Tokyo [Japan], March 6 (ANI): Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held discussions with Peter Thiel, Co-Founder and Chairman of Palantir Technologies, at the Prime Minister's Office, focusing on advanced technology developments and cooperation. Advertisement As per an official statement from the Japanese Prime Minister's office on March 5, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi received a courtesy ca...
Tokyo [Japan], March 6 (ANI): Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held discussions with Peter Thiel, Co-Founder and Chairman of Palantir Technologies, at the Prime Minister's Office, focusing on advanced technology developments and cooperation. Advertisement As per an official statement from the Japanese Prime Minister's office on March 5, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi received a courtesy call from Peter Thiel at the Prime Minister's Office. Advertisement The meeting brought together the Japanese government and one of the leading figures in the global technology sector to exchange views on the evolving landscape of advanced technologies. Advertisement In a social media post, Japan's Prime Minister's Office said that the discussion between the two focused on advanced technology in Japan. During the interaction, Takaichi noted that the conversation covered the current state and prospects of advanced technology fields in both Japan and the United States. Advertisement "I received a courtesy call from Peter Thiel, co-founder and chairman of Palantir Technologies Inc. We exchanged views on the current state and prospects of advanced technology fields in Japan and the United States, among other topics," the Japanese Prime Minister said. Palantir Technologies is a US-based technology company known for developing advanced data analytics platforms that help governments and businesses analyse large and complex datasets. The company provides software that integrates artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and machine learning to support decision-making. Its platforms are widely used by government agencies, defence organisations, financial institutions, and private companies to analyse data, detect patterns, and improve operational efficiency. The discussion between Takaichi and Thiel is considered important as advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and digital infrastructure are becoming central to economic growth and national sec...
NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran is having limited impact on Foxconn, the chairman of the world's largest electronics maker and Nvidia's key AI server maker said on Friday. Speaking to reporters at its headquarters in the city of New Taipei neighbouring Taipei, Young Liu said he expected 2026 to be a very good year for the technology co...
NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran is having limited impact on Foxconn, the chairman of the world's largest electronics maker and Nvidia's key AI server maker said on Friday. Speaking to reporters at its headquarters in the city of New Taipei neighbouring Taipei, Young Liu said he expected 2026 to be a very good year for the technology company. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Clarence Fernandez)
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would remove Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary after she faced bipartisan criticism for her handling of the department, including a $240 million ad campaign prominently featuring herself. A Bloomberg News investigation found that the bulk of the funds are allocated for placing ads through at least two firms with longstanding ties to Trump ...
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would remove Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary after she faced bipartisan criticism for her handling of the department, including a $240 million ad campaign prominently featuring herself. A Bloomberg News investigation found that the bulk of the funds are allocated for placing ads through at least two firms with longstanding ties to Trump campaigns. One of the DHS ad buyers, Virginia-based Strategic Media Services Inc., received more than $269 million to work on Trump’s 2024 campaign while Noem’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, was advising the campaign’s senior leadership team, according to OpenSecrets . The second media buyer, Smart Media Group LLC, has a subsidiary that got more than $329 million in the same year working for Trump’s political action committee, Make America Great Again Inc. The DHS ad campaigns were designed to persuade undocumented immigrants to self-deport and to recruit immigration officers. Of the $240 million, at least $54 million had been spent on TV ad placements through the end of 2025, according to data from AdImpact, an ad-tracking company. The ad campaign started after Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border on his first day in office. Officials at DHS used the declaration to justify bypassing full and open competition for contracts to run the advertising campaigns — the most ever spent on a DHS marketing effort. Federal procurement rules usually require agencies to seek out a large pool of bidders to secure the best value and avoid favoritism while promoting transparency and accountability. Instead, DHS officials picked three firms that bid on the work. A DHS spokesperson said the agency doesn’t decide which media buyers its contractors hire or how much they pay them. “We have only become aware of these companies because of this inquiry and did not hire those companies,” the spokesperson said in response to questions from Bloomberg. The spokesperson said Noem a...
Canadian miner Teck Resources agreed with Korea Zinc Co. to sell its zinc concentrates at a slightly higher processing fee in 2026, while charging more on silver and germanium after a surge in prices for both metals. The treatment charge that Korea Zinc will receive for smelting semi-processed ores known as concentrates rose to $85 a ton this year, according to three people familiar with the matte...
