David Fickling

Rare-earth permanent magnets — which help stick charging cables to laptops, clamp mobile phones to mounting devices, and click earbuds into their

China's control of the world's rare-earth supply chain was okay till it decided to weaponize it against its geo-economic rivals. Several of these minerals are no longer in Beijing's clutch and some others look set to escape as other countries get into the act.

A circumspect general is always preparing for the next war, not the last one. That shows you where foreign automakers have been going wrong in China.

Every justification for trade restrictions in 2026 must dress itself up in paranoia about Chinese industrial policy. If there’s one way to further entrench Beijing’s position in high-tech supply chains, however, it’s to give in to that protectionist urge.

Proposed US tariffs on polysilicon will harm domestic and allied solar industries. China dominates low-cost solar polysilicon production due to scale advantages. US solar manufacturing has struggled despite past protectionist measures. US companies pivot to more profitable chip manufacturing due to policy instability. China's polysilicon growth threatens US dominance in computer processors.

While EU automakers have been chasing Chinese customers, other emerging markets lie largely untapped. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen should look beyond that nearly saturated market towards regions like India, Latin America, North Africa and underexplored parts of Asia.

From the Apostle Paul to Ira Gershwin, mountains have for millennia been a symbol of immovable stability. A warming planet is undermining that, leaving landslides, floods, and avalanches in its wake.

Above 3,000m in the eastern Himalayas, landslides are now displacing five times more material than they were in the 1980s.

The role of climate change in the deadly flash flood that swept through Nepal can't be dismissed. Even as a warming world melts the ice that holds mountains together, policies tackling climate change are slowing pace or reversing. It has turned glaciers into ticking time bombs.

Hory sveta sú časované bomby Politici začínajú s klimatickou témou zaobchádzať ako s politicky toxickou