Sunday, June 02, 2024

 

The Imperialists Will Tolerate a Two-State But Not a One-State Solution in Palestine-Israel



A two-state solution (that is, having two independent separate nations) in Palestine-Israel would definitely be an improvement. However, it would not challenge and threaten the forces of imperialism because Zionist Israel and Hamas would still be allowed to exist if there are two separate nations. Furthermore, land disputes between the two nations would continue. The forces of imperialism include the imperial nations such as the United States, the military-industrial complex, and NATO.

Jerusalem in Palestine-Israel is a holy city for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. If we can solve the problems in this region of the world, everything else will be a piece of cake. What happens in Palestine-Israel has repercussions throughout the world, which is why it is so important to learn more about Zionism, imperialism, and the Middle East crisis, especially now considering the catastrophic situation in Rafah, Gaza.

According to Kuna.net, 36,224 Palestinians have been killed, and 81,777 have been injured in Gaza as of May 30, 2024, since October 7, 2023 when the Israel-Hamas War began. The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 killed 1,139 Israeli citizens (revised from 1,400).

The United Nations Partition Plan  was adopted on November 29, 1947. Part I of the plan stipulated that the British Mandate (that lasted from 1922 to 1948) would be terminated as soon as possible.  The Arab Palestinians considered the UN partition plan to be pro-Zionist with 56% of the land allocated to the Jewish state, while the Arab Palestinian population was twice the Jewish population at that time. “In 1920 the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian population was Arab, mostly Sunni Muslim,” according to  British Palestine Police.org.UK.

The British mandate ended on May 15, 1948. The day before in the afternoon of May 14, 1948, the Zionist State of Israel was declared in Tel-Aviv.

After the United Nations adopted its partition plan on November 29, 1947 for Palestine, it caused the 1947-1948 civil war  between Arabs and Jews.  Then after the  British Mandate  ended and the State of Israel was declared, the very next day the surrounding Arab nations declared war on Israel, and that war is referred to as the  1948 Arab-Israeli War.  The Arab-Israeli War resulted in the  Nakba, which was the catastrophe in which 80% of the population (more than 700,000 Palestinians) were expelled or fled from their homes.

Middle East Eye.net : The Nakba: All you need to know explained in five maps and charts–May 15, 2024

Even the fairest two-state partition plan will not eliminate the bitterness and hatred between Arabs and Jews that developed  increasingly when Jewish Zionists started immigrating into the Arab land of Palestine.  When Jews started immigrating into Palestine, they did not just integrate with the Arab Palestinians.  Instead, the Jewish immigrants remained separate. Zionism is anchored in the belief that Jews, through their nationality and religion, deserve and have a right to reclaim their ancestral homeland, Israel. Eventually the Zionist Jews developed a plan (Plan Dalet, or Plan D for short) for the systematic removal of Palestinians, also referred to as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

The rivalry between Jews and Arabs has its roots in the ancient biblical account of Isaac and Ishmael. However, Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Palestine had gotten along just fine under the Ottoman Empire, which was dissolved at the end of World War I.

The imperial forces and nations can tolerate a two-state solution because Zionist Israel would still be allowed to exist as one of the two states. But the imperial forces will absolutely not tolerate having one democratic nation for all Palestinians, Jews, and Christians. That would threaten to end the conflict between Zionists and Hamas advocates, which the imperialists need.  Zionist Israel gives the imperial nations a base and an ally to keep the Middle-East under its control.

Currently the Zionist Israeli Jews have much control over the Palestinian territories, which is exactly how they and the imperialists want it to be. Creating two independent nations would definitely be an improvement, but it has some serious shortcomings. With even the best partition plan for Israel and Palestine as two separate nations, Zionism in Israel would still be allowed to exist, and the land disputes between Israel and Palestine would continue. So a two-state solution would be tolerable (but not preferable) to the imperialists.  However, if all the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian residents of Palestine-Israel could have an equal vote in a national government, this would be totally unacceptable to the imperialists because they need Zionist Israel as a base and ally for their operations.

