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Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told US President Joe Biden that his blocking of Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel raised “strong” concerns in both countries, local media reported Monday.The comments came in a three-way call with the president of the Philippines that according to the White House also touched on China’s “dangerous and unlawful” behaviour in the region.Citing national security concerns, Biden nixed Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel earlier this month, irking close ally Japan where the United States has some 54,000 military personnel.”I said that strong voices of concerns are being raised not just in Japan but also in the US business community, and I urged (Biden) to dispel these feelings,” Ishiba told reporters after the call on Monday.Blocking a takeover by a Japanese firm is highly unusual and both firms have launched legal action, accusing the outgoing US president of “illegal interference”.Nippon Steel had touted the acquisition as a lifeline for its struggling US rival, but opponents warned the Japanese group would slash jobs despite its assurances to the contrary.The takeover, which was announced in 2023, came in the run-up to last year’s US presidential election and proved a political flashpoint.US Steel is based in the swing state of Pennsylvania and both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris opposed the transaction.- ‘Big picture’ -Japanese firms invested almost $800 billion in the United States in 2023, more than any other country, and 14.3 percent of the total, according to official US data.US firms are also the biggest outside investors in Japan.Japan is also a close strategic ally for Washington as it seeks to counter China asserting its presence in contested areas of the South China Sea.Both steel companies said Sunday that US authorities have extended the deadline for unwinding the acquisition until June 18.Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who will attend Trump’s inauguration as US president on January 20, said it was important not to undermine the “big picture” of bilateral ties.Iwaya also said that while in Washington he would seek talks with Marco Rubio, slated to be Trump’s Secretary of State, and to lay the groundwork for a meeting between Ishiba and Trump.Kyodo News cited government sources as saying that this could take place before mid-February.During Trump’s first term, he and Japan’s then-prime minister Shinzo Abe, enjoyed warm relations. In December, Trump met Abe’s widow at Mar-a-Lago.- US allies -In recent years, with an eye on China, Washington has sought to improve strategic relations with both Japan and the Philippines as well as with South Korea. Biden, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and with Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida held talks at the White House last April.In another first, in 2023 Biden hosted Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol — who briefly imposed martial law last month — at Camp David.Last year the Philippines ratified a key defence pact with Japan, which allows them to deploy troops on each other’s soil. On Monday Biden, Marcos and Ishiba “discussed trilateral maritime security and economic cooperation, as well as the People’s Republic of China’s dangerous and unlawful behaviour in the South China Sea,” the White House said.”The three Leaders agreed on the importance of continued coordination to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said a statement, which made no mention of the steel deal.Marcos’s office said that the call was to “reaffirm their commitment to strengthening cooperation in areas such as economic growth, emerging technologies, climate action, clean energy and regional security”.Biden also “highlighted the ‘historic progress’ made, particularly in maritime security, economic security and technological collaboration” between the three countries, the Philippines statement said.

Tens of thousands of people forced from their homes by enormous fires raking Los Angeles will not be able to return for at least four days, officials said Sunday.Frustrated evacuees have formed lines at checkpoints hoping to get into no-go zones barricaded off amid the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.Many are desperate to get back to homes they had to flee with just a few moments’ notice to pick up medicines or clothes they did not have a chance to grab.Others simply want to find out if their houses have survived.But Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Sunday that gusting winds forecast this week mean the fire emergency is far from over.”They can’t go home, simply because it’s not safe,” he told a press conference.”It’s our collective priority… to be able to get residents back in their homes just as quickly as possible. “That conversation is not going to occur until the end of the predicted red flag event that’s on its way,” he said, referring to the strong winds expected to last until Wednesday.”Please rest assured that first thing Thursday, we will start talking about repopulation.”Lines several city blocks long have seen people queuing for up to 11 hours for a short escorted visit to their home in an evacuation zone.One woman, who gave her name as Janelle, told broadcaster KTLA she knew her house was gone, but she needed “closure.””I see the photos, I see the videos, and I just want to see it with my own eyes,” she said, her voice breaking.”I know it’s gone, but… I just want to see it for myself.”- Dad’s ashes -Editor Henry Levinson was trying to get to his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.”I wanted to collect my dad’s ashes, which we had to leave behind, as well as my grandma’s ashes, which we also had to leave behind,” he told AFP on Sunday.But even those escorted visits were stopped Sunday, as firefighters fretted about strengthening winds and their potential to reignite smoldering embers.Marrone said a system was being developed to allow evacuated residents to go online to view if their homes were damaged or destroyed.Los Angeles City Councilor Traci Park said she understood the anguish of those affected, but conditions were simply too dangerous.”These are hard decisions, and I know that many of my constituents are disappointed and frustrated, but safety must remain our top priority,” she said.Around 100,000 people remain under compulsory evacuation orders in multiple fire zones, down from a peak of 180,000 last week.Areas hit by fires have been devastated, with whole streets reduced to cinders, and infrastructure badly mangled.Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his deputies would continue to keep people out of the zones.”A lot of these areas still look like they were hit by a bomb. There are live electrical wires, gas lines and other hazards,” he said.”I know there’s a lot of folks trying to get back to their houses. We are very empathetic and sensitive to those needs, but your safety comes first.” The latest official death toll from the deadly blazes stood at 24, but was expected to rise as search teams with dogs go house to house.

