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At least 7 people eliminated by army at Ghana's AngloGold Ashanti mine
A Ghanaian smallscale miners' association on Sunday stated soldiers eliminated nine unarmed people at an AngloGold Ashanti mine on Saturday night, while the army stated 7 prohibited miners had been killed in a firefight. Kofi Adams, local chairman of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, told Reuters that nine people had actually been eliminated and fourteen significantly hurt in the incident at the Obuasi gold mining site in the West African country's Ashanti Area. He said individuals had actually not been equipped. Previously, Ghana's militaries stated that about 60 illegal miners bring locally made rifles and other weapons breached the mine's security fence at around 11:00 pm (2300 GMT). on Saturday and fired on a military patrol deployed there,. resulting in a shootout. This is extraordinary (and) it's tough to. understand why this occurred, Adams stated, noting that in the. past, intruders on the site had actually been frightened with warning. shots. Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama bought an. instant examination into the event, the presidency said. in a declaration on Sunday, calling it terrible. The government has asked AngloGold Ashanti to cover the. medical costs of the hurt and the expense of burials, the. presidency's statement stated. AngloGold Ashanti could not instantly be reached for. comment. The Johannesburg-listed miner owns the Iduapriem and. Obuasi mines in southern Ghana. The two mines produced more than. 490,000 ounces of gold in 2015.
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Zijin stops operate at Colombia cash cow after homemade bomb attack
Zijin Mining has stopped briefly production at its Buritica cash cow in Colombia after aggressors armed with homemade bombs harmed a crucial power source, the company said on Saturday. The attack happened early Friday when the armed group broke into the site, which is the biggest cash cow in Colombia, located in a rural area of the Antioquia province where roadway blocks and attacks by prohibited miners are regular. No injuries were reported. Zijin attributed the incident to unlawful miners who it said looked for to acquire gold from the mine. High-powered homemade bombs were tossed at our underground facilities, triggering serious damage of the electrical substation and rendering the backup power source unusable, Zijin Continental Gold, the local system of China-based Zijin, stated in a statement released on Saturday. The attack also interrupted ventilation and drain systems, Zijin said. Buritica produced 8.3 tons of gold in 2023, according to the company. Previous attacks by illegal miners have likewise affected operations at the mine. Colombia's Mining Association stated the attack was not an isolated event, and pointed to 3 other attacks at mines in various parts of Colombia in the last month. This is evidence of a pattern of methodical violence to control resources and perpetuate illegality, the group said in a declaration.
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Thousands gather in Washington to oppose Trump inauguration
Countless individuals collected in Washington on Saturday to protest Presidentelect Donald Trump's inauguration, as activists for women's rights, racial justice and other causes rallied against inbound policies they state will threaten their civil liberties throughout the Republican's second term. Some in the crowd wore the pink hats that marked the much-larger protest against Trump's very first inauguration in 2017. They wound through downtown amidst a light rain, past the White Home and towards the Lincoln Memorial along the National Shopping mall for the People's March. Protests versus Trump's inauguration are smaller sized this time, in part because the U.S. ladies's rights motion seems more fractured to lots of activists after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Organizers anticipated 50,000 would go to, while local police anticipated about 25,000. More than 300 other marches were prepared nationwide. Reproductive rights groups signed up with activists for civil rights, the environment and other causes in organizing the march versus Trump. He is preparing to take workplace on Monday, having lost his very first reelection quote in 2020 to President Joe Biden, a. Democrat. In both of his victories, Trump beat prospects who each. would have been the first female U.S. president: Hillary Clinton. in 2016 and Harris in 2015. This time, Trump won all seven. battleground states to protect the Electoral College required for. the presidency, and carried the popular vote in a very first for. Republican politicians in 20 years. Trump has vowed to make sweeping modifications on day one, from. migration raids to dismantling parts of the federal. government. A lot of people are disappointed, stated Olivia Hoffman,. 