The war profiteers need the regional instability created by the Zionist State of Israel to increase their profits and increase their control of the region. As conflicts increase, more weapons of war must be produced, and this is profitable for those who are invested in the weapons industry.  Zionists and imperialists need each other.

If Zionism is democratically removed from the State of Israel, and Hamas is democratically removed from Gaza, peace and harmony in the Middle East could actually become a reality. But creating peace would be an enormous threat to the military-industrial complex that makes money from endless wars, that makes money from conflicts that are deliberately created. In 2009 Ron Paul explained in this 1-minute video that Israel encouraged and helped start Hamas!

The imperial nations do not want peace in Palestine-Israel unless it is on their terms. They don’t want to give Muslims and Christians the same rights and privileges as the Zionist Israeli Jews have. To maintain the status quo and accomplish their long-term objectives, the imperial nations create division and discord in the Middle East. They use a strategy of divide and conquer.

Imperialists want to keep controlling the world as they have since ancient times, but they do not yet have total control, which is what they want. Imperialists love to infiltrate, destabilize, and even create the collapse of a nation because then they can create changes in that nation that allow them to further their interests and achieve their long-term goals.  The imperial forces are sinister and evil, if not satanic.

The integration of Jews, Muslims, and Christians into a secular one-state nation would be a win-win situation for everyone except the war profiteers of the military-industrial complex.

Having two independent nations (the two-state solution) would help the Palestinians the most because Israel currently has much control over the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.  But a two-state solution is not the best solution. Integrating Jews, Muslims, and Christians into a secular one-state nation would be the best solution and the highest achievement. Considering the current tensions and hostilities between Arab Palestinians and Jewish Israelis, a secular one-state solution could create a safe homeland for Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

If all the Jews, Muslims, and Christians have equal rights in a national government, the beliefs and practices of Zionism and Hamas will not be implemented by popular vote. Ideally the citizens of Palestine-Israel could have a unicameral legislature and equally-empower the 7 largest political parties and give those political parties proportionate control of the mainstream media. Maximizing democracy could be a model for other nations as well.

How can we create healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews?

We must work to promote a secular national government for all Jews, Muslims, and Christians that live in Palestine-Israel.  This would remove the imperialist base in Zionist Israel, and it would ideally eliminate the influences of Zionism and of Hamas.

In an article entitled “Christians, Muslims, and Jews for a Secular One-State Solution in Palestine-Israel,” I discuss other dimensions of this subject.

The imperial nations deeply invested in the Middle East crisis dearly love the current situation in which Zionist Israel has much control over the Palestinian territories. For Muslims, Jews, and Christians living in Palestine-Israel, a two-state solution would be better, but a one-state solution would be best.


Roger Copple retired in 2010 at the age of 60. As a high school special education teacher, he taught algebra, English, and history. As a general education teacher he taught mostly 3rd grade. His website www.WorldWithoutEmpire.com was created the same year he retired with his son’s help. Roger renewed his Christian faith on September 17, 2023 in an evangelical church after being enamored with yoga philosophy and Buddhism for many years. However, for the last 3 months, he has identified as a mainline Presbyterian, no longer claiming to be an evangelical. Roger lives in Gulfport, Florida. Read other articles by Roger.


The Unfinished Journey of Palestinian Statehood


 
 MAY 31, 2024
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On May 22, Palestine was recognized as a state by Norway, Ireland, and Spain, bringing the number of countries recognizing Palestine as a state to over 140 of the 193 members of the United Nations. Yet, Palestine is still not a legal state. Moreover, the current political consensus is that the best solution to the Israel/Hamas conflict is a two-state solution. Already in 2016, the U.N. Security Council reaffirmed support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. But in order to have a two-state solution, there must be two states.

Why hasn’t full Palestinian recognition happened?

The United States accepts the theoretical two-state solution but at this point rejects Palestinian statehood.  Following the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by the three countries, “a U.S. official familiar with the discussions stressed that Washington had made clear to the three … that recognizing a Palestinian state would not be useful,” Politico reported.

Several European countries, including major powers like France, have been hesitant to recognize Palestine as well, arguing that important conditions have not yet been met. “This decision [by Spain, Ireland, and Norway] must be useful, that is to say allow a decisive step forward on the political level,” French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said in a statement. “France does not consider that the conditions have been met to date for this decision to have a real impact on this process,” she added.

