TOKYO -- Toyota Motor will raise the price of steel materials that it sells to its suppliers in the second half of fiscal year 2021 by about 20,000 yen ($182) per ton, its largest price hike in over a decade, Nikkei has learned.

The move is Toyota's first price increase in two years and highlights the impact of rising commodity prices as global industrial activity recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toyota will notify the suppliers soon.

TOKYO -- The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games opened on Tuesday, a little over two weeks after the conclusion of the Olympics.

While the COVID-19 pandemic already overshadowed the Olympics, the Paralympics come as Japan struggles with its most serious outbreak yet . The Games are scheduled to run through Sept. 5, with spectators barred from attending the events.

Here are the latest developments:

Tuesday, Aug. 24 (Tokyo time)

10:50 p.m. The Paralympics officially open

TOKYO -- The Japanese operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has decided to release treated wastewater from the ruined facility in an area roughly 1 km offshore from the site, Nikkei has learned.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings will announce the decision Wednesday. The company, also known as TEPCO, is expected to present the plan to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority next month for review. But Fukushima Prefecture fishers remain strongly opposed to the discharge, slated to begin in spring 2023.

Since April, when

TAIPEI -- Luxshare Precision Industry revealed Tuesday record revenues and a big jump in profits for the first half of 2021, becoming the latest Chinese manufacturer to enjoy a boost from its business as a supplier to Apple.

The Guangdong-based company sometimes called "Little Foxconn," which has been deepening its relationship with Apple and is assembling iPhones for the U.S. technology giant for the first time this year, said first-half revenue grew more than 30% from a year ago to 4

GUANGZHOU -- Mazda Motor will essentially merge its two key joint ventures in China, the Japanese automaker announced Tuesday, paving the way toward streamlining operations and reviving its flagging sales in China.

Mazda's new car sales in China have fallen every year since peaking out at about 310,000 vehicles in 2017, reaching about 210,000 in 2020. January-July sales also fell 4% on the year.

In an effort to stop the

JAKARTA -- President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Tuesday said the government will proceed with its $32 billion plan to relocate Indonesia's capital city from Jakarta to the island of Borneo, while the strongest candidate to succeed him so far assured he supports the move.

Widodo on Tuesday inspected newly completed sections of a 97 km toll road connecting the two largest cities in East Kalimantan Province, Balikpapan and Samarinda.

With Widodo now in his second and final term, the announcement shows a renewed push for the relocation

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called for closer cooperation with Southeast Asian nations on supply chains in her meetings with Singaporean officials Tuesday, as the pandemic disrupts production in the region.

The vice president wrapped up her two-day visit to Singapore and headed to Vietnam Tuesday evening. Her departure was temporarily delayed over concerns due to an unexplained health incident in Hanoi potentially related to Havana Syndrome.

The supply chain issue dominated her discussions in Singapore.

"This is an issue that requires all nations

NEW YORK -- American conservatives are piling criticism on the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and see an opening to present a new foreign policy agenda leading up to the 2022 midterm and 2024 presidential elections.

But there is little appetite for the grandiose, nation-building pushed by former President George W. Bush and the neoconservatives who dominated his administration. Neither are Republicans rallying around a neo-isolationist foreign policy, that would reduce American presence on the world stage.

Instead

TOKYO -- Japan's health ministry is working to approve at-home use of the COVID-19 antibody cocktail available to inpatients, as the country's surge in new cases forces many hospitals to reserve beds only for the sickest.

The treatment, developed by U.S.-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is believed to reduce the risk of severe symptoms and death by 70%. The medication is geared toward patients with mild to moderate symptoms, and it is largely administered via IV drip to high