Kim vows to win on Korean War anniversary
Kim 'affirmed that our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honourable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown,' KCNA state news agency said.
North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China on July 27, 1953, ending the fighting in the three-year war.
North Korea calls July 27 'Victory Day' even though the armistice dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides made major advances back and forth during the war.
South Korea does not mark the day with any major events. — Reuters
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The Star
27 minutes ago
- The Star
Analysis-Argentina's copper dreams need infrastructure - but who will build it?
SAN JUAN (Reuters) -Argentina holds rich copper deposits in the mountainous north along the Chilean border, but, unlike its mining powerhouse neighbor, has not built power lines and roads needed for new projects backed by miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto. President Javier Milei's austerity campaign to clamp down on inflation and debt means the South American country is up against bigger challenges than most countries to build the infrastructure needed by mines worldwide. Unconventional ideas, such as sharing infrastructure between miners or paying for it with royalties, will likelybe part of the solution. "The government said it won't provide any funding, but that doesn't mean it isn't responsible for getting things done," said Roberto Cacciola, president of Argentina's mining chamber, who is urging authorities to step up efforts to ensure infrastructure gets built. Argentina exports gold, silver, and lithium but has not produced copper since 2018. Milei's administration, as well as governors who control local development, are banking on copper to help stabilize the country's volatile economy, just as mining companies worldwide seek to boost output to cover a looming supply gap for the metal widely used in construction and electric vehicles. A federal official said the government is assessing infrastructure needs nationwide and identifying ways the private sector could play a role. Eight copper projects in Argentina could bring total mining export value to $15.4 billion by 2030, according to a government forecast. That would more than triple last year's figure and make the sector one of the country's largest net foreign exchange earners. Copper projects alone could reel in $5.2 billion by 2030, if they reach the government's projection of producing 521,000 metric tons a year. The copper projects are concentrated in the northern province of San Juan, which some call the "Vaca Muerta of copper," an allusion to Argentina's shale oil and gas field the size of Belgium. San Juan enacted a compensation program in 2022 that could help get infrastructure built. It allows mining companies that develop road or energy infrastructure to be repaid with mining royalties if provinciallegislators deemthe project a "public utility." Miners normally pay royalties to governments. The Vicuna project, from global miner BHP and Canada's Lundin, hopes to use the provision, said Vicuna's Argentina director Jose Morea. "That speeds up investments that the private sector is currently in a position to make ... which the provincial government would probably have to defer otherwise,"he said in an interview. Vicuna consists of two mines, Filo del Sol and the more advanced Josemaria, which could become one of the region's first projects to start production. The $5-billion mine will need a 220-kilometer (137-mile) road - a distance of about two or three hours by car - to reach operations at an altitude of 4,200 meters (13,780 feet) in the Andes Mountains. It will also require a high-voltage power transmission line at a scale that could support a large city. SHARING INFRASTRUCTURE Some miners are exploring other ways to reduce costs. McEwen Mining's Los Azules is looking at sharing infrastructure with nearby projects and has consulted the Inter-American Development Bank about infrastructure loans. Some business leaders want the government to turn over more projects, such as railways and road maintenance, to the private sector through public tenders or public-private partnerships,said Nicolas Munoz, a copper supply analyst at consultancy CRU. "It's feasible to think that private companies will assume these costs and see a business opportunity," Munoz said. There are already signs of interest from the mining sector, such as global miner Rio Tinto, which recently took over U.S.-based Arcadium's lithium mines in Argentina and is developing another of its own in the country. According to a public register of lobbyist meetings, Rio held a meeting with Argentina's mining secretary in June after expressing interest in bidding for the state's Belgrano Cargas railway, which the government said in February it would privatize. Rio Tinto did not have an immediate comment. Rio Tinto is also backing McEwen's Los Azules and Aldebaran's Altar copper projectsthrough shares owned by its leaching technology arm, Nuton. Some governors are still looking to the federal government to take part of the burden. Governor Gustavo Saenz of Salta, where Canada's First Quantum Minerals wants to develop the Taca Taca copper mine, said aqueducts, roads, and gas pipelines will pay off. "We need them to give us ... everything necessary so that those who want to come and invest can do so," he said this week at the Argentina Copper 2025 conference in San Juan. (Reporting by Lucila Sigal, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Rod Nickel)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Analysis-Investors betting voters in Bolivia will make a turn to the right