Recognizing Palestine is not “useful”? Will not “have a real impact”? The Spanish prime minister disagreed. “Recognition of the state of Palestine is not only a matter of historic justice…it is also an essential requirement if we are all to achieve peace,” Pedro Sanchez explained.

States formally exist through decisions by other states. If you are as others see you, who are the “others” who will determine Palestine’s statehood? There is no formal legal process by which statehood is established. While political entities may announce their statehood through declarations, a form of self-determination, the recognition of statehood depends on others. Self-declarations are necessary, but not sufficient for statehood.

For example, in February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declared Kosovo’s independence as the Republic of Kosovo. That status is recognized by seventy-four members of the United Nations. Yet, the Republic of Kosovo is not a universally recognized legal state. In fact, several countries have said they will never recognize Kosovo as a state, including Serbia, Russia, Argentina, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and Libya.

State recognition is a political decision. Although an entity may have what is necessary to be considered a state – people, territory, government and sovereignty – it is the political decision of other states that allows a state to be officially recognized.

The most obvious avenue to formal recognition is through the United Nations. Following a 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence which was recognized by more than seventy countries, Palestine applied for U.N. membership in 2011. The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) voted to upgrade Palestine’s status from “observer” to a “non-member Permanent Observer State” in 2012, like the Holy See, but no more.

(Interestingly, the upgrading happened on the same day, according to UN News, “that the UN observed the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Established in 1977, the Day marks the date in 1947 when the Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning then-mandated Palestine into two States, one Jewish and one Arab.”)

Recent attempts to grant Palestine full U.N. membership and legal status have accelerated as a result of Israel’s overwhelming reaction to the October 7 Hamas attack. The UNGA adopted a resolution in early May declaring that Palestine qualifies for full-member status at the United Nations by a vote of 143 to 9 with twenty-five abstaining. “The vast majority of countries in this hall are fully aware of the legitimacy of the Palestinian bid and the justness of their cause,” declared the U.A.E. Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab at the time.

But full membership in the United Nations goes beyond a General Assembly decision; it needs approval by the Security Council, with its five permanent members having veto power. As it has done in the past on issues involving Israel and Palestine, the United States vetoed a Security Council vote to have Palestine recognized as a full member of the U.N. The vote was twelve in favor and one — the United States — opposed, with abstentions from Britain and Switzerland.

Why the U.S. veto? U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan presented President Biden’s position on Palestinian statehood following the three countries’ latest recognition: “He [Biden] has been equally emphatic on the record that the two-state solution should be brought about through direct negotiations through the parties, not through unilateral recognition, that’s a principled position that we have held on a consistent basis.” he said.

According to the United States, therefore, it will only recognize Palestinian statehood after direct negotiations between the parties. Negotiations between which parties? Sullivan did not elaborate who will directly negotiate and under whose authority Palestinian statehood will happen.

“You are as others see you” is a general phrase that lacks a definition of the others. The recognition of statehood is based on politics, privilege, and positions of power. The United States alone can block Palestinian U.N. full membership and statehood recognition. This is neither democratic nor objective. Will the new dynamic favoring Palestine in light of Israel’s horrific aggression overcome the United States’ position? Despite that dynamic, as the former Swiss Ambassador to Israel Jean-Daniel Ruch perceptively observed: “a Two-States solution remains desirable and is technically feasible…the political will to make the brave and risky investments to open a genuine peace perspective is nowhere as massive as it should be.”

Daniel Warner is the author of An Ethic of Responsibility in International Relations. (Lynne Rienner). He lives in Geneva.

 

The Stuffing of Crime: Israel’s Rafah Strike


It was much like witnessing a boy killing flies, with a slight afterthought of apology.  The spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, did little to acquit himself, or the cause, as to why more Palestinian civilians had been indulgently killed in yet another Israeli air strike. “Despite our efforts to minimize civilian casualties during the strike, the fire that broke out was unexpected and unintended … Our investigation seeks to determine what may have caused such a large fire to ignite.”

