the vice president has opposed a $14.9 billion takeover of us steel corp by japan's nippon steel in heremarks. vice president harris said that us steel should remain in domestic hands, and commited to always have the backs of american steel workers. that position mirrors that ofjoe biden, who said back in march that us steel corp should remain a domestically—owned american firm. us steel it should remain american owned and american operated. in other news — volkswagen is considering closing factories in germany to cut costs. it's an unprecedented move and sets up a showdown with powerful unions. the auto—maker — which employs around 680,000 staff — is struggling with its passenger car brand. profits are getting squeezed amid the transition to electric vehicles and a consumer spending slowdown. a four—day conference to attract foreign investment to russia is about to begin in the country's eastern most major city — vladivostok. the eastern economic forum is into its ninth year. last year, more than $40 billion in new agreements were signed, with 7,000 delegates in attendance. the largest