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India and Russia are in advanced talks to sign a preliminary agreement on critical minerals covering exploration, processing and technological collaboration, two sources familiar with the matter said. The deal is expected to focus on lithium and rare earths, with the two governments also set to facilitate corporate investments, the sources said, declining to be identified as the deliberations were not public.The agreement could be signed within two months, they added. “We have shared a draft of the proposed agreement with our Russian counterparts,” one of the sources said. The Ministry of Mines, which is leading discussions with Russia, did not respond to a Reuters e-mail seeking comment. Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and the office of First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov also did not respond to requests for comment. India is keen to cut its dependence on China, which dominates global supplies of several key minerals and has advanced mining and processing technology, and secure new overseas supplies to support its energy transition and infrastructure development. New Delhi has signed critical minerals agreements with Argentina, Australia and Japan, and is in talks with Peru and Chile on broader bilateral agreements that also include critical minerals. However, India has had limited success in securing overseas critical minerals assets and has so far signed only a single lithium exploration and mining project agreement, covering five blocks in Argentina in 2024. India could also revisit Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s lithium exploration project in Mali if the political situation in the West African nation stabilised, one of the sources said. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that India withdrew from the Mali lithium project because of security concerns. Related Story Source link
Police officers detain members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), a student union, during a protest against the cancellation of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test…
US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at easing deep tensions between the rival superpowers, AFP reporters saw.Air Force One touched down at Beijing Capital International Airport after the long flight from Washington, beginning the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade Source link
The Pentagon said yesterday the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29bn, as President Donald Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict and its impact on military readiness.The new figure, revealed by the Defence Department during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4bn higher than the estimate offered by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth two weeks ago. Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were testifying on a $1.5tn budget request for 2027 alongside Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III when they were asked for an update on the war’s price tag. “At the time of testimony… it was $25bn,” Hurst told lawmakers, referring to Hegseth’s April 29 estimate.“But the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to 29,” he said — citing updated “repair and replacement of equipment costs” and broader operational expenses. Pressed on when Congress would receive a fuller accounting of the war’s costs, Hegseth said the administration would request “whatever we think we need” separately from the main Pentagon budget, but did not say when that supplemental request would arrive. The testimony came as a fragile US-Iran ceasefire appeared increasingly shaky, with Trump warning Monday that the truce was on “life support” after rejecting Tehran’s latest peace proposal. Democrats used the hearing to hammer the administration over both the ballooning cost of the war and what they described as a lack of transparency about US objectives.“The question must be answered at the end: what have we accomplished and at what cost?” asked Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. Fellow Democrat Betty McCollum accused the Pentagon of a “consistent lack of transparency” and demanded more clarity about the administration’s long-term strategy before Congress approves additional funding.The war has intensified concerns over rapidly depleting US weapons stockpiles after months of heavy missile and air-defense operations in the Middle East. Hegseth dismissed warnings that the conflict had dangerously drained American munitions reserves. “The munitions issue has been foolishly and unhelpfully overstated,” he said. “We know exactly what we have. We have plenty of what we need.” Democratic Senator Mark Kelly warned over the weekend that inventories of Tomahawk missiles, Patriot interceptors and other advanced systems had been severely drawn down and could take years to replenish, potentially weakening US readiness in any future confrontation with China. The hearings marked Hegseth’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since the White House formally notified Congress that hostilities launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28 had “terminated.” Democrats have repeatedly been blocked by the Republicans as they have introduced measures to rein in Trump’s Iran war powers, accusing the president of waging war without proper congressional authorization.Hegseth and Caine faced a second round of questioning before a Senate panel after their House appearance, and there were protesters at both hearings. In the Senate, an Iranian-American activist interrupted Hegseth’s opening statement to call out: “If you approve this budget, you will complicit in the war crimes of this administration.”Senators raised questions about the Trump administration’s plan to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, which has faced bipartisan pushback. Hegseth did not comment directly on Washington’s relations with Berlin, but said: “It’s not the troops. It’s the capitals of those militaries that limit what they’re able to do, where they’re able to go, who they’re able to fight, that create limits on our own.” Source link
The Global Carbon Council (GCC), the Global South’s first internationally accredited carbon standard, has achieved a major milestone with the approval of its Standard on ICVCM Eligibility of Projects and Issuances as CCP-Eligible by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).The approval of GCC on ICVCM Eligibility of Projects and Issuances confirms the Standard’s robust governance and registry systems, the Council said in a press release.With this recognition, GCC has become the only carbon crediting program based in the Global South with accreditation under ICAO’s CORSIA framework and CCP-Eligibility approval from the ICVCM, further strengthening buyer confidence and market trust in GCC-issued credits and frameworks, according to the press release.The approval also reflects the broader evolution of voluntary carbon markets toward stronger integrity, transparency, and internationally aligned governance frameworks. For Project Owners and stakeholders engaging with the GCC Program, this recognition is a clear and authoritative signal that credits issued under the GCC Program meet the highest benchmarks of environmental integrity, transparency, and international credibility.Founding Chairman of the Global Carbon Council (GCC) Dr. Yousef Alhorr said: “We welcome this landmark recognition from the ICVCM, which affirms the GCC Program’s standing as a high-integrity carbon crediting program on the international stage. This approval reflects the strength and rigor of the GCC Program’s regulatory framework, which is robust, dynamic, and fully aligned with the most demanding global standards, including the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles and CORSIA. The GCC Program stands ready to deliver high-integrity carbon credits that are recognized and traded across international carbon markets, driving meaningful progress toward global climate goals.”The Global Carbon Council (GCC) was established in Qatar in 2016 by the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD).To date, GCC has received more than 1,634 climate-positive GHG project submissions from over 50 countries and has registered more than 213 projects across sectors including renewable energy, methane avoidance, energy efficiency, waste management, and transport. GCC has issued more than 15 million ACCs to date. Source link
Germany’s automotive industry could lose about 35,000 more jobs than previously forecast, the president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) Hildegard Muller said.In remarks on Wednesday, Muller expressed regret over the outlook, noting that current estimates indicate up to 225,000 jobs could be lost by 2035.About 100,000 jobs had already been lost between 2019 and 2025, she added. The VDA had previously forecast that 190,000 jobs would be cut between 2019 and 2035.Suppliers would be particularly affected, as the shift from combustion-engine vehicles to electric mobility is leading to significant job losses in the supply sector, Muller said.She also blamed what she described as a “serious and persistent competitiveness crisis” in Germany and Europe for the worsening outlook.”Conditions are deteriorating noticeably”, Muller said, citing higher taxes and levies, expensive energy, high labour costs and excessive bureaucracy among the challenges facing the automotive industry. Source link
In this aerial image, the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after the bridge collapsed, Baltimore, Maryland,…