The release commences with the usual garnish.  The strike, despite resulting in deaths in a camp of displaced Palestinians in Tal al-Sultan, was soberly designated and professionally targeted.  It was successful.  Two Hamas terrorists had been procedurally “eliminated” (in the social media release, the IDF proudly places the word upon the heads of Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar).  “The strike was based on precise intelligence,” Hagari tells us.  Those killed had, in turn, killed Israelis.  They were having a meeting.  “Their deaths saved lives.”

Away from the glove handling reflections of Hagari, the returns of the May 26 strike showed that Palestinian civilians were also seen as miscellaneous detritus, fundamentally dispensable.  The butchery is now a matter of record: 46 dead civilians, including 23 women, children and the elderly.  All on a sliver of territory fast becoming the most famous real estate of death on the planet.  It’s a particularly bloody ratio for killing two alleged terrorists.

In a statement on May 29 from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, various rapporteurs, including such figures as Francesca Albanese, responsible for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, to Ben Saul, charged with the task of promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, expressed their dismay.  “Harrowing images of destruction, displacement and death have emerged from Rafah, including infants torn apart and people burnt alive.”  Such reports indicated “that the strikes were indiscriminate and disproportionate, with people trapped inside burning plastic tents, leading to a horrific casualty toll.”

The Israelis have been told by a number of international bodies, entities, and sympathisers, with repeated urgency, that its current murderous efforts are simply not worth it.  The Rafah front presents further calamitous risks.  The toll, notably in striking camps of civilians displaced by prior bombings and military engagements, would be too great.  The reputational toll, likewise.  The slaughter that pads out and packs morgues; the bodies of women and children that seem to multiply with pestilential cruelty; the incidents of pure callousness dressed in a décor of euphemism: We target, and we target well; the rest is accidental or unavoidable.

The International Court of Justice, in yet another ruling on Israel’s campaign in Gaza, recently concluded that the military offensive in Rafah, along with “any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” be “immediately” halted.  It also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing and permit UN officials to enter Gaza and report back to the court within a month to verify compliance.

The ICJ also noted the concerns of UN officials about the risks arising from any military assault on Rafah, one that would put “hundreds of thousands of people … at imminent risk of death”.  Such risks had already “started to materialize and will intensify even further if the operation continues”.

Israel’s politicians and military personnel – at least those lacking candour – always hit upon the same formula in such instances.  It is one noted by such unflagging scribes as the late Robert Fisk: the justification of violence with seemingly sound process, decency with the stuffing of crime.  A trained pupil in such efforts is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  “Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake.”  When compared with his previous statements equating all Palestinians to actors behind a terrorist cause, one that would, in turn, give birth to a terrorist state, the element of mistake is less relevant than the desire to conclude the task at hand.

The next instalment of the performance involves the mandatory investigation that yields no culprits, no charges, and no prosecutions.  “The details of the incident are still under investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent,” gabbled Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi at a news conference, noting that the IDF “regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war.”

Such a method is also approved by Israel’s staunchest ally.  “You cannot reach a conclusion about the results of these investigations in the middle of a conflict,” reasoned White House spokesman John Kirby.  Why, it should be asked, bother?

The Israeli response to attacks on its citizens on October 7 last year, increasingly enfeebled by reality, long ago moved into the realm of farce.  But farce and advertising tend to be part of the same show, and the advertising about the ongoing campaign in Gaza by the Israeli forces continues to rattle the swill bucket.Facebook

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com. Read other articles by Binoy.

 

Stop Killer AI

Most people take around 10 minutes to decide what show to stream and around 3 minutes to decide what to order off of a restaurant menu. An Israeli intelligence officer said he took about 20 seconds to decide whether to add a human being to a kill list based on suggestions generated by “Lavender,” an artificial intelligence system powered by data Israel has collected from its surveillance of Palestinian communities. Then, the Israeli military uses another AI system, sadistically named “Where’s Daddy?”, to strike targets at home with their families. Learn more about Lavender, Where’s Daddy?, and the violence made possible by digital dehumanization in our new interactive visual, Stop Killer AI.

