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Britain announces a critical minerals strategy in order to reduce reliance on external supply
The government announced that Britain has launched a new critical minerals strategy to reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers. By 2035, it aims to supply 10% of the domestic demand with UK-produced materials and 20% through recycling. The strategy, which is backed by new funding of up to 50 millions pounds, aims to ensure that no more than 60 percent of UK supply of any critical mineral will come from one country by 2035. In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir starmer stated that critical minerals are "the backbone of modern living and our national safety." He argued that increasing domestic production and recycling could help protect the economy and assist efforts to reduce living costs. The UK government stated that the country currently produces only 6% of their critical mineral requirements domestically. The plan aims to increase domestic extraction and processing with a focus on lithium and nickel. It wants to produce 50,000 tonnes or more of lithium in the UK before 2035. The UK faces an urgent demand for a long-term, secure supply of minerals such as copper, nickel and lithium, which are vital for electric vehicles, smartphones, and data centers, and are increasingly important for artificial intelligence. The British government has said that the demand for materials essential to Britain is increasing rapidly. By 2035, copper consumption will nearly double, and lithium demand will increase by 1,100%. China's strategy highlights its grip on vital mineral supplies. This leaves the sector vulnerable to price fluctuations, geopolitical tensions and sudden interruptions. Britain pointed out that China controls about 70% of rare-earth mining and 90% refining. This dominance puts countries like the UK at risk. In the early part of this year, Britain signed a deal to cooperate on minerals with Saudi Arabia. The aim was to improve supply chains, open doors for British companies, and attract new investment. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese in Bengaluru, Mrinmay dey from Bengaluru)
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Australia PM announces formal agreement reached with Turkey for COP31 Climate Summit
Anthony Albanese, Australian Prime Minister, said that a formal agreement was reached on Sunday for Turkey to be the host of the COP31 Climate Summit in 2026. This confirms a document published at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil. In a statement released by Germany at the COP30 Summit this week, following a meeting of Western European and Others Group tasked to select the host for 2026, it was stated that Australia would lead the negotiations, while Turkey will take on the role. This announcement followed an earlier one that said a compromise was expected. The agreement ended a long-running dispute over the hosting of U.N. negotiations. Albanese stated in a press release that "a formal agreement was reached for COP31 in Antalya to be hosted and the Pacific's interest would be advanced by Australia taking on the role of the President of Negotiations leading up to the meeting as well as at the event." According to the statement, Australia would be the "exclusive authority" in guiding the decision-making at the summit. The statement also said that the Pacific region will host a pre-COP special meeting to "bring attention to the existential threats climate change poses for the region." The Pacific Islands Forum is a regional diplomatic bloc consisting of 18 countries that had supported Australia's bid. The rising seas threaten several Pacific island nations. Over the years, the annual COP has evolved from a diplomatic gathering into a massive trade show where the host country can promote their economic prospects. Sam McKeith, Sydney; Chris Reese, editing.
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Tunisians intensify protests against Saied and demand return to democracy
On Saturday, thousands of Tunisians marched through the capital in protest of "injustice" and "repression". They accused President Kais Said of consolidating his one-man regime by using the judiciary. This protest is part of a wave which has been sweeping Tunisia, affecting journalists, doctors and banks, as well as public transport systems. The closure of an environmental-friendly chemical plant was also demanded by thousands. They wore black to show their anger and sorrow over the transformation of Tunisia into "an open-air prison". The protesters held banners that read "Enough of repression", and "No terror, no fear, the streets are the people's". The rally united activists, NGOs, and fragmented political parties across the spectrum to show a rare unity against Saied. This shows the serious political and economic problems in Tunisia and is a challenge for Saied who took power by decree in 2021. The protesters shouted slogans like "We're suffocating!" The protesters chanted slogans such as "Enough with the tyranny! The people want to see the regime fall! ". Ezzedine hazgui, the father of Jawhar Ben Mbark (a politician who is currently in jail), said: "Saied turned the country into 'an open prison. We will never give up." Saied is accused by opposition parties, civil societies and journalists of using the police and judiciary to suppress criticism. Three prominent civil rights organizations announced last month that authorities had suspended their operations due to alleged foreign funding. Amnesty International said that the crackdown against rights groups had reached a critical level with 14 NGOs being targeted for arbitrary arrests and detentions as well as asset freezing, banking restrictions, and suspensions. Saied is accused by his opponents of destroying the independence and integrity of the judiciary. In 2022, he disbanded the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and fired dozens of judges - a move that rights groups and opposition groups condemned as a coup. The majority of opposition leaders, as well as dozens critics, are currently in prison. Saied says he has not become a dictator and is not using the judiciary to punish opponents. He claims he is purging Tunisia of all "traitors". (Reporting and editing by Kevin Liffey; Tarek Amara)
