China’s rare earth controls. The Chinese government added five rare earth elements and multiple types of mineral processing equipment to its export control list, tightening its restrictions over the materials three weeks before Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade. On the flip side, U.S. lawmakers called earlier this week for Washington to press partner countries to join U.S. export controls on chip equipment to China.
German policy on drones. Germany’s cabinet approved a draft law yesterday that would allow police to shoot down rogue drones. The legislation is awaiting parliamentary approval. The proposal comes after European countries blamed Russia for multiple airspace violations in recent weeks, and after unidentified drones grounded flights at Munich Airport last Thursday and Friday.
India-UK missile deal. The United Kingdom (UK) will sell some $468 million worth of missiles to India, both governments announced today during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to New Delhi. The project is expected to create more than seven hundred jobs in Northern Ireland. Starmer traveled with more than one hundred business, university, and cultural leaders in the hopes of striking deals that build on a July trade agreement. He also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Future U.S. chip investment. Annual semiconductor investment in the United States is expected to outpace that in China, South Korea, and Taiwan beginning in 2027, according to a forecast from industry group SEMI. Its analysts credited U.S. policies for encouraging more domestic chip manufacturing and surging chip demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
Warning on AI. An AI-fueled bubble in global markets could burst, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a risk monitoring body at the Bank of England each warned yesterday. They both likened the current moment to the lead-up to the 2000 dot-com crash. U.S. Federal Reserve officials have refrained from similar warnings, with the San Francisco Fed president saying this week that even if investors get lower-than-expected returns, the AI boom still “leaves us with something productive.”
Plutonium deal stepback. Russia’s lower house voted yesterday to officially withdraw from an already-suspended deal with the United States on weapons-grade plutonium disposal. Russia’s deputy foreign minister said the deal could not be restored because “the strategic environment has changed.” He also said the momentum toward a Ukraine peace deal generated at the August meeting with Trump in Alaska was “largely gone.”
Madagascar protestors. President Andry Rajoelina asked supporters and some anti-government demonstrators yesterday to give him a year to fix the country’s problems, including persistent electricity outages. He would resign if he fails to do so, he told a town hall meeting. However, some protesters did not attend the meeting and have vowed to continue demonstrating. They have called for the removal of some government officials.
Pope Leo’s first major text. In his first high-level guiding document to the world’s Catholics, Pope Leo today called for the eradication of “unjust” economic structures and continued care for migrants and refugees. Pope Francis started work on the document in the final months of his life, and Leo said he was “happy to make this document my own.”
