Australia’s data centre boom encounters political hurdles, the Pentagon’s ‘Drone Dominance’ programme aims to rival China’s low-cost drone industry, Indonesia’s rapid aluminium growth raises fears of another metal price glut, and the US continues to bet big on fledgling rare earth miners.

Gulf rivalries continue to simmer in Sudan despite the Iran War, the US and EU target renewed rare earths cooperation to diversify supply chains, and China eyes a relative advantage in dealing with the second-order effects of Hormuz’s closure.

High tariffs and grid bottlenecks keep India’s renewables build-out tethered to fossil fuel imports now in short supply, the Congo inks in Chinese mining ties as US minerals deal awaits delivery, Gulf states dust off proposals to replicate Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, and India’s solar exports stutter despite growing competitiveness.