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Nine people are killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, doctors say
Local health officials said that Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed nine people, and injured several others. This is a test of the fragile ceasefire agreement between Hamas, a militant Palestinian group, and Israel. The first attack, according to witnesses and medics, was on a car that was set alight in the densely-populated Rimal neighborhood. It wasn't immediately clear if the five victims were all passengers in the car, or if they included bystanders. Dozens rushed in to put out the fire and save the victims. Israeli air strikes on two houses near Deir Al-Balah and Nuseirat camps in central Gaza Strip occurred shortly after the attack on a car. At least four people were killed and several more injured. Israeli military claimed that a gunman crossed into Israeli territory in Gaza, exploiting "the humanitarian route in the area where humanitarian aid enters south Gaza", describing it as a "blatant breach of the ceasefire accord". In response, the military announced that it had struck targets in Gaza. Hamas officials in Gaza have rejected Israeli military allegations that the group is committed to the ceasefire. They said the claims were baseless, and an "excuse for killing". Israel and Hamas accuse each other repeatedly of violating a truce that was concluded over six weeks ago. Hamas stated in a press release earlier that day that Israel’s “escalating violations” put the responsibility on mediators, and the U.S., to confront Israel and maintain the ceasefire. The ceasefire of October 10, which ended the two-year Gaza War, has helped to ease the conflict and allowed hundreds of thousands to return to Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from city positions and increased aid flow. Violence has not stopped completely. Hamas is trying to assert itself, and many are worried about the de facto division of the territory where conditions are terrible. Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces killed 316 civilians in Gaza in attacks since the ceasefire. Israel claims that three soldiers were killed since the ceasefire was declared and that it has also attacked a number of fighters. Hamas militants attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people - most of whom were civilians - and taking 251 hostages. Gaza's health officials say that Israel's retaliatory attack has killed over 69,700 Palestinians. Most of them are civilians. Hamas agreed to release all 20 hostages still alive in Gaza, in exchange for Israel's nearly 2,000 Palestinian wartime prisoners and detainees. Hamas has also agreed to exchange the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants who were killed during the war for the remains of 28 hostages. So far, the remains of 25 hostages has been handed over. According to the health ministry of the territory, Israel has returned 330 Palestinian bodies. (Reporting Nidal al-Mughrabi. Emily Rose contributed additional reporting from Jerusalem. Editing was done by Emelia Sithole Matarise and Topra Chopra.
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The EU objectors to the proposed deal prolong the COP30 discussions
Brazil's COP30 summit was forced to face a crucial day on Saturday after all-night discussions to break an impasse. The European Union had blocked a deal that it felt would not advance efforts to curb greenhouse gases, which are driving global climate changes. The two-week climate conference, billed as an opportunity to demonstrate that nations could still unite to combat climate change in the absence of the United States, was supposed to end on Friday. However the standoff forced the negotiators to work overtime. The Brazilian presidency tried to reach a compromise over a deal which most of the 200 countries attending the summit would accept but the EU deemed unbalanced. A deal must be approved by a majority. It was unlikely that any agreement would be reached to provide more details on the way and when nations will fulfill their commitments to move away from fossil fuels. The Arab Group countries had led the opposition. The only option left was to agree on a voluntary “Global Implementation Accelerator” in which countries can discuss how they could advance their efforts to reduce emissions. On Saturday, a draft of a part of the final agreement, as seen by, called for the global effort to triple the funding available to assist developing nations in adapting to climate change by the year 2035. The EU said it would "move past its comfort zone" in terms of finance for developing countries - but that only if the clauses on actions to reduce planet-warming emission were strengthened. Sources said the COP30 presidency was preparing a text addressing fossil-fuels. However, it was unclear if Brazil was going to issue the declaration or if it had been endorsed by other countries. The deal was not expected as part of a larger consensus after Brazil's earlier attempts to get all the countries to agree on a text regarding fossil fuels failed. Reporting by William James; Editing and editing by Kevin Liffey and Katy Daigle.