Canadian miner Teck Resources agreed with Korea Zinc Co. to sell its zinc concentrates at a slightly higher processing fee in 2026, while charging more on silver and germanium after a surge in prices for both metals. The treatment charge that Korea Zinc will receive for smelting semi-processed ores known as concentrates rose to $85 a ton this year, according to three people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified due to the commercial sensitivity of the matter. That’s a small rebound from this year’s $80-a-ton fee, which was the lowest benchmark level for the zinc industry in more than 50 years. Low processing fees tend to hit zinc smelters hard, as treatment charges have historically accounted for about a third of their revenues. Still, Korea Zinc registered record profits in 2025 , thanks to a stellar rally in prices for silver, germanium and other metals, which are also contained in the concentrates it buys from Teck and other miners. Revenues from those byproducts surpassed its zinc revenues in 2025, as silver prices rallied 150% over the course of the year and germanium rallied 75%. Germanium plays a crucial role in defense systems and other advanced technologies, and prices have surged since China placed export controls on it and other critical minerals starting in 2023. Korea Zinc is one of the biggest producers of germanium and other critical minerals outside of China, and it also supplies 5% of the world’s silver. Much of that metal originates from Teck’s Red Dog mine in Alaska, which is the world’s biggest zinc-lead mine. Its output can’t currently be sold on competitive terms in China due to tariffs on incoming US goods. Miners offer smelters concessions on pricing to cover the cost of recovering zinc, silver and other metals, but in this year’s deal Teck and Korea Zinc agreed to lower the content threshold at which silver will become payable, one of the people said. That will boost Teck’s share of revenues from the silver it produces, an...
Aluminum was set to post its biggest weekly gain since September 2024 as the deepening conflict in the Middle East snarled shipments from the region and upended physical markets. Prices on the London Metal Exchange climbed on Friday, extending this week’s advance to more than 5%. The rally has pushed the benchmark contract to levels last seen in 2022. Now in its seventh day, the US-Israeli war wit...
Aluminum was set to post its biggest weekly gain since September 2024 as the deepening conflict in the Middle East snarled shipments from the region and upended physical markets. Prices on the London Metal Exchange climbed on Friday, extending this week’s advance to more than 5%. The rally has pushed the benchmark contract to levels last seen in 2022. Now in its seventh day, the US-Israeli war with Iran has sent shock waves through the global aluminum industry. End-users and traders are bracing for prolonged upheaval to metal flows through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed to shipping. Smelters in the Persian Gulf region, including Aluminium Bahrain BSC and Qatar Aluminium Ltd. , have reported disruptions to deliveries and production this week. Read more: Citigroup Boosts Aluminum Price Outlook as Iran War Roils Market The turmoil underscores how quickly geopolitical risks can ripple through a market already grappling with constrained supply. Metal inventories on major exchanges remain relatively lean, while a regulatory cap on Chinese aluminum output and smelter outages in Western markets have limited the industry’s ability to respond to fresh shocks. Aluminum rose 0.2% to $3,304 a ton on the LME as of 10:55 a.m. in Singapore. Other metals were also higher, with copper up 0.5% and nickel rallying 0.7%. Iron ore futures in Singapore gained 1.1% to $101.10 a ton.
With local governments in China struggling to replenish their treasuries while facing growing public service obligations, Beijing is setting its sights on securing more tax revenue as a major reform goal for 2026 and the four years beyond. Compared with the previous five-year plan period’s emphasis on “tax and fee cuts”, the language in the draft of the full 15th five-year plan – released on Thurs...
