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Geopolitics

Scenic Gaddafi-Owned Hotel Seized On Sicilian Island

CORRIERE DELLA SERA (Italy)

MILAN - Police have seized a seaside hotel complex on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria believed to have belonged to the family of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Valued at 20 million euros, the resort and adjoining terrain is part of some 1.3 billion euros worth of Italian property held by the ex Libyan strongman, reports Corriere della Sera. Overthrown and killed last year by pro-democracy rebels, Gaddafi had holdings that included stakes in Italian bank Unicredit, energy giant Eni, Fiat automaker and Turin's soccer team Juventus, which was just crowned champion of Italy's Serie A league.

See slideshow of hotel property seized.

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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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