Visualizing Palestine is grateful to an anonymous friend who worked with us to create this interactive visual, building on our previous story Automating Genocide.

“When we consider the impact of such [artificial intelligence] systems on human rights, we need to look at the consequences, first, if they malfunction and second, if they work as intended. In both situations, reducing human beings to statistical data points has grave and irreversible consequences for people’s dignity, safety, and lives.”–Marwa Fatafta and Daniel Lefeur, “Artificial Genocidal Intelligence: how Israel is automating human rights abuses and war crimes,” Access Now.

Explore how Israel uses artificial intelligence to produce targets for its bombing campaign faster than humanly possible.

“Nothing happens by accident,” said another source. “When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed […] These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.” —Yuval Abraham, “A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza“, +972 Magazine.

Human rights advocates are calling for a ban of AI target-generation systems in warfare, biometric mass surveillance, so-called “social scoring” algorithms, and other technologies that are fundamentally incompatible with human rights.FacebooTwitter


Visualizing Palestine is the intersection of communication, social sciences, technology, design and urban studies for social justice. Visualizing Palestine uses creative visuals to describe a factual rights-based narrative of Palestine/Israel. Read other articles by Visualizing Palestine, or visit Visualizing Palestine's website.

Botswana wants quick separation of De Beers from Anglo


Reuters | May 29, 2024 |

Debswana is a major contributor to the national economy of Botswana, making up a fifth of the country’s GDP. (Image courtesy of Debswana.)

Botswana is hoping for a quick separation of De Beers from the Anglo American Plc group before the UK-listed diversified mining giant is exposed to a possible hostile takeover, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said on Wednesday.


Botswana, the world’s top diamond producer by value, is finalizing a new ten-year gem sales deal agreed last June with De Beers. The two parties had agreed to finalize the deal by June 28 this year, but the proposed takeover of Anglo by the BHP Group has brought uncertainty to the sales agreement.

Anglo has rebuffed BHP and on Wednesday rejected the Australian company’s request for more time to discuss its latest $49 billion takeover offer.

Anglo plans to divest from De Beers and its other coal, nickel and platinum assets to focus on energy transition metal copper.

Masisi said he would meet Anglo and De Beers executives at jewellery industry trade event the JCK Show in the United States this week.

“One thing we don’t want is a hostile owner. We are watching this very closely because whoever buys Anglo, if it is sold, will then be the owner of De Beers and De Beers is our strategic partner with whom we are at the tail end of our negotiations,” Masisi told reporters as he departed for the United States.

Botswana is a 15% shareholder in De Beers and accounts for 70% of the company’s annual rough diamond supply.

The renewal of the sales deal and mining rights for Botswana and De Beers’ joint venture mining company, Debswana, is vital to the southern African country, which gets about 40% of its revenue, 75% of its foreign exchange earnings and a third of national output from diamonds.

“We have received some assurances and the reason for travelling is to go and get that first hand from the principals of Anglo and De Beers that they are committed to separating De Beers from Anglo before Anglo is sold, if it is sold,” Masisi said.

Botswana needs to finalize the deal with De Beers so that it can begin to benefit from the renegotiated terms agreed in June 2023, which include a higher allocation of rough diamonds from Debswana to the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) and a $750 million investment by De Beers into other economic sectors over the next ten years.

(By Brian Benza; Editing by Nelson Banya and Mark Potter)



Gem Diamonds Discovers Sixth 100+ Carat Stone, Shares Rise by 8%


Africa-focused miner Gem Diamonds has unearthed a 212.9-carat Type II white diamond at its prolific Letšeng mine in Lesotho, less than a month after a previous major find

 

This marks the sixth diamond over 100 carats discovered at the Letšeng mine this year, highlighting the mine's continued success in producing high-value gemstones.

Recovered on May 28th, the 212.9-carat diamond is a Type IIa, the most valued and collectable category of diamonds, known for containing very little or no nitrogen atoms in their crystal structure. This latest discovery has led to an 8% rise in Gem Diamonds' shares.

