TOKYO (AP) — A Nagasaki cathedral has blessed the final piece to complete its restoration nearly 80 years after being destroyed by the second U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Japan: a reproduction of its lost bell restored by a group of Americans.
The new bell was blessed and named the “St. Kateri Bell of Hope,” by Peter Michiaki Nakamura, archbishop of Nagasaki, at the Urakami Cathedral in a ceremony Thursday attended by more than 100 followers and other participants.
The bell is scheduled to be hung inside the cathedral, filling the empty bell tower for the first time, on Aug. 9, the anniversary of the bombing.
The U.S. bomb that was dropped Aug. 9, 1945, fell near the cathedral, killing two priests and 24 followers inside among the more than 70,000 dead in the city. Japan surrendered, ending World War II days later.
The bombing of Nagasaki destroyed the cathedral building and the smaller of its two bells. The building was restored earlier, but without the smaller bell.
The restoration project was led by James Nolan Jr., who was inspired after hearing about the lost bell when he met a local Catholic follower during his 2023 visit to Nagasaki. Nolan lectured about the atomic bombing in the southern city and its history about Catholic converts who went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution in Japan's feudal era, to raise funds for the bell restoration.
“I think it's beautiful and the bell itself is more beautiful than I ever imagined,” Nolan, who was at the blessing ceremony, said after he test-rang the bell. He said he hoped the bell "will be a symbol of unity and that will bear the fruits of fostering hope and peace in a world where there is division and war and hurt."
Kojiro Moriuchi, the follower who told Nolan about the bell, prayed and gently touched it.
“I'm so graterul,” he said. “I hope Urakami Cathederal will be a place for peace-loving people from around the world to gather.”
A sociology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, Nolan is the grandson of a doctor who was in the Manhattan Project — the secret effort to build the bombs — and who was on a survey team that visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortly after the bombings.
Nolan wrote the book “Atomic Doctors,” about the moral dilemmas faced by medical doctors who took part in the Manhattan Project, based on materials his grandfather left behind.
FILE - The Urakami Cathedral is seen in Nagasaki, southern Japan, Nov. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Urakami Cathedral is seen in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 2023, marking the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japanese city. (Kyodo News via AP)
The bell, which was reproduced and returned by a group of Americans, is shown to the media at the Urakami Cathedral, nearly 80 years after the cathedral was destroyed by the U.S. atomic bombing near the end of World War, in Nagasaki, western Japan, on May 15, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.
On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.
It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.
Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.
Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.
Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.
The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.
Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
