Author: Fred Robinson

Japan and the United States convened their second high-level consultation committee meeting on Tuesday, signaling renewed momentum in deploying a landmark $550 billion Japanese investment pledge that anchors the allies’ hard-won trade agreement. The two-hour virtual session, co-chaired by Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, focused on expediting project selections, with officials pledging to announce the inaugural initiative “as soon as possible,” according to a statement from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).The gathering builds on the panel’s inaugural online meeting last week, where representatives…

In the shadow of Mount Fuji, where ancient traditions meet cutting-edge innovation, a quiet revolution is underway in Japan’s corporate landscape. Private equity heavyweights from Wall Street to Singapore are descending on the world’s fourth-largest economy, drawn by a potent cocktail of undervalued assets, rock-bottom borrowing costs, and a government-mandated push for shareholder value. What was once dismissed as a sclerotic market riddled with inefficient conglomerates is now the hottest ticket in global buyouts, with deal values surging and fundraising hitting decade highs. The numbers tell a compelling story. According to Preqin Pro data, Japan-focused private equity funds raised a…

What should have been a peaceful drive down a scenic California mountain road turned into a harrowing life-or-death struggle for 69-year-old retired radiologist Dr. Peter Rothschild, whose Volvo XC90 plug-in hybrid suddenly lost its ability to brake. With dashcam footage capturing every moment of the escalating crisis, the terrifying incident is now at the center of a nationwide recall affecting nearly 12,000 Volvo vehicles — and raising serious questions about the automaker’s safety practices and software deployment.

President Donald Trump’s aggressive new trade policies—designed to bolster domestic manufacturing—are hitting Ford Motor Company harder than many anticipated. Despite building roughly 80% of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. domestically, Ford is projecting a net $2 billion tariff-related drag on earnings for 2025, up from a prior estimate of $1.5 billion. Big Three Automakers Earnings Loss – 3D Chart Big Three to Lose $7 Billion in Earnings Ford, GM, and Stellantis—the so-called Big Three—now expect a combined $7 billion earnings hit this year 3D column chart showing earnings losses for Big Three automakers: Ford $2 billion, GM $3.5…

“A majority of consumers, Americans and people around the world are chronically dehydrated,” he told CNN News. “They just don’t know it.” Even if consumers don’t know if they’re actually suffering from a lack of fluids, they’re still buying electrolyte-filled products like they are. Liquid I.V. has become one of the biggest brands to capitalize on hydration, part of the overall “better for you” wellness trend that’s been percolating within the food and beverage industry over the past several years. Hydration, in particular, has been at the center of social media trends — like #WaterTok on TikTok — and buzzy viral products with analysts projecting it growing into a…

McDonald’s is pulling the plug on its CosMc’s spinoff just two years after the alien-themed spinoff took off. The chain announced Friday that it’s closing all five locations next month. CosMc’s, named after a little-known alien McDonald’s character, opened in 2023 in response to fast-growing specialty coffee and beverage chains like Dutch Bros., Scooter’s and Swig that have become popular with Gen Z consumers. CosMc’s menu consisted of sweet drinks and light snacks, with the company hoping customers would visit during their afternoon slump. A spinoff was launched because executives thought the customizable drinks would be too much of a strain on its McDonald’s…

Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight in one of the biggest combined aerial attacks on the Ukrainian capital of the three-year war, damaging several apartment buildings and injuring 15 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post it had been a “tough night” for Ukraine, and called for new international sanctions to pressure Moscow into agreeing to a ceasefire. In the early hours of the morning, Reuters witnesses saw and heard successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv, and a series of explosions jolted the city. The capital also reverberated with the sound of…

Social media’s harmful impact on the mental health of children and teenagers is well documented. Now, new research suggests that the widespread marketing of unhealthy food and drinks on social media is influencing the food choices of young people and potentially impacting their physical health. A University of Oxford team found “strong and consistent evidence” that digital marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks is widespread on social media, and that it influences children and teenagers. And a recent study led by the University of Queensland found that problematic and excessive social media use is linked to young teens’ increased consumption of sweets and sugar, as well…

Starbucks workers staged walkouts at dozens of coffee shops in the United States this week to protest a policy change in their dress code that their union says should have been made through collective bargaining. Since May 11, more than 2,000 baristas at more than 100 stores, including in Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania, have walked out “to protest the company’s failure to prioritize real support for baristas,” the union said on Friday. The protests were in response to an announcement by Starbucks in April that, starting on May 12, baristas would be required to wear solid black crew-neck, collared or button shirts…

Bayer AG is pursuing a new multibillion-dollar settlement over claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer—and is preparing to place its U.S. subsidiary Monsanto into bankruptcy if talks with tort plaintiffs collapse, according to people familiar with the matter. The German pharmaceutical and agricultural conglomerate, which acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, has been mired in litigation ever since. More than 54,000 plaintiffs remain active in U.S. courts, alleging that exposure to Roundup, which contains glyphosate, caused them or their loved ones to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers. Bayer is reportedly working with legal advisors from Sullivan &…