa.
With the world's democracies and authoritarian regimes watching, the U.S. election on Nov. 5 will have global implications.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2024

The choice confronting American voters

Republicans and Democrats differ significantly on the role of government in society, a divide that the U.S. Supreme Court used to mediate.
The Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials in California, is the only rare earths mine in the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 17, 2024

China’s grip on rare earths undercuts projects from U.S. to Japan

Japan's experience reducing its dependence on China shows that rare earths projects take longer and are more expensive than initially expected.
Warships and fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2024

U.S. leans on shipbuilding prowess of allies to compete with China

America’s shipbuilding industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation, raising concerns amid its rivalry with China.
Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori says the company remains committed to talks with the United Steelworkers (USW) labor union.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024

Nippon Steel's Mori asks USW leadership to 'come to the table'

The deal has faced opposition from high-profile Democrats and Republicans ahead of the U.S. November presidential elections.
A migrant from Mali, who said he is from the Fulani community and escaped the war in his country and arrived in El Hierro Island a year ago, speaks to  journalist in Barcelona on Friday,
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2024

West Africa becomes global terrorism hotspot as Western forces leave

Western powers that previously invested in trying to beat back the jihadists have very little capacity left on the ground.
Diego Garcia — the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and the site of a major military base used by Britain and the United States — is seen in this undated image the U.S. Navy provided.
WORLD
Oct 4, 2024

U.K. cedes Chagos Island sovereignty to Mauritius and keeps air base

Britain's deal also could pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home.
A drone flies as Chinese drone maker DJI demonstrates their app that tracks a drone's registration and owner. DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer that sells more than half of all U.S. commercial drones, asked a U.S. district judge to order its removal from a Pentagon list designating it as a "Chinese military company," saying it "is neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military."
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2024

Drone maker DJI sues Pentagon over Chinese military listing

The company has said the designation is wrong and has caused it significant financial harm.
People load a bus heading to the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California, in this 1943 handout photo.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2024

Trump compares jailed Capitol rioters to WWII Japanese internment

The former U.S. president's comments were met with widespread criticism from Japanese American groups and others.
The South Korean Coast Guard vessel Taepyongyang, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Waesche and the Japan Coast Guard vessel Wakasa patrol in formation during a trilateral exercise in the Sea of Japan in June.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 23, 2024

With ramped-up activities, U.S. Coast Guard plots greater Indo-Pacific role

The move comes at a time when a growing number of coast guards in the region are becoming deeply involved in patrolling disputed waters.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

As U.S. election looms, Biden aides struggle with Middle East wars

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was dispatched to the region to find a way toward stability, but there was no sign of progress.
A public screen displays financial figures in Shanghai on Sept. 12.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 28, 2024

Stimulus matters more than U.S. election for Chinese stocks

Whether it be Donald Trump or Kamala Harris as the new U.S. leader, global money managers expect escalated hostility toward China.
In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
The guidance provided in the White House’s first-ever National Security Memorandum on artificial intelligence is bound to have implications for U.S. allies and partners, some of which are already struggling to keep up with the fast pace of technological change.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2024

New U.S. AI guidance puts pressure on allies — and rivals — to adopt tech

The extent to which these guidelines will be fully implemented in Washington may ultimately depend on one important factor, however: Tuesday's presidential election.
People wait in line to vote before the poll opens at Lenora Park Gym in Snellville, Georgia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Hoax bomb threats targeting polling places in battleground states: FBI

At least two polling sites targeted by the hoax bomb threats in Georgia were briefly evacuated.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump points to supporters as he holds hands with his wife, Melania, before claiming victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump defeats Harris, returning U.S. to era of uncertainty

Kamala Harris congratulated her rival on a win expected to have a dramatic impact on the United States' relationships with allies like Japan and rivals like China.
The outcome of the U.S. election may mark the beginning of the end of the era of “American exceptionalism” and should concern its allies such as Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 7, 2024

What does Trump's victory mean for Japan?

The outcome of the U.S. presidential race is a reflection of the democratic will of the American people and the countries allies must adapt to this new reality.
People leave the venue during the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 12, 2024

COP29: U.S. climate envoy says work will continue despite Trump's return

"For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing," Podesta said at the summit.
Donald Trump in the past has netted important victories before the Supreme Court for his policies on trade, immigration and the environment.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2024

One of Trump’s few checks on power? The Supreme Court he shaped.

The president-elect hasn’t always gotten his way and he may need the court’s help to fulfill his campaign-trail promises.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with senior adviser Susie Wiles as he speaks, following early results from the 2024 U.S. presidential election in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 12, 2024

As Donald Trump staffs up for second term, only MAGA loyalists need apply

As advisers and allies of Republican President-elect Donald Trump search for personnel to staff his coming administration, one quality is absolutely paramount: unquestioning loyalty.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a signing ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in April 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 14, 2024

Lula’s embrace of Xi sets up a clash over Trump’s China policy

Brazil’s geography and colonial history meant that it has traditionally looked to the Atlantic for commerce. Now it’s deepening ties with the Asia Pacific.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel makes a speech aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during Freedom Edge trilateral exercise between the United States, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2024

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel weighs bid for DNC chair: report

Such a move would come as the Democratic Party tries to regroup after an election that saw Republicans win control of the White House, Senate and House.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has both vowed a strong military and to end or avoid wars, has promised "peace through strength" in announcements of several key nominees to serve in his administration.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 17, 2024

Trump revives 'peace through strength,' but his meaning is up for debate

Whether the U.S. president-elect is pursuing a strategy or just relying on a catchphrase is a matter of dispute.
Donald Trump, the then-Republican presidential candidate and now the president-elect, visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in February. His appointments to key positions in his new administration show he is moving aggressively on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024

Trump's mass deportation plan has its leaders in place

Even before Trump’s victory, Tom Homan, the former acting director for ICE, promised to "run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen.”
Fentanyl pills found by officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York on Oct. 4, 2022
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump places high-risk, high-reward bet on tariffs to stem fentanyl

The U.S. president-elect has vowed to impose tariffs on China and Mexico unless they stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the U.S. border.
Environmental activists demonstrate in front of the convention center in Busan, South Korea, where delegates from around the world are seeking to reach a binding treaty against plastic waste.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2024

Showdown looms on plastic treaty days before deadline

With just two days of talks left, countries seeking an ambitious treaty urged delegations that "have not moved a centimeter" to make compromises or "get out of the way."

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.