26, who works at the California-based Young Women's Freedom. Center, which supports impoverished women and transgender youth,. and traveled with her mother to march in the nation's capital. A great deal of individuals feel like we've been defending the same. things for so long. Saturday's march drew in a wide range of causes from. migration and democracy to climate change and the Gaza war. At. least one protester called out Trump's pressure on Canada,. bring a sign that read We are not your 51st state. MOSTLY PEACEFUL The demonstrations were mostly serene amid increased security. as patrol cars, with sirens on, drove close by. One protester in a. red MAGA hat who emerged near the front of the march was led. away by authorities, and anti-abortion activists displayed. graphic posters near the crowd's last gathering area. Vendors hawked buttons that said #MeToo and Love defeats. hate, and sold Individuals's March flags for $10. Demonstrators. brought posters that read Feminists v. Fascists and Individuals. over politics. Mini Timmaraju, CEO of the advocacy group Reproductive. Flexibility for All, praised the crowd's event in the face of. what's going to be some truly horrible extremism. With Trump's Republican politicians also controlling Congress and. conservatives leading the U.S. Supreme Court, it is unclear how. activists or Democrats can counter Trump's strategies. I'm thankful I can see some individuals here are enthusiastic, stated. Nancy Robinson, a 65-year-old retired printing and tech. expert from Maryland. That's not me. I think we're doomed. Other demonstrations are planned over the weekend, including on. Inauguration Day, which falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Civil rights leaders state they will rally and continue to. activate under Trump's administration. It's warming that people still care, said Preethi Murthy,. 28, who is based in Washington and works in global health. We. need to reveal that we're larger in numbers and we're not going to. pull back..
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DR Congo justice ministry orders probe into state mining company embezzlement
Democratic Republic of Congo has actually launched a probe into the embezzlement of over $300. million from state miner Gecamines between 2012 and 2020, the. justice ministry stated in a statement on Saturday. Gecamines, which holds minority stakes in several of the. world's biggest copper and cobalt projects, has actually long been dogged. by allegations of corruption made by non-governmental. organisations and opposition politicians. Congo's public financial resources watchdog, the General Inspectorate. of Financial Resources (IGF), discovered in 2022 that more than $400 million in. tax advances and loans that Gecamines said it paid to the. nationwide treasury might not be discovered. It stated in a report at the time that the missing out on $413. million were presumed to have been misused and that. auditors would continue their investigations. Gecamines has regularly rejected misbehavior. It did not. immediately respond to an ask for comment on Saturday. The IGF had also discovered in a different audit on the finances. of Congo's reserve bank that Gecamines had actually embezzled advance tax. payments worth around $315 million between 2012 and 2020. Congo's justice ministry stated in a declaration on Saturday. that it had advised the public district attorney to open a court. case against those accountable for the misappropriation of. public funds flagged by the IGF. It stated there would be a specific focus on the. embezzlement of advance tax payments worth around $315 million. in between 2012 and 2020. International arrest warrants have actually been issued for the. accused and forwarded to the judicial authorities of several. nations for their arrest, the declaration said, without citing. any names.
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Thousands gather in Washington to oppose Trump inauguration
Numerous thousand individuals, mostly females, gathered in Washington on Saturday to object Presidentelect Donald Trump's inauguration, with some using the pink hats that marked the muchlarger demonstration versus his initially inauguration in 2017. In Franklin Park, among 3 kickoff locations for the People's March that will wind through downtown, protesters collected in light rain to rally for gender justice and bodily autonomy. Other protesters gathered at 2 other parks likewise near the White Home, with one group concentrated on democracy and migration and another on local Washington concerns, before heading towards the march's final event at the Lincoln Memorial. Police cars, with sirens on, drove between the kickoff locations. Demonstrations against Trump's inauguration are much smaller than in 2017, in part because the U.S. females's rights motion fractured after Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Suppliers hawked buttons that said #MeToo and Love surpasses hate, and offered Individuals's March flags for $10. Demonstrators brought posters that check out Feminists v. Fascists and People. over politics. It's truly recovering to be here with all of you today in. uniformity and togetherness, in the face of what's going to be. some really dreadful extremism, Mini Timmaraju, the head of. advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, informed the crowd as. occasions started. She stated the good news was that abortion rights remain. popular in spite of Trump's win, leading a chant of We are the. majority! Reproductive groups joined civil rights, environment and. other women's groups in organizing the march versus Trump and. his program as he prepares to take workplace on Monday. Trump won. all 7 battlefield states and the popular vote in November's. election.
