Japan's Nippon Steel finalizes purchase of U.S. Steel

On Wednesday, Japan-based Nippon Steel finalized its buyout of U.S. Steel (U.S. Steel logo seen May 30 at Edgar Thomas Plant near Braddock, Penn.) as it reverts to the newly-minted Nippon Steel North America. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo
June 18 (UPI) -- Japan-based Nippon Steel on Wednesday completed its buyout of U.S. Steel, changing its name to Nippon Steel North America, as the former U.S. industrial giant ended trading on Wall Street under its former iconic industrial brand.
Last week, President Donald Trump officially signed off on the deal, paving the way for a finalized acquisition after the president for weeks spoke of a "partnership" between the two steel companies that would allow U.S. Steel to stay an American-owned business entity.
However, the U.S.-based steel giant became a wholly owned subsidiary company of Nippon Steel North America on Wednesday after the New York Stock Exchange issued a notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that U.S. Steel's listing would be removed.
U.S. Steel ended trading in the morning hours as Nippon's massive American investment became final with a June 30 effective date for its NYSE delisting.
Former President Joe Biden blocked the Nippon buyout in January prior to exiting the White House, citing national security as the U.S. government's primary concern over the acquisition.
Trump originally opposed Nippon's takeover during the 2024 presidential election but flip-flopped upon taking office and in April ordered an official review of the deal.
In May, Trump stirred confusion among investors and union leaders on the agreed-upon terms of the sale when he announced in a social media post a "planned partnership" between Nippon and U.S. Steel.
Nippon Steel never balked from the initial December 2023 merger agreement terms in its SEC filing but did adopt Trump's style of language, insinuating a preconceived "partnership."
Meanwhile, U.S. Steel will continue to operate under its name.
Trump did, however, manage to compel both steel companies to sign a U.S. national security pact as a condition to his approval in clearing the transaction.
According to the terms of the national security agreement, Nippon will invest $11 billion by 2028 in U.S. Steel, which includes an initial $1 billion for a Greenfield project post-2028. In addition, U.S. Steel's CEO and a majority of its board members must be American citizens with U.S. Steel to remain a U.S.-incorporated entity.
Trump was given a "golden share" under the agreement that grants him veto power over a number of decision, such as U.S. Steel's name change or future exit from its Pittsburgh headquarters in Pennsylvania to outside of the United States.
In addition, the White House will hold sway of the moving production of steels jobs, some authority in the closure of domestic plants, sourcing and other business-related acts.

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How Robotic Hives and AI Are Lowering the Risk of Bee Colony Collapse

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It's not exactly the romantic vision of a beehive or beekeeper lodged in the cultural consciousness, but then that's not what matters; keeping bees alive does. And Beewise's units do that dramatically better than the standard hive, providing constant insights on colony health and the ability to provide treatment should it start to falter. The US has observed a startling uptick in the number of die-offs since the mid-2000s as beekeepers have struggled to keep pace with the rise of disease-carrying mites, climate extremes and other stressors that can wipe out colonies. That's endangering billions of dollars in crops from almonds to avocados that rely on the pollinators. This past year saw the worst colony losses on record. Beewise has raised nearly $170 million, including a $50 million Series D earlier this month, and it has a plan to change the industry. 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USA Today

43 minutes ago

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After that, he wasn't seen by police again until he arrived at the residence of Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the state House, in Brooklyn Park. Sensing that Hortman might be a target, Brooklyn Park police officers had decided to check on her. When they arrived at 3:30 a.m. they saw a black Ford Explorer outside her house, its police-style lights flashing. Boelter was near the front door. When Boelter saw the officers exit their squad car, he fired at them. He then ran through the front door on the house, where he killed Melissa and Mark Hortman, her husband. When Boelter left the Hortman's home, he abandoned his fake-police SUV. Inside the car, police found a 9mm handgun, three AK-47 assault rifles, fliers advertising a local anti-Trump "No Kings" rally and a notebook with names of people who appear to have been targets, according to court documents. From that point, Boelter was on the run. Little has been revealed about his movements during the period, although police say he visited his part-time residence in north Minneapolis. He also sent texts. In one, to his family's group chat, Boelter writes, "Dad went to war last night". In another, to a close friend, Boelter says he may be dead soon. Police also know that by early morning on Saturday Boelter had met a man at a Minneapolis bus stop who agreed to sell him an e-bike and a Buick sedan for $900. The two drove to a bank where Boelter withdrew $2,200 from his account. A security camera shows Boelter wearing a cowboy hat. But it took until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday for authorities to close in. Police searching the area near Boelter's family home in the rural community of Green Isle, discovered the abandoned Buick, along with a cowboy hat and handwritten letter to the FBI in which Boelter admitted to the shootings, prosecutors said. Law enforcement scrambled to set up a perimeter surrounding the area, SWAT teams and search dogs were deployed, and drones were put in the air. It was the trail camera of a resident, however, that provided the final clue, capturing an image of Boelter around 7:00 p.m., allowing officers to narrow their search. Two hours later, the pursuit ended with Boelter crawling to police. He was armed but surrendered without a fight. (reporting by Nathan Layne and Tom Polansek in Minneapolis and Joseph Ax in New York; editing by Paul Thomasch and Nick Zieminski)

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Late Night TV Hosts on Trump's 'Big Stupid Birthday Parade': 'Almost Makes Me Feel Bad for Him'

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They must be really good at hide and seek. MAGA stands for 'Make America Grass Again,' I guess.' Colbert, like Kimmel, zeroed in on Trump's body language during the parade. 'It looked like nobody was having a good time at this thing, not even Donald Trump,' Colbert said, describing the glum-looking president as 'one sad sack of potatoes.' He added, 'It was such a long day that the birthday boy seemed to fall asleep during the fireworks.' Along with Trump's latest grift with Trump Mobile, Meyers talked at length about the president's parade during his 'Closer Look' segment on Late Night. 'I'll tell you why this cheered me up,' Meyers said as he focused on a picture of Trump looking miserable. 'Because this image right here, this is the essence of America. You can be the president of the United States. You can have an entire political party and a global media apparatus at your disposal. You can cow the media and the wealthy into obedience. You can command an army and deploy troops and have unlimited wealth and power. But you still can't force people to come to your fucking birthday party. And what is more American than that?' The usually apolitical Fallon also didn't miss the opportunity to dunk on the president on The Tonight Show. 'Seriously, it looked like even Trump was bored by his own parade. You know it's bad when the person who looks most happy to be there is Melania.' Fallon joked, 'The White House is now claiming that over 250,000 people attended the parade. Yeah, it was an estimate, give or take 250,000.' On The Daily Show, Stewart only devoted a few minutes to Trump's parade, revealing that they originally had more jokes but other terrible events, including the worsening situation in the Middle East, the shocking assassination of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and sickening behavior of 'edgelord' Utah Sen. Mike Lee changed things. 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