Latest news for 11 June 2025

CHINA

China ditches its rare earth curbs.

This easing of China’s rules around rare earth and magnet exports to the US has emerged after two days of US-China trade talks. China has a near monopoly on these inputs for anything from cars to AI to fighter jets. (Reuters)

FIJI

Trouble in paradise?

After a bombshell (yet still secret) official report alleging corruption among ministers, judges, and lawyers, Suva is now rife with mutual recriminations of both corruption, and using anti-corruption rules to vanquish rivals. (Fiji Sun)

Comment: Fiji has had four coups since independence, so there’s often a slow simmer of speculation, but we’re hearing this week’s political and constitutional intrigue has flared that fear up again, just as the US and China compete for local influence.

AZERBAIJAN

Gas galore.

Baku’s state-run oil giant SOCAR has signed a 10-year deal to sell energy to Germany, with deliveries starting later this year. (Upstream)

Comment: The Azerbaijanis are kinda picking up where the Russians left off, and they’re using their own pipeline across the Caspian to do so. But that won’t silence the whispers around why Baku’s gas imports from Russia have spiked while simultaneously exporting to Europe.

UNITED KINGDOM

Big new sanctions.

In a Western first, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway have sanctioned two hardline Israeli ministers (Ben-Gvir and Smotrich) “for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank”. (ABC)

Comment: We’ve previously flagged that a Trump-Bibi rift might’ve meant Western capitals could criticise Israel with less likelihood of US pushback. But while Trump and Bibi do indeed seem to be at odds right now, US Secretary of State Rubio has just condemned these US allies, reminding them “not to forget who the real enemy is.”

NEW ZEALAND

Environmental lawyers have entered the chat.

Barely months after New Zealand’s new conservative government unveiled its own emissions reduction plan, it’s now facing a court battle as several Kiwi lawyers argue the plan doesn’t meet existing law’s basic requirements. (ELI)

MEXICO

An easy $10M?

The US has announced a $10M bounty for two fugitive sons of the (former) Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, who’s now serving life in a Colorado supermax — two other sons are already facing prosecution in Chicago. (AP)

Comment: His sons used to have a big social media presence, flaunting their wealth and taunting authorities by blurring out geolocation clues. But geolocation has gotten better, the Guzman family’s fortunes have gotten worse, and these two sons have now long since gone dark online (one is rumoured to be leading a new cartel alliance).

SOUTH AFRICA

Brrr.

A severe cold front has swept South Africa, bringing snow, road closures, car accidents, and power outages. (eNCA)