Philippines Senator Ronald Dela Rosa talks to the media during a doorstop interview at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay, Metro Manila, Tuesday. (AFP) Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte’s top drug war enforcer said Tuesday he would never surrender to an international court, while pleading for current President Ferdinand Marcos to intervene on his behalf.Ronald Dela Rosa, a sitting senator and former police chief, has taken refuge in the Senate since narrowly escaping government agents attempting to serve him an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant tied to his role in the bloody drug crackdown during Duterte’s presidency.In a copy of the warrant issued in November but made public only late Monday, Dela Rosa, better known by his nickname “Bato”, is accused of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and other co-perpetrators.”I wish (Marcos) would not send me to The Hague” but to “any court in the Philippines”, Dela Rosa told reporters Tuesday as more than 100 riot police stood guard outside the Senate building.”If I have committed something, I will answer for it here, not in a foreign country. That’s my appeal to him.”Dela Rosa’s former boss, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila in March last year and flown to the Netherlands that same night. Duterte has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison awaiting trial.Since then, Dela Rosa has frequently condemned the arrest and rendition while stating he believed he was next.Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.The true number of killings during his campaign in the Philippines is thought to be in the thousands, and lawyers for the victims have argued that a full trial could encourage more families to come forward.In a statement Tuesday, a Marcos spokeswoman said the president would “not interfere in the decisions of the Senate”, while declining to discuss the details of the warrant against Dela Rosa.”Everything that happens in the Senate is within their power,” Claire Castro said.Dela Rosa’s defence team, meanwhile, has filed an injunction with the country’s Supreme Court, seeking judicial protection from what they called a “coordinated” enforcement strategy against him.The senator had not been seen publicly since November before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate.Video released by the legislative body showed Dela Rosa being chased through the halls of the upper chamber by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officers.Tuesday, NBI director Melvin Matibag told reporters Dela Rosa had travelled to the Senate in the car of a fellow lawmaker, then bolted when approached by two agents attempting to serve a warrant.He also denied that Dela Rosa had been “tackled and wrestled”, saying the senator had tripped on the stairs while being pursued.”He was literally avoiding arrest,” Matibag said. “I was asked why there was a chase. I said he ran, that’s why we chased him.”Newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters on Monday that Dela Rosa was under the Senate’s protection.”We will allow an arrest under the condition that it is a Philippine court,” Cayetano said.Asked Tuesday if he would submit to an arrest warrant by a local court, Dela Rosa said: “We will cross the bridge when we get there.” …
A surge in measles cases in Indonesia has made stay-at-home mother Fitri Fransiskha uneasy — but not enough to vaccinate her four children against the highly contagious and deadly virus.The 40-year-old is one of a growing number of parents in the world’s fourth most populous country to spurn infant inoculations, even as the government rushes to quell a public health crisis.Fitri’s fears — sparked when her first-born contracted a fever after receiving the tuberculosis jab as a baby — were fuelled by misinformation circulating on social media about vaccines causing paralysis, behavioural problems, or worse.”Posts like that worried me, and it made me think my decision not to vaccinate my children was probably the right one,” she told AFP by phone from Java island’s westernmost province of Banten.The phenomenon has become an issue as the number of measles cases in Indonesia has soared, becoming the second-highest in the world behind only war-torn Yemen, according to the Indonesian Paediatrics Association.More than 8,000 suspected cases and 10 deaths were recorded in the first three months of 2026, according to official data.Cases more than doubled from 2024 to over 63,000 last year, resulting in 69 deaths.Once nearing elimination globally, measles “has returned as a significant public health threat” in the country, according to a paper published in the Indonesian Journal of Internal Medicine in January.”As a mother, of course I’m nervous. But I try to keep (my children) healthy by giving them nutritious food and vitamins,” Fitri said.’Outspoken’ anti-vaxxers”A lot of anti-vaccine sentiment… emerged in urban areas” due to disinformation, legislator Putih Sari warned last month, cautioning parliament to be “mindful”.Anti-vaccine rhetoric was found on almost all of the country’s main social media platforms according to a study last month by Indonesian data firm Drone Emprit, with the number of people exposed “quite large”, the firm’s founder Ismail Fahmi said.”Anti-vaxxers, though smaller in number, are usually… more outspoken than those who are pro-vaccine,” he said, adding many influencers used their platforms to sell unproven herbal remedies as alternatives.AFP’s fact-checking team in March debunked harmful claims spreading online in Indonesia that getting sick with measles confers better protection than vaccines.The result of the misinformation has been that “our herd immunity has been compromised”, said Riris Andono Ahmad, an