Kyodo News Digest: Feb. 10, 2025
Breezy Johnson of the United States competes en route to winning the women’s downhill event at the world alpine skiing championships on Feb. 8, 2025, in Saalbach, Austria. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Nippon Steel will not take majority stake in U.S. Steel: Trump
WASHINGTON – Nippon Steel Corp. will not have a majority stake in United States Steel Corp., President Donald Trump said Sunday, reiterating his commitment to stop the Japanese company from taking control of its iconic but struggling American counterpart.
Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he will impose new 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States and hold a press conference on reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday.
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China protests Japan’s “negative” moves during Ishiba-Trump talks
BEIJING – China said Monday that it has lodged a protest with Japan over Tokyo’s “negative” moves related to Beijing during talks last week between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
Liu Jinsong, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Department, conveyed to Akira Yokochi, chief minister at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, China’s “grave concern and strong dissatisfaction,” the ministry said in a statement.
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China levies up to 15% tariffs on U.S. goods to counter Trump duties
BEIJING – China on Monday imposed additional tariffs of up to 15 percent on some American imports, as part of measures to counter a new 10 percent U.S. tariff on Chinese goods that was levied earlier this month, according to state-run media.
Beijing’s imposition of new tariffs rekindled a trade war that took place between the world’s two largest economies during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Japan logs record 29 tril. yen current account surplus in 2024
TOKYO – Japan posted a current account surplus of 29.26 trillion yen ($193 billion) in 2024, a record high, driven by its highest-ever returns on foreign investments amid a weak yen and a decline in the trade deficit, government data showed Monday.
The surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, grew 29.5 percent from a year earlier, rising for the second consecutive year and marking the highest since comparable data became available in 1985, the Finance Ministry said.
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15-year term sought for man over pipe bomb attack on ex-PM Kishida
WAKAYAMA, Japan – Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 15-year prison term for a man accused of attempted murder after a pipe bomb attack two years ago that targeted an election event attended by then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Ryuji Kimura, 25, is accused of hurling an explosive device at Kishida, who was walking near a crowd gathered for a stump speech in the western Japan city of Wakayama in April 2023. The incident came less than a year after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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Japan says to watch U.S. moves over ICC, stops short of criticism
TOKYO – Japan said Monday it will carefully monitor developments related to the International Criminal Court after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the court’s officials over what he described as illegitimate acts targeting the United States and Israel.
Asked why Japan opted out of a recent joint statement by nearly 80 countries criticizing the U.S. move and throwing support behind the ICC, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the government made the decision “after weighing various factors comprehensively.”
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2-week search ends for trapped driver inside sinkhole near Tokyo
SAITAMA, Japan – Firefighters said they ended Sunday their search inside a sinkhole near Tokyo for a man whose truck was swallowed by it nearly two weeks ago, with attention set to switch to an underground sewage pipe.
Rescuers were unable to find a trace of the 74-year-old driver remaining in the sinkhole, which appeared at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 28.
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Guests at Fukushima hot-spring resort stranded by avalanche
FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Over 100 people were stranded in two hotels in a hot-spring resort area in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, after a nearby road was blocked by an avalanche early Monday, local authorities said.
The avalanche occurred at around 4 a.m. in the Tsuchiyu Onsen district, located in a mountainous area in the southwest of the city of Fukushima. The snow covering the road was cleared at around 10:20 a.m., but another snowslip hit the road before noon.
Video: Traditional boat-racing event in Wakayama Prefecture to pray for good haul
