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Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. will buy a stake in an Australian iron ore project for $5.3 billion, in a bet that the global steel industry will need high-quality raw materials to support its push to go green. The company will take a 40% holding in the Rhodes Ridge site in Western Australia from two minority shareholders, it said in a statement. Rio Tinto Group — one of the world’s top two iron ore suppliers — will continue to hold 50% of the project, which is slated to start production in 2030. The investment is a “crown jewel asset” in the metals-rich Pilbara region and Mitsui’s single-largest ever, President Kenichi Hori said in Tokyo. “After years of relationship-building spanning across generations, we were able to negotiate for this agreement,” he said. Source link

Seoul – Bogus child pornography claims, fabricated support for communism and fake posts showing Elon Musk calling for his removal — a deluge of disinformation is targeting a top judge in suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial. South Korea’s Constitutional Court has for weeks deliberated on whether to uphold a parliamentary vote to remove Yoon from office over his failed December bid to impose martial law in the country. Leading the often-tense proceedings has been Moon Hyung-bae, the court’s soft-spoken, liberal-leaning interim head, appointed to the bench in 2019 by then-president Moon Jae-in. Source link

The ceremonies are complete, the celebrations are done, and now it’s time for sumo’s newest yokozuna to get down to the daily task of leading Japan’s national sport. Hoshoryu’s promotion to grand champion following the January tournament came on the heels of Terunofuji’s mid-basho retirement, which makes the former now the sole holder of sumo’s most exalted position. Promotion for Hoshoryu was sealed with a second career Emperor’s Cup. It was a title that came one tournament after he narrowly missed out on glory in a playoff, and there is little doubt that the arrow is pointing up for the 25-year-old. Source link

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA – Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was charged on Tuesday with overseeing a plot to overturn his 2022 election loss with a coup, further complicating the far-right firebrand’s already narrow hopes of pulling off a political comeback. Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet charged Bolsonaro and his running mate, Gen. Walter Braga Netto, with leading a “criminal organization” that aimed to overthrow Brazil’s 40-year-old democracy. A total of 34 people were charged in the plot, including several military officials, such as Bolsonaro’s former national security adviser, retired Gen. Augusto Heleno, and former navy Cmdr. Almir Garnier Santos, according to the charge sheet. “The responsibility for acts harmful to the democratic order falls upon a criminal organization led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, based on an authoritarian project of power,” it added. Analysts consider it unlikely Bolsonaro will be arrested before his trial, unless Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, deems him a flight risk. The case echoes the criminal charges faced by U.S. President Donald Trump that accused him of seeking to overturn his own reelection loss in 2020. That case was repeatedly delayed and ultimately dropped after Trump was returned to power in last November’s U.S. election. The charges against Bolsonaro come just months after Brazil’s federal police concluded a two-year investigation into his role in the election-denying movement that culminated in the riots by his supporters that swept the capital, Brasilia, in early 2023, a week after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office. At the time, many protesters admitted that they wanted to create chaos to justify a military coup that they considered imminent. Late last year, police arrested five alleged conspirators suspected of planning to assassinate the leftist Lula before he took office. Prosecutors have said the Bolsonaro-led plot included plans to poison Lula, a one-time union leader who previously served two terms as president. Lula narrowly defeated the right-wing standard-bearer in the late 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro during an interview in Brasilia on Jan. 28 | Bloomberg “They sought total control over the three branches of government; they outlined a central office that would serve the purpose of organizing the new order they intended to establish,” the charging document noted, referring to those who allegedly pushed the coup plot. Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has repeatedly denied breaking any laws, and calls allegations against him a witch hunt by his political opponents. Lawyers representing Bolsonaro said in a Tuesday statement that he never supported any movement aimed at dismantling Brazil’s democratic rule of law or the institutions that uphold it. Meanwhile, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, a son of the former president, in a post on X on Tuesday night derided the charges as an “unconstitutional and immoral mission to attend to Alexandre de Moraes’ whims and Lula’s nefarious interest.” Tuesday’s indictment marks the first time Bolsonaro has been charged with a crime, though he has faced several legal challenges to his conduct as president since he lost his reelection bid. Two previous decisions by Brazil’s Federal Electoral Court have already blocked him from running for president until 2030. Bolsonaro’s lawyers have two weeks to respond to the charges before the Supreme Court decides whether it will accept the charges and potentially hold a dramatic, televised trial. If convicted, Bolsonaro faces at least a dozen years behind bars. “There’s a 99% chance that the Supreme Court will accept the charges,” said Vera Chemim, a constitutional lawyer in Sao Paulo. “But to convict Bolsonaro, the Supreme Court will need robust evidence.” Bolsonaro’s former running mate, Braga Netto, was arrested two months ago after police accused him of interfering in the investigations. In a statement late Tuesday, his lawyers called the charges a “fantasy” that will not erase his “unblemished history” over four decades of service in the Brazilian Army. A lawyer for former navy chief Garnier Santos said he would comment once he had fully reviewed the charges, while a lawyer for Heleno did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Supreme Court conviction could mark an insurmountable obstacle to Bolsonaro’s hopes to run in the 2026 presidential election, in a potential rematch against Lula. A 2010 law that Bolsonaro himself voted to pass when he was a member of Congress bars anyone convicted by an appeals court from running for office. Two sources close to Bolsonaro said the former president has little hope the courts will rule in his favor. Instead, his allies hope to mobilize political support to increase the pressure on courts and lawmakers to clear a path for a comeback. On Tuesday, hours before prosecutors presented the charges against him, Bolsonaro met with opposition senators to discuss a bill that would lower the length of time politicians are barred from elections if they commit irregularities. While its prospects for passage are unclear, some conservatives are emboldened by Lula’s unpopularity, according to recent polls. A February survey released by Datafolha showed that only 24% of Brazilians approve of Lula’s government, his lowest-ever rating in any of his three terms as president. Source link