An Australian mother has spoken of how she tried in vain to save her blind son from the Los Angeles wildfires as water supplies ran dry.Shelley Sykes, a TV production entrepreneur, told Australian media of a desperate battle to save her 32-year-old son Rory, who had cerebral palsy.Wind-fanned wildfires have killed at least 24 people in Los Angeles, consuming communities and destroying homes. Sykes said on social media that she and her son lived on a 6.8-hectare (17-acre) estate in Malibu, a beachside city in Los Angeles County. Rory Sykes, who appeared in British TV show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s, had his own self-contained cottage on the estate, she said.Her son was blind and had difficulty walking.”Rory’s feet with the heat had started to swell, and he couldn’t walk very well. And he also had problems with his tummy. So he didn’t want to be far away from the bathroom,” Sykes told Australia’s Channel Nine on Sunday.”So he said, ‘Mum, you go, I’m staying’.”Sykes said she could not leave her son alone on the estate.”I stayed in the main property with my two peacocks in a bathroom because it was hard to breathe. Sitting on the floor with bottled water and trying to keep wet.”Sykes said she saw embers on the roof of her son’s cottage and tried to extinguish them with a hose, but “there was no water coming out”. – ‘Devastated’ -She then drove to the closest fire station seeking help, but was told they, too, had no access to water. Water hydrants in some Los Angeles neighbourhoods ran dry during the initial effort to fight the blazes, sparking widespread anger among residents. Authorities told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that the water shortages occurred because the scale and duration of the firefighting effort were more than the city’s infrastructure was designed for.When the fire department took Sykes back to her property, she found the cottage had been reduced to “just black ash”.”There was nothing there,” she told Channel Nine.Sykes — who shared her birthday with her son — said she was overwhelmed by his death.”I am just devastated, it is unreal at the moment. I cannot breathe.”Fire authorities said he died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Sykes said.The stricken mother said she had been unable to remove her son from the danger.”I’ve got a broken arm. I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him,” she said in a separate interview with Australia’s Channel 10.Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of reports that an Australian man had died and was engaging closely with local authorities. The department said it was providing consular assistance to the man’s family, but was unable to comment further citing “privacy obligations”. 

