Latest news for 4 August 2025

CHINA

No minerals for you!

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that, while China has resumed critical mineral exports, it’s still restricting sales to US defence manufacturers, who are now scrambling for alternatives (tricky given China controls 90% of some supplies). (WSJ $)

Comment: The reporting also contains an intriguing story of a US-bound shipment of Australian antimony getting detained during transit via China, and only released on promises it’d not reach the US. These stories make real what was already implicit in China’s supply chain dominance, and they fit with rumours that the Pentagon might actually ramp up its funding for alternative sources (one of which we wrote about here).

ISRAEL

Proof of life.

Western leaders have reiterated their demands for Hamas to release its hostages, after both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published their first proof-of-life videos in months, showing emaciated hostages. Hamas says it’ll only allow the Red Cross to visit the hostages if Gaza aid corridors are permanently re-opened. (BBC)

CHINA

Don’t leave me.

Local authorities are reportedly cracking down on overseas travel by state employees (including nurses and teachers), with some even having to hand in their passports as a condition of employment. (NYT $)

Comment: These expanding measures kill a few birds at once: imposing ideological discipline, reducing perceived corruption, and curbing espionage risks abroad (it’s much easier to recruit a source outside the gaze of China’s 24/7 surveillance).

UKRAINE

Corruption unveiled.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies say they’ve uncovered a “large-scale corruption scheme”, with officials (and a parliamentarian) getting kick-backs while knowingly buying drones and other equipment at inflated prices. The news dropped just two days after President Zelensky reinstated watchdog independence. (Politico)

Comment: Meanwhile, Russia has its own anti-corruption drive, with Putin pursuing more political aims including to a) hype individual cases to obscure a worsening trend, and b) quench any thirst for war accountability, while deflecting blame for his war’s failings onto to corrupt officials. Speaking of which…

INDIA

The gloves are off.

Top Trump aide Stephen Miller has told Fox News it’s “not acceptable” for India to keep financing Russia’s Ukraine invasion by buying Russian oil. (NDTV)

Comment: Delhi sources are briefing outlets that Trump’s threats won’t stop India buying Putin’s discounted oil — ie, not without actual US secondary sanctions, an escalation DC no doubt hopes to avoid while it’s courting India against China. Still, these words from a top Trump aide are the second reminder in a week (beyond calling India’s economy “dead”) that the famous Modi-Trump bromance has its limits.

CHILE

Mining disaster.

Rescue teams have confirmed all five trapped miners died after a shaft collapsed in the world’s largest underground copper mine on Thursday. Output remains on hold. (DW)

SOUTH AFRICA

Radioactive horns.

South African scientists have launched a new program that involves injecting radioactive material into rhino horns to combat smuggling. The process is harmless to the endangered animals but would help customs detect smuggled horns. (BBC)

Comment: Rhino horn smuggling is still one of the top illegal wildlife trades by value.