With local governments in China struggling to replenish their treasuries while facing growing public service obligations, Beijing is setting its sights on securing more tax revenue as a major reform goal for 2026 and the four years beyond. Compared with the previous five-year plan period’s emphasis on “tax and fee cuts”, the language in the draft of the full 15th five-year plan – released on Thursday – emphasised “maintaining a reasonable macro tax burden”. The document also pledged to “appropriately strengthen central government authority and increase the proportion of central fiscal expenditures, while reducing central fiscal responsibilities delegated to local governments for implementation”. Advertisement Revamping China’s tax system has become a delicate balancing act for policymakers , who face the difficulty of raising sufficient revenue without imposing an excessive burden on businesses – a challenge made all the greater by an economic slowdown, a prolonged property downturn and persistent deflationary pressures. Authorities have pinned hopes on tax reform to help address major imbalances in the world’s second-largest economy, including industrial overcapacity weak consumption and a persistent wealth gap. Advertisement The government work report, delivered by Premier Li Qiang at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress on Thursday, listed “improving the local tax system” and “expanding local tax sources” as policy goals this year. The 2026 budget report, published by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday, also pledged to strengthen the overall planning of funds to better meet local needs.
One of Japan ’s largest manga publishers is facing mounting backlash after it emerged that a writer convicted of sexually assaulting a minor had continued producing work for the company under a different name. The controversy has prompted some observers to ask whether Japan’s manga industry is experiencing a belated “#MeToo moment”, as prominent creators pull their works from the publisher’s Manga...
One of Japan ’s largest manga publishers is facing mounting backlash after it emerged that a writer convicted of sexually assaulting a minor had continued producing work for the company under a different name. The controversy has prompted some observers to ask whether Japan’s manga industry is experiencing a belated “#MeToo moment”, as prominent creators pull their works from the publisher’s Manga One digital platform in protest. Tokyo-based Shogakukan said on Tuesday it would set up a third-party panel to examine how senior staff approved the publication of new work by the author while concealing his identity behind a pen name. Advertisement According to a statement on the publisher’s website, Shoichi Yamamoto, author of the “Operation Fallen Angel” manga series, was arrested in February 2020 on suspicion of violating Japan’s Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Act while working as an art teacher in Sapporo. The company said it immediately suspended serialisation of the title. 09:32 Gundam: Ace of Japanese anime, the story behind the popular Gunpla toy kits Gundam: Ace of Japanese anime, the story behind the popular Gunpla toy kits Yamamoto was later found guilty of repeatedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl and, on February 20, was ordered by the Sapporo Supreme Court to pay 11 million yen (US$70,000) in damages to his victim.
Industrial automation is nothing new. Rockwell Automation has given factories a means of controlling the speed of their electric motors since 1903, while Zebra Technologies has been around since 1969, first launching as a maker of electromechanical solutions but making a name for itself in the 1980s by pioneering and then perfecting the scannable bar codes that now seem to be printed on, well, alm...
Industrial automation is nothing new. Rockwell Automation has given factories a means of controlling the speed of their electric motors since 1903, while Zebra Technologies has been around since 1969, first launching as a maker of electromechanical solutions but making a name for itself in the 1980s by pioneering and then perfecting the scannable bar codes that now seem to be printed on, well, almost everything. But just when it seemed as if efficiency-creating technology had reached the limits of its capabilities, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has turned automation that was once unthinkable into the possible. And one company in particular is poised to win more than its fair share of the industry's annualized growth of 17% that Opto Foresight anticipates through 2035, when the industry should be worth more than $375 billion per year. That company is Symbotic (NASDAQ: SYM) . Here's why. Symbiotic is not a household name. There's a good chance, however, you or someone in your household regularly benefits from its tech. Continue reading
In Major Win For Putin, US Grants Russia License To Sell Oil To India While Strait Of Hormuz Is Blocked The world desperately needs oil, but can't get it as 20% of it is literally stuck behind the blockaded Straits of Hormuz. Putin has tons of oil because sales are metaphorically stuck by US sanctions. If the world does not get access to oil soon enough, there will be a global recession or worse, ...
In Major Win For Putin, US Grants Russia License To Sell Oil To India While Strait Of Hormuz Is Blocked The world desperately needs oil, but can't get it as 20% of it is literally stuck behind the blockaded Straits of Hormuz. Putin has tons of oil because sales are metaphorically stuck by US sanctions. If the world does not get access to oil soon enough, there will be a global recession or worse, and every day the price of oil rises by 5%. What to do? Lightbulb moment: why, remove Russia's sanctions to one of the countries most in need - India - and bring the excess oil to those who have the most urgent need for it, allowing the price to fall and removing much of the leverage Iran has by keeping prices sky high. That's what happened late on Thursday, when the US issued a general license to allow for some Russian oil sales to India, giving the nation more options to purchase fuel as an escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf cuts off a major producing region. The license lasts a month (which hints at how long the operation against Iran will likely last according to the Admin) and covers transactions related to the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before March 5, so long as it’s delivered to India and purchased by an Indian firm. The measure expires April 4 at 12:01 a.m. Washington time. The move is another U-turn, and comes months after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Indian goods in a bid to pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to abandon energy purchases from Russia, which India never did. "To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, ” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X. “ This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.” President Tr...