(Reuters) -Bolivia's international bonds have rallied ahead of a fiercely contested presidential election, fueled by investors' hopes that a political U-turn could help shore up the country's fragile economy and pave the way for an IMF program. The South American nation of 12 million people is engulfed in a crisis marked by inflation at a four-decade high, dwindling dollar reserves and a fiscal squeeze in which the government must choose to service debt or pay for fuel and food imports. Bolivia's international bonds, however, have enjoyed a stellar rally since the start of 2025. With a return of more than 30%, they are one of the top performers in JPMorgan's emerging markets bond index, which across the asset class has returned slightly more than 7%. Citigroup recently upgraded its assessment on Bolivian bonds to "neutral" from "underweight." Having started the year below 60 cents, Bolivian government bonds have scaled multi-year highs in recent days and are trading in the mid-70 cent range - well above the 70 cent threshold below which debt is seen as being in distress. A change in government "is likely to be quite positive for the economy, which has been on an unsustainable fiscal and current account position for so many years," said Carlos de Sousa, emerging markets debt strategist at Vontobel Asset Management. "A restructuring could be avoided, particularly if the country gets an IMF program soon after," de Sousa said, adding that turning to the International Monetary Fund for support would be a political choice. Bolivia's political landscape is dominated by a power struggle that has fractured the incumbent left-leaning Movement to Socialism (MAS) party. Polls show it winning about 12% of the vote in the first round of the elections on August 17. Evo Morales, who ruled the country from 2006 to 2019 under the MAS banner, has been barred from running for another term as president. Betting websites peg the chances of a win for center-right businessman Samuel Doria Medina, the National Unity party's presidential candidate, at more than 50%. Favored by markets, he has pledged to restore central bank autonomy, tackle a dollar shortage and take on corruption. To avoid a runoff, which has been scheduled for October 19, a candidate must secure more than 40% of the vote as well as have a lead of at least 10 percentage points. IMF LOAN PROGRAM The election is taking place at a critical time for Bolivia's $50 billion economy. Central bank-financed fiscal deficits have become a major flash point, revenues from gas exports - a big source of hard currency for the government - have dwindled and the central bank has been forced to spend precious reserves defending the boliviano currency's peg to the dollar. The gap between parallel and official exchange rates has blown out to 80%, the IMF says. Despite the recent spurt of optimism, investors remain worried that political infighting and falling gas export revenues could jeopardize the country's ability to service upcoming debt payments - large chunks of which are due in the first quarters of the next three years. Bolivia's external debt amounted to about $13.3 billion by the end of 2024, of which $1.8 billion is in hard-currency bonds and the remainder in multilateral and bilateral loans, according to its central bank. Foreign exchange reserves were at a record low of about $165 million in April, central bank data shows. JPMorgan calculates that the country's liquid reserves are only $100 million. The IMF puts reserves at two months worth of imports - well below the minimum threshold of the equivalent of three months. Earlier this year, the three major credit rating agencies downgraded Bolivia's rating deeper into junk. S&P Global said the economic circumstances could impair the government's ability to service debt over the next six to 12 months. Some relief may come from loans worth more than $1 billion from official lenders like the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency that have been secured but not drawn down amid government infighting, and which analysts expect could be unlocked by a new government in La Paz. Monetizing Bolivia's vast lithium deposits could also bring in financing. But the real silver lining - at least for investors - would be an IMF loan program. It would, however, require painful reforms. The IMF said in May that the Bolivian government should ditch the dollar peg, lift capital controls and phase out fuel subsidies, among a raft of other policy changes. It estimates Bolivia's economy will grow 1.1% in 2025 and 0.9% next year - less than half the 2.2% growth expected across broader Latin America this year and the 2.4% forecast for the region in 2026. With a balance of payments crunch looming, analysts say, the next government might not have much choice. "All these liberalizing reforms will eventually allow the economy to flourish, but there's going to be some short-term pain as you shut down money-losing businesses, cut fuel subsidies, and unshackle the economy," said Ajata Mediratta, partner at Greylock Capital Management. "Very few countries can do that in an election year." (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Rodrigo Campos in New York; editing by Karin Strohecker, Christian Plumb and Paul Simao)
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
India presses for global ‘code of conduct' on pilot poaching
NEW DELHI: India wants countries to agree a new code of conduct on hiring each other's airline staff after raising concerns that its fast-growing aviation system is being stifled by the poaching of Indian pilots and cabin crew without adequate notice. India, one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, is wrestling with a shortage of experienced pilots, denting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aspiration of developing a job-creating global aviation hub. The recent fatal crash of an Air India jetliner has sparked tighter scrutiny of the sector. But foreign airlines are repeatedly hiring skilled staff from Indian airlines, 'adversely impacting India's ability to develop its civil aviation sector in an orderly manner,' India said in an Aug 1 working paper submitted to the UN's aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). 'Airlines from other (countries) tend to recruit experienced pilots, engineers, technicians, and cabin crew from Indian carriers, preventing India's civil aviation sector from achieving planned and orderly growth,' India wrote in the paper, without identifying any foreign airline by name. 'This practice creates a vicious cycle where Indian carriers are forced to continuously recruit and train replacement personnel by diverting resources from expansion activities and operational improvements.' The paper was released on the ICAO website ahead of its triennial assembly. It has not previously been reported. India's Civil Aviation Ministry was not immediately available for comment. India's government said in April the country would need 30,000 pilots over the next 15–20 years, up from the current 6,000–7,000, as airlines collectively had more than 1,700 aircraft on order. India's domestic aviation sector is led by IndiGo and Air India, while all major international airlines from Emirates to British Airways to Lufthansa operate regular flights. In 2023, Air India exchanged barbs with Akasa Air over the poaching of pilots domestically. The working paper asks for the creation of a code of conduct on the movement of skilled aviation workers among ICAO's member countries. It doesn't specify how the code of conduct would work. – Reuters