The Letšeng mine, which Gem Diamonds owns 70% of, is one of the world’s ten largest diamond operations by revenue and the highest dollar-per-carat kimberlite diamond mine globally. Located at an elevation of 3,100 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level, it is also one of the world’s most elevated diamond mines.

Despite the recent discovery, the diamond mining industry is facing challenges due to weak demand for diamond jewellery in the US and China and the rising popularity of cheaper, laboratory-grown diamonds. In 2015, man-made diamonds were barely present in the market, but by last year, they accounted for more than 10% of the global diamond jewellery market, according to industry specialist Paul Zimnisky.

The market values of small to medium diamond mining companies, including Canada’s Lucara (TSX: LUC), South Africa’s Petra (LON: PDL), and Gem Diamonds, are around $100 million or less. This is only about a third or a fourth of the price the large stones they aim to find may be worth.

In early trading, Gem Diamonds' stock was up 1.01p at 13.51p, reflecting the positive market response to the latest significant find at Letšeng.

Mongolia defends plan to tap mining riches for new sovereign wealth fund

Bloomberg News | May 29, 2024 |


Credit: Rio Tinto

Mongolia’s prime minister defended changes to the country’s mining laws after foreign investors raised concerns they could deter investment in its large reserves of critical minerals, including those used in electric vehicle batteries and other new energy technologies.


Legislative amendments to restrict private investment in strategic deposits and give the government free shares in mining projects will ensure the Mongolian people benefit from the country’s substantial resources, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai said in an email to Bloomberg News last week.

“The Government of Mongolia remains committed to maintaining a stable legal environment for a thriving minerals sector which delivers significant financial returns for our investment partners,” Oyun-Erdene said.

Mining represented 28% of Mongolia’s GDP last year and comprised 92% of all exports, mostly to China. The country has vast resources of coal and copper, a metal deemed crucial to the global energy transition. Its largely untapped deposits of rare earths have attracted mining interests from countries including France, Germany and the US.

Mongolian lawmakers last month approved legislation to cap a single investor’s shareholding at 34% and allow the government to take shares in companies mining strategic deposits without compensating their owners, changes that critics say create uncertainty over operations and investment returns. They were passed last month alongside a new Sovereign Wealth Fund Law seeking to channel mining revenues into funds for economic development and welfare.

The government previously paid to acquire 34% stakes in firms exploiting strategic deposits, and a single investor could own as much as 66% of mining assets.
Investor worries

Business groups including the American, Australian and European chambers of commerce told reporters in a joint press conference this month that they support the broader goals but expressed alarm that authorities passed the law only three days after first hearings were held and altered the text of the bill without consulting stakeholders.

“These sorts of policy will actually pull foreign investment” elsewhere, said Brad Clarke, chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce.

“The changes in the law may lead to a significant decrease in foreign direct investment” in mining, said Ariunbold Batchuluun, a spokesperson for Mongolia-based MAK Group, which is developing the Tsagaan Suvarga copper mine, deposits deemed strategically important.

Oyun-Erdene said he’d welcome public input when the parliament debates an annual budget for the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Nevertheless, the concerns may complicate the Mongolian government’s efforts to attract foreign investment to help grow the crucial mining sector while it seeks to win over voters calling for a greater share of the country’s mineral wealth and an end to corruption.

Canceled debt

The changes to the state ownership rules were foreshadowed by the 2021 decision by Rio Tinto Group to forgive debt incurred by Mongolia for taking a 34% stake in the Oyu Tolgoi mine after a decade of disputes over taxes and shareholding in the world’s fourth-largest copper mine.

The amendments are not expected to affect Rio Tinto because of an investment agreement in place with the Mongolian government. The country currently labels 16 deposits as strategic, mostly owned by local mining companies with the government sharing their profits. Oyun-Erdene said his administration has no current plans to add any resources to the list.

“The main intention of the amendments is to tackle the oligarchic concentration of financial gains from within this vital industry. Currently much of the wealth sits in a small number of hands,” the prime minister said.

(By Terrence Edwards)
Botswana flags synthetic gem threat ahead of $6 billion diamond project launch

Reuters | May 29, 2024 | 

Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world by value, is Debswana’s flagship mine, contributing 60% to 70% of the company’s total revenue. (Image courtesy of De Beers.)