KKR & Co. will acquire a 348 billion won ($235 million) stake in South Korean renewable energy firm SK Eternix Co. , stepping up its climate and environmental investments and underscoring its appetite for dealmaking despite market volatility stemming from the Iran war. The US buyout firm is purchasing a combined 43.5% stake in SK Eternix from SK Discovery Co . and local private equity firm Hahn & ...
KKR & Co. will acquire a 348 billion won ($235 million) stake in South Korean renewable energy firm SK Eternix Co. , stepping up its climate and environmental investments and underscoring its appetite for dealmaking despite market volatility stemming from the Iran war. The US buyout firm is purchasing a combined 43.5% stake in SK Eternix from SK Discovery Co . and local private equity firm Hahn & Co. , according to a statement Friday by SK Discovery. SK Eternix is part of the SK Group conglomerate, which owns one of the world’s biggest chipmakers SK Hynix Inc. SK Discovery is selling its entire 30.98% holding, while Hahn & Co. will divest its 12.52% stake under the transaction. SK Discovery said the sale reflects the capital-intensive nature of the renewable energy business, which requires significant upfront investment and long time horizon, with returns typically recouped gradually through power sales. SK Eternix shares jumped as much as 13.8% in Seoul, while SK Discovery gained as much as 5.2%. Read More: Iran Intensifies Attacks Across Gulf as Israel Hits Tehran Since 2010, KKR has committed about $44 billion to climate and environmental investments and has backed renewable energy platforms including ContourGlobal, Avantus and Encavis, according to the statement. Separately, SK Discovery’s board approved a mid-term shareholder return plan that includes buying back and canceling an additional 60 billion won of treasury shares over the next three years. The company plans to repurchase and retire about 20 billion won of stock this year and the remaining 40 billion won over the following two years through trust agreements. The transaction comes ahead of South Korea’s annual general meeting season, which is expected to test whether President Lee Jae Myung’s corporate governance reforms will gain traction in the chaebol-dominated economy. Read More: Korea Passes Another Reform Bill in Push for Shareholder Value SK Discovery also outlined a mid-term dividend policy tha...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB US: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG”), a leading vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it has received verbal approval by its utility for an additional 10 megawatts of non-firm power. This raises DMG’s total available power capacity to 75 megawat...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB US: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG”), a leading vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it has received verbal approval by its utility for an additional 10 megawatts of non-firm power. This raises DMG’s total available power capacity to 75 megawatts based on a combination of 15 megawatts of firm power and 60 megawatts of non-firm (curtailable) power. While the Company has previously submitted an application for 150 megawatts of firm power, it now plans to submit a new application for additional non-firm power, which, if approved, may be more readily available at a lower capital cost. DMG’s use of non-firm power has been an unqualified success to date. It has not only helped to modestly reduce its energy costs but has also resulted in only three days of curtailment, which occurred in February 2025. DMG has the option to utilize financial hedging contracts that could effectively eliminate financial curtailment events, albeit at a higher average energy rate than utilizing unhedged energy. While this hedged rate would typically not be financially attractive for Bitcoin mining, it would be appropriate for an AI data center. The Company is also exploring with its utility the ability to utilize the natural gas transmission line located on its Christina Lake property for back-up power generation and potentially primary generation in the future, combined with the possibility of utilizing renewable natural gas (RNG) that provides off-takers the option of a fully carbon neutral operation. DMG’s CEO, Sheldon Bennett, commented, “Even as we are focused on finding the right AI off-takers for our Christina Lake data center, in parallel, we are seeking options that will position the property to be more valuable, especially if we can provide power expansion opportunities that go well beyond 50 megawatts of critical IT load. Energy a...