Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 63

The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and riskier than ever

Tensions are growing at the top of the world. US President Donald Trump wants Greenland, Russia is modernising its Arctic military bases, Chinese icebreakers are opening new routes and spies are being unmasked. But as the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.President Trump has

Trump wants to talk business with Africa in hopes of countering China. But a US summit excluded Africa’s big players

The White House hosted an “African leaders” summit of sorts this week. But only five countries from the continent of more than 50 nations were welcome to join. US President Donald Trump hosted a working lunch in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, bringing together the presidents of Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, and Gabon for a discussion focused on “commercial opportunities,” a White

Poisoned water and scarred hills: The price of the rare earth metals the world buys from China

When you stand on the edge of Bayan Obo, all you see is an expanse of scarred grey earth carved into the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China. Dark dust clouds rise from deep craters where the earth’s crust has been sliced away over decades in search of a modern treasure. You may not have heard of this town - but life as we know it could grind to a halt without Bayan Obo. The town gets

China sidesteps question on TikTok after Trump says close to deal

China’s government on Monday sidestepped a question on US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that he “pretty much” has a deal with Beijing to bring TikTok into American ownership and that talks with China over the popular short-video app could begin early this week.TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance is under pressure to spin off the short-video app’s US operations by September 17 or

China Scolds Marco Rubio for Dalai Lama Comments

China scolded U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he extended birthday wishes to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, and told Washington to "stop meddling".Read more

Urbanization Is Intensifying India’s Summer Heat and Rain

When 28-year-old Sonelal Prasad left home on the morning of June 16 for his job at a construction site in Mumbai—the financial capital of India—he didn’t know he’d be digging his own grave. As he worked in the foundation pit of an upcoming high-rise, one of the many in the city, an intense downpour triggered a soil collapse, burying him alive beneath the rain-soaked earth. Prasad’s death was the

Why GE Appliances will make more washing machines in Kentucky instead of China. It’s not what you think

Some of President Donald Trump’s steepest tariffs are on products like washing machines, and on Thursday, GE Appliances said it would spend a half a billion dollars to make even more of them in the United States. Tariffs, however, weren’t the driving factor behind the decision, the company’s CEO says, but they did serve as an accelerant.GE Appliances announced it would spend $490 million to move

Why China Isn’t a Bigger Player in the Middle East

China isn’t ready to be the world’s next superpower: That’s one thing the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran in June made abundantly clear.The country that was perhaps Tehran’s most important diplomatic and economic partner wound up playing virtually no role when Iran and Israel came to blows. This, despite the fact that Beijing has actively sought stronger relations with many countries in

China Has Paid a High Price for Its Dominance in Rare Earths

Chinese mines and refineries produce most of the world’s rare earth metals and practically all of a few crucial kinds of rare earths. This has given China’s government near complete control over a critical choke point in global trade.But for decades in northern China, toxic sludge from rare earth processing has been dumped into a four-square-mile artificial lake. In south-central China, rare

Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on nations siding with Brics

US President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff. Trump has long criticised Brics, an organisation whose members include China, Russia and India, which was designed to boost countries' international standing and challenge the US and western Europe."Any country aligning