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Wars top global risk as Davos elite gathers in shadow of fragmented world
Equipped dispute is the top risk in 2025, a World Economic Online Forum (WEF) study released on Wednesday revealed, a reminder of the deepening international fragmentation as federal government and magnate participate in an yearly event in Davos next week. Nearly one in 4 of the more than 900 professionals surveyed throughout academia, organization and policymaking ranked conflict, including wars and terrorism, as the most serious threat to financial development for the year ahead. Severe weather condition, the no. 1 issue in 2024, was the second-ranked risk. Increasing geopolitical tensions and a fracturing of trust are driving the global threat landscape, WEF Handling Director Mirek Dusek said in remarks accompanying the report. In this complex and vibrant context, leaders have an option: to find ways to foster collaboration and strength, or face compounding vulnerabilities. The WEF gets underway on Jan. 20 and Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, will address the meeting virtually on Jan. 23. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will participate in the conference and offer a speech on Jan. 21, according to the WEF organisers. Advisers to Trump yield that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to deal with, Reuters reported on Wednesday, a sharp reality examine his pledge to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House. Among other global leaders due to attend the Davos conference are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. Syria, the dreadful humanitarian scenario in Gaza and the possible escalation of the dispute in the Middle East will be a focus at the gathering, according to WEF President and CEO Borge Brende. Arbitrators were working out the last details of a. prospective ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday, following marathon. talks in Qatar. The threat of misinformation and disinformation was ranked. as the most serious global risk over the next 2 years,. according to the survey, the very same ranking as in 2024. Over a 10-year horizon environmental risks controlled. professionals' threat concerns, the survey revealed. Extreme weather condition was. the top longer-term international threat, followed by biodiversity loss,. vital modification to earth's systems and a shortage of natural. resources. Global temperatures last year exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius. ( 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial period for the. first time, bringing the world more detailed to breaching the promise. governments made under the 2015 Paris climate arrangement. A worldwide danger is defined by the study as a condition that. would negatively affect a substantial proportion of global GDP,. population or natural deposits. Professionals were surveyed in. September and October. Most of participants, 64%, anticipate a multipolar,. fragmented global order to continue.
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2 Supreme Court judges shot dead in Tehran, Iranian judiciary says
Two senior Iranian Supreme Court judges involved in handling espionage and terrorism cases were shot dead in the capital Tehran on Saturday, Iran's judiciary said. It said the opponent killed himself after opening fire at the judges inside the Supreme Court, and that a bodyguard of one of the judges was wounded. The judiciary recognized the judges who were killed as mid-ranking Shi'ite Muslim clerics Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini. While the motive for the assassination was still unclear, judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told state television that the two judges had long been involved in nationwide security cases, including espionage and terrorism. In the previous year, the judiciary has carried out comprehensive efforts to determine spies and terrorist groups, a relocation that has actually stimulated anger and bitterness among the opponents, he stated. State TV stated these cases were connected to individuals linked to Israel and the Iranian opposition supported by the United States. It did not elaborate. Opposition sites have in the past stated Moghiseh was associated with trials of individuals they described as political prisoners. Razini was a target of an assassination effort in 1998.
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3 dead in night-time Russian attack on Kyiv, military administration says
Three people were killed early on Saturday in the centre of Kyiv in a nighttime Russian attack, said Timur Tkachenko, head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration. Tkachenko published on the Telegram messaging app that the deaths had actually taken place in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district. He said falling debris had also hit the Desnyanskyi district on the other side of the Dnipro River that runs through the capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated air defences remained in operation around the city. He stated windows had actually been shattered in Shevchenkivskyi district, consisting of at a city station, and smoke was coming out of an apartment building. A water pipe had actually been damaged and repair teams had been dispatched to the website. Authorities raised the air raid alert on the capital after it had actually been result for a little bit more than an hour.