epidemiologist from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.Herd immunity is achieved when enough people in a given population have been vaccinated against an infectious disease to prevent its easy spread.’Dropped a lot’With a target to eradicate measles and rubella this year, the Indonesian government in March launched an emergency mass vaccination campaign in around 100 of the country’s more than 500 regencies and cities.This includes measles and rubella (MR) booster shots for more than 220,000 health workers.The government is working with religious organisations to encourage people to inoculate their offspring, director of immunisation Indri Yogyaswari told reporters.Measles spread “has dropped a lot” as a result of the campaign, she said.But last year, Indonesia saw a 10 percentage point drop in the number of infants receiving a first dose of the MR vaccine from 2024, according to the health ministry.But the goal of eradication appears out of reach with just over three-quarters of children receiving both doses of the MR vaccine, according to Riris — a far cry from the 95% required to achieve herd immunity. Related Story Source link
US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Reuters/File photo) When US President Donald Trump meets Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing this week, the shadow the Iran conflict casts over the summit might appear to give China’s leader a clear advantage.Beijing has been relatively shielded from the effects of the conflict thanks to its oil reserves and diverse energy sources. Meanwhile, its dominance of the rare earths industry gives it a key bargaining chip in extracting concessions from Washington.But Xi will still go into this week’s talks worried about a persistent domestic slowdown, an uncertain trade truce, and long-term damage from a prolonged Middle East conflict, analysts say.”China enters this summit with genuine leverage but also genuine urgency,” Han Lin, China country director at Washington-based consultancy The Asia Group, told AFP.Here’s what you need to know:Middle East warWhile China has been relatively cushioned from the energy crisis gripping Asia, domestic gas prices surged in April and manufacturers have sounded the alarm over the rising cost of plastic production, which uses oil.A prolonged US-Israel conflict with Iran could also hit Chinese exports in the long run, despite better-than-expected trade growth last month.”If oil prices rise enough to significantly dent global goods demand, that would drag on China’s activity,” Leah Fahy of Capital Economics wrote in a note last week.China’s close ties with Iran are also a potential source of tension during talks, where Trump is expected to press Xi to use his relationship with Tehran to help end the war.”Wielding that influence burns goodwill China has carefully cultivated,” Lin told AFP.Tariff impactThe two leaders’ last meeting produced a tentative trade truce after a frenzy of tit-for-tat tariffs in 2025.China has also turned to alternative trading partners to fend off the worst short-term impacts of Trump’s trade war.Still, officials are uneasy about longer-term damage to the country’s appeal as a manufacturing destination.Beijing issued new regulations in April aimed at stopping companies from removing China from their supply chains, as Western governments spooked by trade tensions have increasingly looked into reducing their reliance on Chinese factories.Vice-Premier He Lifeng last month voiced “solemn concern” over US trade measures against China.Tech restrictionsWashington’s moves to constrain China’s tech sector are another longstanding concern for Beijing, as the two countries race to dominate the global artificial intelligence market.Chinese tech firms are barred from purchasing California-based Nvidia’s most cutting-edge AI chips, under US export rules that Washington says are to protect national security.Beijing has been forced to accelerate development of its own advanced semiconductors and wean its tech sector off reliance on US hardware.This month it hit out at a US regulatory proposal that could bar Chinese labs from testing electronic devices for sale in the United States.Beijing may be hoping to use its control over rare earths as leverage, in hopes the US could “offer partial tariff relief or pauses on certain export controls”, Nomura Chief China Economist Ting Lu wrote in a recent note.Domestic slowdownThe Xi-Trump talks will be held against the backdrop of China’s sluggish domestic demand and investment.The Asian giant has struggled to mount a robust comeback since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a protracted debt crisis in the once-booming property sector and tepid consumption weighing on activity.”The property sector crisis has hollowed out household wealth, (and) youth unemployment remains stubbornly elevated,” The Asia Group’s Lin said.China’s top leaders recently acknowledged that the domestic economy “faces certain difficulties and challenges,” and called for greater self-reliance in tech and industrial chains.”Beijing isn’t walking in without anxiety,” Lin said of the talks. Related Story Source link