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The EU objectors to the proposed deal prolong the COP30 discussions
Brazil's COP30 Climate Summit faced a crunch-day on Saturday, after all night talks to overcome an impass after the European Union had blocked a deal it claimed would not advance efforts to curb greenhouse gases that are driving global climate changes. The two-week climate conference, billed as an opportunity to demonstrate that nations could still unite to combat climate change in the absence of the United States, was supposed to end on Friday. However the standoff forced the negotiators to work overtime. The Brazilian presidency tried to reach a compromise over a deal which most of the 200 countries attending the summit would accept but the EU deemed unbalanced. A deal must be approved by a majority. It was unlikely that any agreement would be reached to provide more details on the way and when nations will fulfill their commitments to move away from fossil fuels. The Arab Group countries had led the opposition. The only option left was to agree on a voluntary “Global Implementation Accelerator” in which countries can discuss how they could advance their efforts to reduce emissions. On Saturday, a draft of the final agreement, which was part of a draft, called on the world to triple the amount of funding available to assist developing nations in adapting to climate change. The EU said it would "move past its comfort zone" in terms of finance for developing countries - but that only if the clauses to reduce planet-warming emission were strengthened. (Reporting and editing by William James, Katy Daigle, and Kevin Liffey).
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G20 leaders gather in South Africa to seek agreement despite US boycott
The leaders of the Group of 20 largest economies gathered in South Africa for a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday. They were seeking a deal over a draft statement drafted without U.S. involvement in a surprising move described by a senior White House Official as "shameful". G20 envoys agreed on a draft declaration of leaders ahead of the weekend's summit in Johannesburg. Several of the main agenda items will be about climate change. Four sources with knowledge of the matter told us on Friday that this draft was drafted without U.S. consent. One of these sources confirmed late Friday that the draft contained references to climate changes, despite objections by the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump who questions the scientific consensus on the warming being caused by human activity. Trump has announced that it will not attend the summit due to allegations that have been widely discredited that the government of the country hosting the summit persecutes the white minority. The U.S. President has also rejected the agenda of the host nation, which included promoting solidarity, helping developing countries adapt to natural disasters and transitioning to clean energy as well as reducing their excessive debt costs. Analysts suggest that the boycott could be beneficial if other countries embrace the agenda of this summit and make progress on a substantive statement. There was no clear indication of what language concessions were needed to bring everyone on board. The United States objected to the mention of renewable energy or climate change in the discussion. Other members were also reticent. Climate change is a major concern for three out of four South Africa's top agenda items. These include preparing for weather-related disasters caused by climate change, financing the switch to green energy and ensuring that the rush for vital minerals benefits the producers. The fourth concern is a system of lending that is more equitable for countries in poverty. Ramaphosa stated that the United States would host the G20 2026. He said he'd have to give the rotating presidency over to a "empty chair". The South African president has refused the White House offer to send a U.S. charge-d'affaires during the G20 handover.
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Barrick Mining and Mali reach agreement on principle to settle dispute over gold mine
Two sources familiar with this situation said that Barrick Mining has reached a verbal understanding in principle regarding their dispute concerning the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex. Sources claim that no agreement has been signed yet. Barrick Mining's spokesperson did not respond immediately to a comment request. A spokesperson from Mali's Mines Ministry said that negotiations are progressing well, but gave no further details. Since 2023, the two sides are in dispute over the implementation a new Mali Mining Code that increases taxes and gives the Government a larger share of the gold mines. One of the sources stated that they met on Friday for talks, a week following Barrick's interim CEO Mark Hill's letter to Mali administration asking to resume negotiations. One of the sources said that they discussed a 10-year extension to Barrick's mine licence, which expires on February 20, 2026. Source: They also discussed the release four Barrick employees who were arrested in Mali. The source added that they also discussed the return of three metric tons gold that was seized by Mali authorities, as well as the dropping of arbitration proceedings Barrick initiated against Mali. Barrick halted operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto Complex in January. In June, a Malian court appointed a temporary administrator to restart the operations. However, blasting didn't begin until October. (Reporting from Divyarajagopal and PortiaCrowe in Toronto; Additional reporting from Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru, Editing by Edmund Klamann.)