Woodside goes all-in on LNG with brave Tellurian buy: Russell
Australia's. Woodside Energy wishes to turn into one of the world's biggest. independent producers of melted natural gas (LNG).
In itself this is not a bad ambition. However choosing to do so. by taking control of a distressed U.S. LNG task is certainly a brave. way of tackling it. Woodside stated on Monday it has accepted obtain all of. Tellurian for an overall worth of $1.2 billion, consisting of. a cash payment of some $900 million, or $1 per share, a premium. of 75% to the U.S. business's last closing price.
The purchase price is largely irrelevant. What's important. is whether Woodside can take Tellurian's Driftwood LNG task. in Louisiana from its early stages of advancement to its complete. potential of producing 27 million metric heaps a year of the. super-chilled fuel.
Woodside Chief Executive Meg O'Neill told a financier. rundown on Monday the transaction positions Woodside to be a. international LNG powerhouse.
That is true, since if Woodside does successfully establish. the Driftwood job it possibly will end up being the. second-biggest independent LNG producer on the planet, overtaking. incredibly majors such as Shell and Exxon Mobil.
Woodside's present LNG capability - run, equity share and. off-take - stands at about 12.05 million loads per year.
While Driftwood is allowed for 27.6 million lots a year,. Woodside's initial aim will be to quickly advance Phases 1 and. 2, which are awaiting Final Financial investment Choices (FIDs) and have. a combined yearly capability of about 16.5 million lots.
There are numerous engaging factors for Woodside to handle. the Driftwood job. Becoming world-scale is just among. them.
Having a strong existence in the Atlantic basin would permit. Woodside to make the most of arbitrage opportunities between. customers in Europe and in Asia, the two most significant need centres. for LNG.
Woodside likewise has a strong performance history of developing LNG. tasks, consisting of the North West Shelf and Pluto plants in. Western Australia state.
The business no doubt has the technical proficiency to develop. Driftwood, something that Tellurian potentially lacked.
DIFFERENT MODEL
Woodside likewise brings a strong balance sheet and prepares a. somewhat different design of offering LNG from the traditional. U.S. operation.
U.S. LNG plants tend to be tolling operations, where their. earnings is largely originated from a repaired cost for converting. natural gas into LNG, which is then marketed by off-takers.
This frequently indicates long-term off-take offers are needed. before tasks can get sufficient funding to be developed.
This was mainly the problem Tellurian dealt with ahead of time. Driftwood, with preliminary handle buyers such as Shell,. TotalEnergies, Vitol and others stopping working to. be converted into firm agreements.
Woodside intends to improve the value of the Driftwood project by. accessing cheap feedstock from the U.S. gas market,. putting the LNG into its own marketing portfolio, while still. retaining the option for some tolling volumes.
Woodside also intends to bring in what it called top quality. partners, and will target to offer down its equity stake to. around 50%.
To do this, Woodside is going to need to show it can develop. Driftwood in a prompt and affordable manner.
The Perth-based business stated it anticipates development expenses. for Driftwood to be around $900-$ 915 a ton, which would be. around $14.9 billion for the initial capacity of 16.5 million. heaps a year.
Spot LNG prices for delivery to North Asia << LNG-AS > ended at. $ 12.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to. July 19, which is comparable to about $631 a load.
This would indicate a relatively fast recoupment of development. expenses, even accounting for purchasing feedstock and operating. expenditures.
In addition to the threats involved in handling a project. that at finest can be described as having a troubled history,. Woodside is likewise making a massive bet on the future of LNG as. the world transitions far from fossil fuels.
Woodside's view has actually consistently been that LNG is required for. the shift given it is less polluting than coal and. functions well as a peaking fuel to backup variable sustainable. generation from sources such as wind and solar.
Much will depend on what paths are taken by governments,. with the threat that European nations go harder on storage. options such as batteries rather than gas-peaking plants.
LNG can likely remain a force in Asia's energy mix, however this. will mostly be dependent on the fuel being cost-competitive. against coal while not weakening the profitability of LNG. producers.
Disclosure: At the time of publication Clyde Russell owned. Woodside shares as an investor in a fund.
The viewpoints revealed here are those of the author, a. writer .
(source: Reuters)