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Wednesday called synthetic gems a threat to the country’s economic lifeblood, as the government readies to launch a $6 billion project to extend the life of its flagship Jwaneng diamond mine.


The natural diamond market has struggled in the past two years due to rising consumer demand for cheaper lab-grown diamonds, coupled with global macroeconomic volatility.

Masisi will participate this week at the JCK Show in Las Vegas, considered the world’s largest jewellery trade event, to promote Botswana as a leading producer of ethically and responsibly sourced diamonds as the country looks to safeguard its market share for natural diamonds.

According to industry watchdog Kimberley Process Certification Scheme data, Botswana produced 20% of the world’s total rough diamonds in 2022, behind Russia. The southern African country is, however, the world’s top diamond producer by value.

Lab diamonds just won a battle, not the war

The gems contribute up to 40% of government revenue, 75% of its foreign exchange earnings and a third of national output.

“If lab grown diamonds take our space, then you and I are finished,” Masisi told reporters as he departed for the United States.

He added he would wage “a peaceful assault against lab grown diamonds, to give confidence to our partners and dampen any attraction to lab growns.”

Botswana and its partner De Beers, set to be spun off by parent company Anglo American, plan to launch the first phase of a $6 billion project on June 28 to extend the Jwaneng mine’s lifespan from the current 2032 horizon to 2054.

The first phase, expected to cost $1 billion, will establish a drilling platform to make comprehensive sampling of diamond-bearing rock easier. It will also develop essential infrastructure to support further stages of the project.

Jwaneng, in operation since 1982, produces an average 11 million carats per year, employing 2,100 permanent employees and 3,200 contractors.

At the show, Masisi also plans to lobby the United States against plans by the Group of Seven (G7) countries to ensure all diamonds entering the bloc pass first through Antwerp in Belgium for certification.

The US, which consumes around 40% of the world’s diamonds, is a leading member of the G7 bloc pushing for certification as part of sanctions imposed on diamonds from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

(By Brian Benza; Editing by Nelson Banya and Sharon Singleton)
Nippon Steel’s Mori returns to US this week for talks on US Steel takeover

Reuters | June 2, 2024 |


Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel Corporation Vice Chairman. (Image by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, Facebook.)

Nippon Steel’s vice chairman plans to return to the United States this week for more talks over the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel and would study selling some assets if necessary for the deal to go through.


Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori’s visit so soon after a May 20-26 trip highlights the efforts Nippon Steel is taking to close the purchase amid growing regulatory scrutiny and political opposition. That includes resistance from President Joe Biden, who wants U.S. Steel to remain domestically owned, and objections from the powerful United Steelworkers (USW) union over fears of job losses.

The deal would give Nippon Steel greater access to the profitable U.S. market and further its long-term financial goals.

The two steelmakers said last month that they have received all regulatory approvals outside of the United States for their proposed $14.9 billion merger, a step forward towards the completion of the controversial deal.

Mori said in a May 30 interview he will return to the U.S. this week for more talks, including in Washington D.C. This follows his May 20-26 trip to meet business and political leaders, including four U.S. senators, and community leaders in Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is based.

Mori said that Nippon Steel might examine selling some assets if that is required by U.S. regulators to approve the deal.

“If the U.S. authorities tell me: you have to do this otherwise this deal can not be admitted, in that case we should study this seriously,” he said.

A manufacturing plant in Calvert, Alabama, jointly owned by Nippon Steel and Luxemburg-based ArcelorMittal, is a focus of antitrust concerns by U.S. authorities, Politico reported in March.

However, Mori downplayed the likelihood of any asset sales saying, “I do not think this is necessary for this deal’s closure.”

During the May visit, Mori said he pointed to the 2011 takeover of U.S. company Standard Steel by Sumitomo Metal Industries, which is now part of Nippon Steel, as an example of what he hopes the U.S. Steel purchase could achieve.

Standard became profitable in 2013 after that deal and has continued to be through technology transfers and the dispatch of highly qualified engineers from Japan, he said.

