Category: FT

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world President Donald Trump said Japan was “stepping up to the plate” over the Iran conflict as he welcomed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the White House just days after urging Tokyo to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Sitting beside Takaichi in the Oval Office after the pair embraced each other outside the White House, Trump said they would discuss Japan’s support for the war against Iran…

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US trade myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. SoftBank was set to earn ¥1tn ($6.3bn) in fees from a flagship US-Japan project before panicking officials in Tokyo intervened, as anxiety grows over the rollout of a $550bn joint investment plan with Donald Trump. The fee would have been paid to billionaire Masayoshi Son’s company to build and operate a $33bn gas-fired power station in Ohio, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The power station is the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Thailand’s parliament has endorsed Anutin Charnvirakul as prime minister after he led the country’s conservatives to their first election win this century.  Anutin was elected by 293 of the 500-member lower house on Thursday, after winning February’s election with his Bhumjaithai Party. Per the Thai constitution, the parliament elects the prime minister.  Anutin could form a government within the next few days, having assembled a coalition of more than a…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The chair of HDFC Bank has resigned suddenly because of “ethical differences” in a move that raised questions about the governance of India’s largest private lender. A former ministry of finance bureaucrat who was appointed as non-executive chair of the bank in 2021, Atanu Chakraborty quit after the market closed on Wednesday. “Certain happenings and practices within the bank, that I have observed over the past two years, are not…

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Technology sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Apple supplier Murata Manufacturing will start separating its rare earths supply chain in China from the rest of its business over the next three years, as companies rush to insulate themselves from geopolitical turmoil. Murata, which has a market capitalisation of $46bn, supplies 40 per cent of the world’s multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), components that regulate the flow of electricity used in devices from iPhones to data centres. Since Norio Nakajima…