21/03/2026

SATURDAY | MAR 21, 2026

9 US$40 billion nuclear deal for US, Japan

o ‘Project to ensure accelerated economic growth for both nations’

concerns about China’s role in the sector. It includes discussing coordinated trade policies and mechanisms, such as border adjusted price floors, “focusing in the first instance on select critical minerals.” The White House said two nations would also cooperate on development of deep-sea critical minerals, “including rare-earth muds near Japan’s Minamitorishima Island”. Minamitorishima is an isolated Japanese atoll about 1,950km southeast of Tokyo. – AFP

The countries announced the first tranche of projects under the new investment fund in February, with US$36 billion in commitments in three infrastructure projects. The statement also said the projects would ensure security by “accelerating economic growth of both countries, thereby paving the way for a New Golden Age of the ever-growing Japan-US Alliance.” Both sides also released an action plan on developing critical mineral supply chains, amid

Alabama, after a meeting of the two countries’ leaders in Washington. The talks between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came after Tokyo agreed last year to invest $550 billion through 2029 as part of a new trade pact with Washington. The joint statement on the so-called small modular reactors (SMR) also announced a US$33 billion investment in natural gas power generation facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas.

WASHINGTON: The United States and Japan on Thursday announced a US$40 billion project to build nuclear reactors in Tennessee and

Nations pledge aid for Strait of Hormuz security LONDON: Six major international powers on Thursday said they were ready “to contribute to” ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, although three emphasised that any initiative would take place post-ceasefire.

oil and liquefied natural gas pass through it. The war, which erupted on Feb 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, has led Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the Gulf region. Twenty-three commercial vessels, including 10 tankers, have reported incidents or having been attacked. The situation has left about 20,000 seafarers stranded on approximately 3,200 vessels west of the strait, according to the International Maritime Organisation. “We express our concern about the escalating conflict,“ the allies’ joint statement said. “We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping. “Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of international law, including under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” – AFP

Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands said they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”. The group said they “welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning”, as they condemned “in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf”. However, Italy, Germany and France made clear that they were not talking about any immediate military help, but rather a potential multilateral initiative after a ceasefire. The declaration came as an effective Iranian blockade of the strait has paralysed commercial shipping through the maritime chokepoint, which in peacetime sees a fifth of global crude

ELABORATE EFFIGY ... A giant monument stands ahead of La Nit de la Crema, during which the monuments are burned, on the final day of the annual Fallas Festival in Valencia, Spain. – REUTERS