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Geopolitics

China And US Reach Tentative Deal On North Korea Sanctions

CNN (USA), REUTERS, AFP, UN PRESS OFFICE

Worldcrunch

NEW YORK - The United States and China have struck a tentative deal on a draft UN Security Council sanctions resolution to punish North Korea for the nuclear test it conducted last month.

A deal, the details of which have not been revealed so far, was agreed on late Monday after "tough talks" between the two countries, a UN envoy is quoted as saying by the AFP. It is still unclear whether diplomats will receive a draft resolution at Tuesday’s council session in New York.

"I hope to see a draft tomorrow perhaps, but you know it's up to the Americans," a UN diplomat told Reuters late Monday, while another told AFP: "There won't be a vote on Tuesday, but it could come soon. This is a sign that a draft resolution is about to be handed out."

The UN press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, would conduct closed-door consultations on North Korea in New York on Tuesday morning.

In February, North Korea conducted its third and most powerful nuclear test at a northeastern underground test site, prompting widespread international condemnation, as well as a promise of tough action at the United Nations, CNN recalls.

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Economy

Lithium Mines In Europe? A New World Of Supply-Chain Sovereignty

The European Union has a new plan that challenges the long-established dogmas of globalization, with its just-in-time supply chains and outsourcing the "dirty" work to the developing world.

Photo of an open cast mine in Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Open cast mine in Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — It is one of the great paradoxes of our time: in order to overcome some of our dependencies and vulnerabilities — revealed in crises like COVID and the war in Ukraine — we risk falling into other dependencies that are no less toxic. The ecological transition, the digitalization of our economy, or increased defense needs, all pose risks to our supply of strategic minerals.

The European Commission published a plan this week to escape this fate by setting realistic objectives within a relatively short time frame, by the end of this decade.

This plan goes against the dogmas of globalization of the past 30 or 40 years, which relied on just-in-time supply chains from one end of the planet to the other — and, if we're being honest, outsourced the least "clean" tasks, such as mining or refining minerals, to countries in the developing world.

But the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction, if possible under better environmental and social conditions. Will Europe be able to achieve these objectives while remaining within the bounds of both the ecological and digital transitions? That is the challenge.

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