JOB SECURITY

Nippon Steel has sought to address the job security concerns raised by the USW by pledging to honour all agreements in place between U.S. Steel and the union. It is also promising to additionally invest $1.4 billion to upgrade U.S. Steel factories.

However, a number of meeting requests by Mori to the head of the USW since their last meeting in March have not been accepted, he said.

“The USW says our offers are not good enough, but it is not clear what is not good enough,” Mori said, citing the need for a face-to-face meeting. “We are always open to talk.”

The world’s No. 4 steelmaker wants to build public opinion to back the deal, hoping this may push the union to come to the table, Mori said, adding that his confidence in the deal succeeding is “growing stronger”.

In an email to Reuters, the USW called Nippon Steel’s proposals “hollow promises”.

“The USW has already expressed its deep and ongoing concerns with the proposed sale and agrees with President Biden and others who have called for U.S. Steel to remain domestically owned and operated,” it said.

Mori believes the takeover process would likely run more smoothly after the U.S. presidential election as the deal will be no longer a political issue.

If completed by the end of December as planned, the deal should boost Nippon Steel’s annual business profit by 150 billion yen ($954 million) or more, helping to achieve its long-term goal of reaching 1 trillion yen profit in the 2025 financial year, Mori said.

($1 = 157.2000 yen)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, Katya Golubkova and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger).
POSTMODERN ALCHEMY

Gold, zinc help manipulate water to create clean fuels with no dirty byproducts

Staff Writer | June 2, 2024 |

Native gold. (Reference image by James St. John, Flickr.)

Scientists looking to convert carbon dioxide into clean fuels and useful chemicals often make hydrogen gas and carbonates as unwanted byproducts.


At its core, the CO2 molecule is just an arrangement of one carbon and two oxygen atoms that can be reorganized through a technique called electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (CO2R) into clean fuels and useful chemicals. But the process is often done at a loss, with competing mechanisms pulling the atoms in undesirable directions that create unwanted byproducts.

To address this issue, researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering’s Amanchukwu Lab outlined a way to manipulate water molecules to make CO2R more efficient and create a clean energy loop.

In a paper published in Nature Catalysis, the researchers explain that they were able to perform CO2R with nearly 100% efficiency under mildly acidic conditions, using either gold or zinc as catalysts.

“Imagine we can have green electricity from solar and wind, and then use this electricity to convert any carbon dioxide back into fuels,” Reggie Gomes, first author of the paper, said in a media statement.
HER

Electrochemically disassembling a molecule is like a break shot in a game of pool. The previous arrangement disappears and the balls scatter across the table, coming to rest in new combinations—not always the ones the player intended.

Similarly, scientists performing CO2R use electricity and water to break up and rearrange the greenhouse gas. This sends atoms of carbon and oxygen from the carbon dioxide caroming across the table with hydrogen atoms from the water.

If it works as intended, the atoms form other, more desirable molecules that can be used as fuels or chemicals.

But as the atoms scatter, stable pairings of two hydrogen atoms often form a process called hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This makes CO2R less efficient, as energy and atoms that become hydrogen gas can’t be part of the molecules the scientists were trying to create.

Even in small quantities of water, CO2R is always competing with HER.

The Amanchukwu Lab applied insights from aqueous batteries to the problem, hypothesizing that controlling the water with organic solvents could provide a solution.
The bling-bling

Both CO2R and HER rely on water as a proton donor.

Using organic solvents and acid additives, the team was able to tune the water’s behaviour, finding the sweet spot where it donated the right amount of protons to create the intended molecules, not the hydrogen gas and other unwanted materials like carbonates.

However, many of the most effective ways to perform CO2R rely on precious metals.

“Platinum, silver, gold—for research purposes, they’re great catalysts,” Gomes said. “They’re very stable materials. But when you’re thinking about industrial applications, they become cost-prohibitive.”

By engineering the electrolyte, the new method can get similar results using cheaper, more abundant materials.

“Right now, the best way to do this electrochemically at room temperature is to use precious metals. Gold and silver can suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction a little bit,” head researcher Chibueze Amanchukwu said. “Because of our discovery, we can now use an earth-abundant metal, zinc, because we now have a separate way to control water.”