Major Japanese automakers are seeking strategies to handle tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose. If the tariffs are added to their product prices, the manufacturers will inevitably see their sales decline and will likely have to shift production to the United States. Trump said Tuesday that he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the U.S. The move will be officially announced as early as April 2. Source link

Japan will play away games against Ireland, Wales and Georgia in November, its rugby union said Wednesday, with head coach Eddie Jones describing it as “a tour of a lifetime.” Jones’s side are set to face Ireland in Dublin on Nov. 8 before taking on Wales in Cardiff and Georgia at a venue yet to be decided in the country on successive weekends. Japan also have home games against Wales and Australia lined up this year and Jones said the European tour would be “a fitting way for the team to finish the year.” “In terms of their work rate in attack, Ireland are the most consistent team in the world and their defense is world class,” he said in a statement. “Playing Wales in Cardiff is one of the great experiences in world rugby — nestled in the center of the city, the atmosphere is arguably the best in the world. “Meanwhile, Georgia is by far the most improved team in the world — historically strong forwards are now aided by increasingly adventurous and skilled backs. “This will be a fitting way for the team to finish the year with what will be a tour of a lifetime,” he added. Jones has made an underwhelming start since returning for his second stint as Japan coach in January last year. His side suffered heavy defeats against England, France and New Zealand, winning four and losing seven of his games in charge. Japan’s next games are a pair of Tests on home soil against Wales in July. Source link

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – Something important is happening in China and it should worry the country’s political leadership. Younger Chinese are increasingly exhibiting an attitude of passive resignation, captured by the new buzzword bai lan (“let it rot”). Born of economic disillusion and widespread frustration with stifling cultural norms, bai lan rejects the rat race and urges one to do only the bare minimum at work. Personal well-being takes precedence over career advancement. The same tendency is reflected in another recent buzzword: tang ping (“lying flat”), a slang neologism denoting a sense of resignation in the face of relentless social and professional competition. Both terms signal a rejection of societal pressures to overachieve and of social engagement as a fool’s game with diminishing returns. Source link

Japan has raised the issue of auto tariffs with the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% levy on car imports, a move that would likely deliver a big blow to Japan’s economy. Tokyo is closely watching any potential impact stemming from higher levies, which the president said might officially be unveiled as soon as April 2. Economists estimate the impact would be substantial given that cars make up the largest component of Japan’s exports, with the U.S. as the No. 1 market. “We have been raising the issue with the U.S. government, given the importance of Japan’s automobile industry,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Japan will first carefully examine the specific details of the measures that will come out and their impact on Japan, and then respond appropriately.” Hayashi’s remarks come after Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya raised the issue with his counterpart, Marco Rubio, last week, when Tokyo also asked for exclusion from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. The Asian nation is also seeking exclusion from his fresh tariffs on steel and aluminum. It’s not clear if Japan is also seeking an exemption from the auto tariffs as trade minister Yoji Muto didn’t respond directly on Tuesday when asked about it. Japanese firms may also be hit by 25% tariffs on the chips and pharmaceutical sectors as well, though details are still scarce. The impact from tariffs will be much bigger for Japan’s auto sector compared to other industries, and there is a good chance that Japanese cars will be targeted given Japan is among the top car exporters to the U.S., according to analyst estimates. Auto-related companies including material providers employ 5.58 million workers in Japan, or 8.3% of the country’s total workforce, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). In 2024, auto exports accounted for 17% of all outbound shipments for Japan, with more than a third of them going to the U.S. Taking auto parts into account, car-related exports equated to a third of all shipments to the U.S. That played a big role in keeping Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. at a high level, a fact that risks Trump’s ire as the president aims to use tariffs to lessen the U.S.’s trade deficits and pressure other nations to build factories in the U.S. Still, Japan already makes more cars in the U.S. than it exports, according to JAMA estimates. In 2023, Japanese carmakers made 3.3 million cars in America, more than twice the 1.5 million cars they exported to the country. Source link

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) agreed Wednesday to postpone unsworn testimony over a slush funds scandal involving the now-defunct LDP faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives had been set to question the Abe faction’s former chief accountant on Thursday. But the opposition camp harshly reacted to the LDP’s stance shown Wednesday that the timing and location of the hearing should not be disclosed, as requested by the former chief accountant. The ruling party’s negative reactions to questions presented in advance by the opposition camp also fueled the opposition’s anger. “As the chairman (of the Lower House committee), I cannot overlook (the LDP attitude),” CDP lawmaker Jun Azumi told reporters. Later in the day, the LDP and CDP parliamentary affairs chiefs agreed to put off the unsworn testimony in a meeting held at the parliament building. At the meeting, the CDP’s Hirofumi Kasa demanded that the former accountant be questioned before the Lower House votes on the government’s fiscal 2025 budget bill. If the LDP keeps calling for a closed-door hearing, “we will have to consider, as an option, summoning him to give sworn testimony,” Kasa said. Source link

Athens – Ilias Roussos will never forget the day he was driven from his native island of Santorini with thousands of others by a quake barrage that shows little sign of slowing down after three weeks. “Three of my children were crying, my wife was on edge too,” the father of four, 54, said at a summer camp near Athens temporarily housing scores of people who were also forced to leave their homes. One of Greece’s top travel destinations, Santorini and its neighboring islands of Amorgos, Anafi and Ios have since January been rocked by thousands of tremors, including several of between 5.0 and 5.3 magnitude. Source link