☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

What We’re Watching: US and Japan sign rare earths deal, Bill Gates softens on climate, world’s oldest leader declares victory

October 28, 2025
Riley Callanan
​U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaks to the country's military personnel aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 28, 2025.
U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaks to the country's military personnel aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 28, 2025.
Kyodo

Trump signs deals in Tokyo

US President Donald Trump and Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichisigned a critical minerals deal and Tokyo pledged $550 billion of fresh investment in the US, as well as purchases of American pickups. Trump heaped praise on Takaichi, Japan’s first female leader, who is a conservative China hawk and a protegé of slain former PM Shinzo Abe, a Trump pal. Takaichi called for Trump to win the Nobel prize. The dealmaking bonhomie smoothed rocky relations between the US and its longstanding ally Japan. Trump’s next Asia stop is in South Korea tomorrow, ahead of a crucial Thursday summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. A mooted meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears not to be in the cards.

Bill Gates changes his tune on climate change

A week before COP30 climate summit in Brazil, Bill Gates has cautioned against a “doomsday outlook” on climate change. Record scrrrratch – what? The global philanthropist, who has poured billions into the effort to slow global warming, now says we should focus more energy on tackling disease and poverty in the developing world instead. Gates’s focus has shifted in part because of the Trump administration’s moves to slash foreign aid budgets – he wants to fill the void left by defunct USAID programs. Earlier this year his flagship clean energy venture fund shuttered its climate policy group.

World’s oldest leader wins another term in Cameroon

Who’d have guessed it? Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya was elected to an eighth seven-year term in office, after he was finally declared the victor of the West African country’s October 12th election on Monday. Biya officially won 53.7% of the vote, against just 35.2% for opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary – who had declared victory last week. Biya’s victory claim has prompted violent unrest in the oil-rich nation, including in Bakary’s hometown of Garoua. The protests had been expected to continue Tuesday, but a combination of bad weather and a fierce crackdown appear to have kept demonstrators at bay for now.

More from GZERO Media

Tools and Weapons – In Conversation with Ted Sarandos

Microsoft

In this new episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ted Sarandos to discuss how bold leadership and a culture of innovation keep Netflix ahead, not just as a media company, but as a force shaping both industries and audiences. Ted shares how intuition and data combine to turn daring ideas into practical solutions, from scaling storytelling across 190 countries to relentlessly creating content that gets under the skin of viewers and makes them feel deeply connected to the stories they watch. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Will Trump’s new Russia sanctions work?

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on October 24, 2025.
Sputnik/Alexey Babushkin/Pool via REUTERS

The US president imposed sanctions on the two largest Russian oil firms. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on whether it forces China and India to stop buying Russian crude.

China isn't racing to AGI, why is the US?

- YouTube

youtu.be

The real US-China AI race isn’t about who builds the most powerful technology, but who applies and governs it in ways that strengthen—rather than undermine—society, Tristan Harris tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

Hard Numbers: Major hurricane sweeping through Caribbean, Insurgents implement blockade in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire’s octogenarian leader wins again, Diphtheria on the rise

Hurricane Melissa, which has developed into a Category 5 storm, moves north in the Caribbean Sea towards Jamaica and Cuba in a composite satellite image obtained by Reuters on October 27, 2025.
CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS

30: Hurricane Melissa, which was upgraded over the weekend to a Category 5 storm, is expected to hit Jamaica on Monday and bring 30 inches of rain and 165-mph winds, in what will be one of the most intense storms to ever hit the island.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.