Helping drive the wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles are the so-called Santa Ana winds, a weather phenomenon known to dry out “the hills and the nerves to flash point.”The windstorms occur when cold air gathers in the neighboring states of Nevada and Utah. As it moves west and then rushes down California’s mountains, it heats up — and dries out.- Creating fuel, spreading fires -The Santa Anas can both create the conditions for deadly wildfires and fuel them once they are underway — drying out vegetation when they blow through, and then fanning blazes once they spark.As the 23,700-acre (9,500-hectare) Palisades Fire and 14,000-acre Eaton Fire have raged around Los Angeles, fast-moving winds have exacerbated the situation, throwing hot embers into new patches of dried brush.While firefighters sought to take advantage of a brief lull on Friday and Saturday, heavy winds were back with gusts up to 70 miles per hour (110 kilometers per hour) by Sunday, with harsh conditions forecast to continue this week.- Cold air, hot winds -Santa Ana winds usually occur between September and May, typically for a few days at a time.When a high-pressure system forms over the deserts to California’s east, it pushes air toward the Pacific coast.As they move down the Santa Ana and Sierra Nevada mountains and shoot through valleys, the winds compress — creating a rise in their temperature and a drop in their relative humidity.With hot, dry gusts that can knock down trees or kick up dust and particulate matter, the winds have long caused problems in southern California.The 2017 Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 structures, was fueled in part by back-to-back Santa Ana winds.- Frayed nerves -The Washington Post likened the weather pattern to “a giant hair dryer,” and writers have long noted the effect the winds seem to have on residents psychologically.American author Raymond Chandler once described them as so hot they “curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch.” For Joan Didion, they blew “sandstorms out along Route 66, drying the hills and nerves to flash point.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered assistance to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles, saying Ukraine’s firefighters can “help Americans save lives” as the city struggles to combat new blazes. Deadly infernos have ripped through Los Angeles, killing at least 24 people in less than a week, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes. Conditions could dramatically worsen in the United States’ second-largest city as strong gusts fan flames and whip up embers, with firefighters warning the blazes could move from existing burn zones into new areas.Zelensky said Sunday evening that he had instructed Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs “to prepare for the possible participation of our rescuers in combating the wildfires in California”. “The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives,” he said in a video posted on social media platform X, adding the aid is “currently being coordinated”. “150 of our firefighters are already prepared.”The United States under President Joe Biden has been Kyiv’s biggest wartime backer, providing military aid worth more than $65 billion since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.Incoming president-elect Donald Trump has promised to resolve the conflict in “24 hours” once in office, raising fears in Ukraine that it will be forced to make major concessions in exchange for peace.

A quarter century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is finally ready for its maiden orbital voyage with a brand new rocket the company hopes will shake up the commercial space race. Named New Glenn after legendary astronaut John Glenn, it stands 320 feet (98 meters) tall, roughly equivalent to a 32-story building, and is set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in a launch window that opens at 1:00 am (0600 GMT) Monday.”Pointy end up!” the company’s CEO, Dave Limp posted on X alongside photos of the gleaming white behemoth.With the mission, dubbed NG-1, billionaire Amazon founder Bezos is taking aim at the only man in the world wealthier than him: Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its prolific Falcon 9 rockets, vital for the commercial sector, the Pentagon and NASA.”SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town, and so having a competitor… this is great,” G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP.SpaceX, meanwhile, is planning the next orbital test of Starship — its gargantuan new-generation rocket — this week, upping the high-stakes rivalry.- Landing attempt -Soon after launch, Blue Origin will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a drone ship named Jacklyn, in honor of Bezos’s mother, stationed about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Though SpaceX has long made such landings a near-routine spectacle, this will be Blue Origin’s first shot at a touchdown on the high seas.Meanwhile, the rocket’s upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 12,000 miles above the surface.A Defense Department-funded prototype spaceship called Blue Ring will remain aboard for the roughly six-hour test flight. Blue Origin has experience landing its New Shepard rockets — used for suborbital tourism — but they are much smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea.Physically, New Glenn dwarfs the 230-foot Falcon 9 and is designed for heavier payloads. It slots between Falcon 9 and its big sibling, Falcon Heavy, in terms of mass capacity but holds an edge with its wider payload fairing, capable of carrying the equivalent of 20 moving trucks.- Slow v fast development -Blue Origin has already secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glenn. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to compete with Starlink.For now, however, SpaceX maintains a commanding lead, while other rivals — United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Rocket Lab — trail far behind.Like Musk, Bezos has a lifelong passion for space. But whereas Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms in order to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”He founded Blue Origin in 2000 — two years before Musk created SpaceX — but has adopted a more cautious pace, in contrast to his rival’s “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy.If New Glenn succeeds, it will give the US government “dissimilar redundancy” — valuable backup if one system fails, said Scott Pace, a space policy analyst at George Washington University.Musk’s closeness to President-elect Donald Trump has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially with private astronaut Jared Isaacman — a business associate of Musk — slated to become the next NASA chief.Bezos, however, has been making his own overtures, paying respect to his former foe during a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, while Amazon has said it would donate $1 million to the inauguration committee.

Wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Sunday confronted the return of dangerous winds, as officials vowed firefighters were ready to combat any new blazes whipped up by furious gusts.At least 16 people have been confirmed dead from infernos that have ripped through the United States’ second-largest city for five days, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes.Despite massive firefighting efforts, the largest fire spread toward upscale Brentwood and the densely populated San Fernando Valley, as winds up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour hit on Sunday.Conditions are set to dramatically worsen, with “extreme fire behavior and life threatening conditions” to peak with 70 mile per hour winds in a rare “particularly dangerous situation (PDS)” declared from early Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld.These could fan flames and whip up embers from existing burn zones into new areas, firefighters warned.Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said his department had received resources including dozens of new water trucks and firefighters from far afield, and was primed to face the renewed threat.Questioned whether hydrants could run dry again, as they did during the initial outbreak of fires last week, Mayor Karen Bass replied: “I believe the city is prepared.”Frustration mounted as evacuees waited all day at disaster zone perimeters, hoping to be allowed to visit their homes and try to retrieve vital medication and pets.- Search for bodies -But Sheriff Robert Luna said escorts into these areas were being suspended Sunday with the return of high winds, dangerous conditions among the wreckage, and the need to retrieve victims’ bodies.Search-and-rescue operations for fatalities were only just beginning, and “as these searches continue, I unfortunately anticipate that those numbers will increase,” he said.Several more arrests of looters were made, including one burglar who had dressed as a firefighter to steal from homes. Nighttime curfews in evacuated zones have been extended, and additional National Guard resources have been requested. Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them.”In the ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a handwritten sign saying “looters will be shot” was hung on a tree outside a home, next to the US flag.The Palisades Fire grew overnight to 23,700 acres (9,500 hectares) burnt, and was just 11 percent contained.Video footage showed “fire tornadoes” — red-hot spirals that occur when a blaze is so intense it creates its own weather system.The ferocious fire also left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.But containment of the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire in Altadena almost doubled, new figures showed, with 27 percent of its perimeter controlled.The total number of residents under evacuation orders dropped to around 100,000, from a peak of almost 180,000.The sudden rush of people needing somewhere to live has posed a growing problem for the city, with reports of illegal price gouging from opportunistic landlords.”I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment had burned. “That doesn’t bode well.”- ‘Worst catastrophes’ -President-elect Donald Trump has accused California officials of incompetence.”This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Officials including Mayor Bass said they had not personally spoken with the incoming president, but that potential timings for Trump to visit the disaster scenes were being discussed.President Biden was due to meet key officials later Sunday for a briefing on efforts to suppress the wildfires, the White House said.A huge investigation by federal and local authorities was underway to determine what caused the blazes.California Governor Gavin Newsom told Meet the Press he was also launching a “Marshall Plan” as the city looks to rebuild.”We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0,” he said.He also stressed the immediate problem of weather conditions, saying “the challenge is the winds. We’ve got these winds coming back this evening, Sunday night. We’ve got peak winds on Monday.”While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment’s life cycle.But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm’s way, and the changing climate — supercharged by humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels — is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.

A looter disguised himself as a firefighter to raid a home around fire-wrecked Malibu, police said Sunday.The alleged raider was one of more than two dozen people arrested as huge blazes rip through the Los Angeles area, with evacuees on edge over the safety of homes they were forced to flee.Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his deputies stopped the man in the Palisades Fire evacuation zone, which extends into Malibu.”I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter, and I asked him if he was okay, because he was sitting down,” Luna told a press conference.”I didn’t realize we had him in handcuffs. We were turning him over to (the Los Angeles Police Department) because he was dressed like a fireman and he was not. “He just got caught burglarizing a home”Luna’s opposite number at LAPD, Jim McDonnell, said investigating officers determined he was one of three people who had been driving around the ruined neighborhood.A nighttime curfew is in place across the disaster zones around Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where two fires have laid waste to whole communities.City and county officials have repeatedly warned that anyone in the evacuation areas between 6pm and 6am is going to be collared.For the man allegedly preying on victims by pretending to be a first responder, the penalty could be even stiffer, said McDonnell.Officers arrested him additionally for impersonating a firefighter, he said — a crime that could result in a year in jail.”We have people who will go to all ends… to exploit the victims of this tragedy,” McDonnell said.More than 100,000 people remain evacuated from multiple disaster zones that cover 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) around Los Angeles.The fires have killed at least 16 people, with many more unaccounted for.They have also destroyed more than 12,000 structures, including hundreds of homes.

