
-
Andreeva blocking out hype as she targets Sunshine Double
-
Gibbs-White tells Tuchel he deserved England call-up
-
Judge orders halt to Musk shutdown of US aid agency
-
US music industry posts 100 million paid streaming users
-
Canada PM Carney announces deal with Australia to boost Arctic radar
-
Netanyahu says Gaza strikes 'only the beginning'
-
Real Madrid take advantage over Arsenal in women's Champions League
-
Kennedy off to a bumpy start as US health secretary
-
Palace's Mateta has no hard feelings despite horror ear injury
-
Hungary passes bill against annual Budapest Pride march
-
Putin, Trump agree halt to Ukraine energy attacks but no ceasefire
-
Nvidia showcases new tech at AI 'Super Bowl'
-
Hollywood urges Trump to protect film, TV from AI
-
Ecuador battles spreading oil slick, residents without water
-
'Improving' pope did not need oxygen mask overnight, says Vatican
-
Mexico City, home to world's biggest bullring, bans killing bulls
-
South American football boss sorry for 'Tarzan without Cheetah' comment
-
Poland, Baltics signal plans to withdraw from landmines treaty
-
Trump, Putin agree halt to Ukraine energy attacks but no ceasefire
-
Israel vows to keep up strikes on Gaza after global condemnation
-
Pope did not need oxygen mask overnight: Vatican
-
French male film stars tell #MeToo inquiry about 'clumsy' remarks
-
German MPs approve fiscal 'bazooka' for defence, infrastructure
-
In high stakes move, Istanbul University revokes degree of top Erdogan rival
-
Imamoglu: Istanbul's powerful mayor and Erdogan's biggest rival
-
Mozambique police fire on protesters, killing two: AFP journalists
-
Trump and Putin hold crucial call on Ukraine ceasefire
-
Leap of faith for Ubisoft with 'Assassin's Creed' set in Japan
-
Eriksen says he will likely leave Man Utd at end of season
-
Supreme Court chief rebukes Trump over call for judge's impeachment
-
Trump admin moves to fire hundreds of government scientists
-
Turkey university cancels Erdogan rival's university degree
-
Homebound: 'Stranded' ISS astronauts now hours from splashdown
-
Djokovic player union launches legal blitz against governing bodies
-
Pain and anger grip N. Macedonia town after fire tragedy
-
Germany's Siemens to cut over 6,000 jobs worldwide
-
World No. 1 Sinner to play in Hamburg after doping ban ends
-
S. Africa court bars fishing to protect endangered African Penguins
-
Trump and Putin begin crucial call on Ukraine ceasefire
-
Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolds on their way out
-
Barcelona midfielder Casado out for two months with knee injury
-
Trump, Putin set for critical Ukraine talks
-
Peace is the watchword for Olympism, says Bach
-
Israel strikes on Gaza spark global condemnation
-
Bessent says nations may avoid US reciprocal tariffs by halting unfair barriers
-
French hunter on trial for killing mother bear 'in self-defence'
-
Uproar in France over hard left's image of right-wing star anchor
-
Belgian brewers rush to ship to US before Trump tariffs
-
Geopolitical tensions buffet markets
-
Google says to buy cybersecurity company Wiz for $32 bn
RBGPF | 0.52% | 66.78 | $ | |
SCS | -0.73% | 10.93 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.47% | 23.22 | $ | |
BP | 1.34% | 34.22 | $ | |
GSK | 0.35% | 40.39 | $ | |
AZN | -0.39% | 77.07 | $ | |
NGG | -0.52% | 63.81 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.64% | 23.39 | $ | |
RELX | -1.25% | 48.99 | $ | |
RIO | 1.04% | 64.14 | $ | |
BTI | -1.41% | 41.26 | $ | |
VOD | -0.2% | 9.84 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.57% | 10.51 | $ | |
BCE | 0.34% | 23.78 | $ | |
JRI | -0.15% | 12.98 | $ | |
BCC | -0.66% | 99.34 | $ |

Kiribati eyes deep-sea mining deal with China
Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harbouring coveted metals and minerals.
Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper -- recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands.
Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese ambassador Zhou Limin after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Company fell through.
"The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati," the government said Monday evening in a statement.
Pacific nations Kiribati, Cook Islands and Nauru sit at the forefront of a highly contentious push to mine the depths of the ocean.
Kiribati holds rights for deep-sea mining exploration across a 75,000-square-kilometre swathe of the Pacific, in a region known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone.
Through state-backed subsidiary Marawa Research, Kiribati had been working with Canada-based The Metals Company to explore the mineral deposits.
But that agreement was terminated "mutually" at the end of 2024, The Metals Company told AFP.
A Kiribati fisheries official said the nation was now exploring opportunities with other foreign partners.
The Metals Company said Kiribati's mining rights were "less commercially favourable" than other projects with Pacific nations Nauru and Tonga.
Kiribati's announcement comes as international regulators begin a series of crunch meetings that could decide the fate of the nascent industry.
The Metals Company and other industry players are pushing the International Seabed Authority to set rules allowing large-scale exploitation.
- 'Bending over backwards' -
Kiribati, a climate-threatened archipelago home to some 130,000 people, lays claim to an ocean expanse that forms one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world.
Under incumbent President Taneti Maamau it severed diplomatic links with Taiwan in 2019, forming deeper ties to China.
Chinese companies have in recent years been granted rights to harvest Kiribati's profitable fisheries -- one of the nation's few natural resources besides minerals.
A visiting cadre of Beijing police have also visited the capital Tarawa to help train local Kiribati forces.
Tessie Lambourne, a leading member of Kiribati's opposition, said China seemed to be seeking access to "our maritime space for its own interest".
"I always say that our government is bending over backwards to please China," she told AFP.
China and Cook Islands struck a five-year cooperation agreement in February to study the Pacific nation's seabed mineral riches.
The deal did not include any exploration or mining licence.
Companies hope to earn billions by scraping the ocean floor for polymetallic rocks, or nodules, that are loaded with manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel -- metals used to build batteries for electric vehicles.
Pacific nations such as Nauru and Kiribati believe the industry holds the key to economic prosperity in a region where scarce land is already under threat from rising seas.
But neighbours Palau, Fiji and Samoa are staunchly opposed, pushing for lingering environmental questions to be cleared up before anyone takes the plunge.
P.Smith--AT