German foreign minister says first phase of Trump's Gaza plan achievable by next week
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday that the initial stage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza must...
The United States has begun discussions with the Cook Islands to survey and potentially develop seabed minerals in the archipelago’s vast exclusive economic zone, a step that could reshape strategic competition with China in the South Pacific.
The State Department said on Tuesday that the two governments had “begun discussions … to support the research necessary to inform seabed exploration and responsible development within the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone.”
It added that U.S-linked companies “sit at the forefront” of deep-sea mineral research in the territory.
Washington’s initiative follows a “strategic partnership” the Cook Islands signed with China earlier this year, which covered areas from deep-sea mining to scholarships but specifically ruled out security ties. Western capitals have grown increasingly anxious about Beijing’s economic reach in Pacific island states that control more than 15 million sq km of ocean.
A U.S. official said the talks aimed to ensure that any mining of cobalt- and nickel-rich polymetallic nodules is carried out “to the highest environmental standards”, although the Cook Islands has yet to license full-scale extraction. Independent studies estimate the Pacific seabed could supply more than 20 % of the world’s demand for battery metals by 2040.
Home to about 15,000 people, the Cook Islands has been self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1965, with King Charles III as head of state. In June, New Zealand suspended several million New Zealand dollars in budget support, citing concern at the island group’s deepening ties with Beijing.
The State Department did not set a timetable for the research programme but said any future commercial activity would require “transparent regulation and strong scientific data.”
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, who also holds the mining portfolio, has previously said seabed resources could diversify an economy reliant on tourism, which accounts for more than half of GDP.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday that the initial stage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza must be implemented by the beginning of next week at the latest, while acknowledging that other elements of the proposal would take longer to resolve.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday found a militia leader guilty for the first time over atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region more than two decades ago.
Protesters once again took to the streets of Madagascar’s cities on Monday, marking a third consecutive week of anti-government demonstrations now calling for President Andry Rajoelina to step down.
Iran and France indicated on Monday that talks on the release of two French citizens held in Iran in exchange for an Iranian national detained by France were progressing.
Ukraine’s military says it has carried out strikes on one of Russia’s main explosives factories and an oil terminal in occupied Crimea, escalating long-range attacks on key sites supporting Moscow’s war effort.
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