How a shift to defence can help Germany's economic growth
German defence companies are looking for more capacity, as Europe prepares to increase military spending. They are also eyeing the struggling car industry. This is the first sign that a change could be coming in the direction of helping revive the continent's largest economy after two years contraction. Tank, radar and weapon manufacturers are looking to increase production in response to U.S. demands that Europe take responsibility for its own defense. Germany's carmakers, which have been the economic powerhouse of Germany for decades, are cutting jobs and closing plants due to a slowing market and a halting transition to electric vehicles.
Rheinmetall, Europe’s leading ammunition manufacturer, announced last week that it will repurpose its two factories, which currently produce automotive parts, to make primarily defence equipment.
Hensoldt is in negotiations to hire around 200 employees from Bosch and Continental, two major auto part suppliers.
Oliver Doerre, Hensoldt CEO, said that the company was benefiting from the current automotive industry's difficulties. He added that additional investment could double the annual production of TRML-4D up to 25-30. At an emergency summit held in London on Sunday, European leaders decided to spend more money on their militaries. This was after the public spat between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump cast doubts over future U.S. assistance for Ukraine. On Thursday, EU leaders will meet to discuss proposals for mobilizing up to 800 billion euro ($843 billion), including 150 billion euro of joint borrowing. The parties involved in the talks to form Germany’s new government announced late on Tuesday that they would create a 500 billion euro infrastructure fund and change borrowing rules to increase defence spending. Following the announcement, shares in German defence companies Rheinmetall, Thyssenkrupp, Hensoldt, and Renk all rose between 3.4 and 8.3%. European defence stocks were already up sharply in the past week.
The Bruegel think tank estimates that Europe could need an additional 300,000 troops as well as a short-term increase in annual defence spending of 250 billion euros to "deter Russian aggression".
GDP BOOST A pivot to defence production could boost the German economy. The German economy has been lagging behind its European counterparts as it struggles with high energy prices, bureaucracy and aggressive foreign competition.
IfW Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates that the European Union's Gross Domestic Product could grow by between 0.9-1.5% per year if EU member countries increase military spending from the current NATO target of 2% to 3.5% and rely on locally developed technology.
Johannes Binder, IfW Kiel, said that "in the medium-to-long term, American history has shown in particular that such military expenditures can deliver a lot in terms of productivity, spillover, and technological advancements."
He added that Germany's GDP growth, given its industrial infrastructure, would be likely at the higher end of this range.
EY estimates that increasing defence spending to 3% GDP would double Germany's investments each year to 25,5 billion euros. It would also create 245,000 jobs, both direct and indirect, and generate nearly 42 billion euro in production and services.
In 2022, the latest figures show that Germany's defence and security industry employed 387,000 workers. This is about half of what was in the auto industry. In 2022, the defence industry's sales reached 47 billion euro, while car sales totaled 506 billion euro.
Doerre from Hensoldt said: "We need to consider the defense industry as a motor of economic growth for Germany." The sector will have a greater impact than ever before.
Hensoldt already outsourced the production of circuit board and Doerre stated that this could be extended to wire harnesses, and casings.
He noted that using spare capacity within the automotive sector would preserve Germany's existing manufacturing infrastructure and boost the production of military equipment.
SYNERGIES
ZF Friedrichshafen - a supplier to the automotive industry undergoing reorganization that could result in German plants closing - has spoken with defense companies about transferring workers. The company cited "industrial synergies" as a reason for this.
Renk, a tank gearbox manufacturer that is majority owned by Volkswagen until 2020 said recently the automotive industry had been gaining more attention, particularly in terms of scaling production capacity. The company did not provide any further information.
KNDS (German-French supplier of military defence systems) did not answer any questions. The company plans to manufacture the Leopard 2 battle tanks and Puma infantry combat vehicles at a German plant that it has recently agreed to purchase from France's Alstom.
In a recent note, analysts at Deutsche Bank warned that, despite increased EU defense spending, it might not have a significant impact on the local industry. The U.S. equivalent is much more fragmented. In a report published recently on Europe's Competitiveness by Mario Draghi (former European Central Bank Chief), he said that between mid-2022 to mid-2023, nearly four fifths of EU defence procurement expenditures would be spent with non-EU vendors.
Rheinmetall has also been in contact with Continental to discuss the possibility of hiring around 100 new employees to boost operations.
In February, its CEO Armin Pappger said that Europe needed to invest heavily in missiles and ammunition, as well as vehicles, in order to become more resilient. He also stated that the continent lacked behind in spending.
"We must act because (Russian President Vladimir Putin) knows it too," he said.
(source: Reuters)