As Los Angeles is gripped by wildfires that resemble a Hollywood disaster movie, the city’s vast entertainment industry is already counting the costs of yet another drastic setback that its workers can ill-afford.Actors, crew, writers and producers have lost their homes; film and television productions have been temporarily halted; and calls are mounting for Hollywood’s award season to be canceled.It comes with Los Angeles’s entertainment sector — worth $115 billion to the region’s economy — already in dire straits, as some film and TV productions abandon the city over high costs. The Covid-19 pandemic and recent labor upheavals have also taken their toll in recent years.”Hollywood, as everyone, was hit by the pandemic with severe consequences. The strikes, obviously, affected the industry, probably forever,” said Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor for trade magazine Variety.”Add the fires to that, and Hollywood is just being hit over and over again.”Stars including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal have lost their homes to the past week’s blazes.But that is only the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of houses destroyed across a city that is home to 680,000 people employed in the entertainment industry or service jobs directly supporting it.”Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Hacks” and “Fallout” are among more than a dozen Los Angeles-based TV productions that have seen their sets go dark since the fires broke out.Parts of the city where major soundstages are located, including Burbank, were threatened by the fires, but have so far been spared.But Film LA, which handles permissions for outdoor movie and TV shoots, warned producers working in or near evacuation zones to “expect to have your permit canceled,” and advised others that on-set safety supervisors would be in short supply. With dense smoke and soot cloaking the entire region, even productions hoping to film further afield are affected.”If you’re shooting outside in Los Angeles right now, not great. The air quality is that bad,” said Malkin.- ‘Glitz-and-glamor’ -There is no word yet on when productions will resume. Aside from the many logistical issues, the industry must consider the optics of returning to normal while swaths of Los Angeles are aflame.Nowhere is this issue more delicate than with Hollywood’s ongoing award season — an endless series of swanky premieres, galas and prize-giving ceremonies that is currently on hold.Events including the Critics Choice Awards show have been delayed, and Los Angeles premieres for films like Pamela Anderson’s “The Last Showgirl” and the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” were scrapped last week.The cancellations even extended to New York, where a premiere for hit Apple TV show “Severance” was aborted.”The studios, the streamers, are having the right response by canceling or postponing glitz-and-glamor events,” said Malkin.”For people to walk the red carpet, all glitzy and glamor-y, while Los Angeles is literally and figuratively burning… it would be a little disconcerting to hear people either talking about their fashion or that ‘silly story from set.'”Even the televised announcement of this year’s Oscars nominees has been delayed.”So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote in a message to members.”Hacks” actress Jean Smart has advocated going a step further, and scrapping the entire season.”With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to the victims of the fires and the firefighters,” Smart wrote on Instagram.While few in Tinseltown are in the mood for celebrating, Malkin warned that canceling the entire season would have devastating ripple effects on hair-and-makeup artists, waiters, drivers and security staff.”Yes, the celebrities are going to be okay, financially,” he said.”But when you think about all the people who staff these various award shows, these are gig workers who rely on these paychecks… it would have a devastating effect.”

Lionsgate’s heist film “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” opened atop the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $15.5 million in ticket sales, industry watchers said Sunday.”This is a good opening for the second episode in a crime thriller series,” said analyst David A. Gross. “These movies are made for audiences, not critics.”Gerald Butler plays Los Angeles sheriff “Big Nick” as he travels to Europe in pursuit of a dangerous gang of thieves. The story was inspired by the $100 million Antwerp heist of 2003, the largest diamond robbery ever.Disney animation “Mufasa: The Lion King” slipped a spot from last weekend, to $13.2 million. Its accumulated ticket sales have passed the half-billion-dollar mark, with $188.7 million domestically and $350 million internationally.Paramount’s action comedy “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” also dropped a spot, to third. The videogame-based film had estimated ticket sales of $11 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.Also down one spot from last weekend was Focus Features’ Dracula-inspired vampire pic “Nosferatu,” at $6.8 million. And slipping from fourth to fifth was Disney blockbuster “Moana 2,” at $6.5 million. Its ticket sales in seven weeks out are nearing the billion-dollar mark, at $434.9 million domestically and $554 million internationally.Gross meantime noted that the 2024 domestic box office, while ending with a strong six-week stretch, finished about three percent below 2023 — and roughly 24 percent below the average of the three pre-pandemic years. Rounding out the top 10 were:”Wicked” ($5 million)”A Complete Unknown” ($5 million)”Babygirl” ($3.1 million)”The Last Showgirl” ($1.5 million)”Gladiator II” ($1.2 million)