Pakistan and India say they'd consider de-escalation if the other reciprocates
Pakistan and India have hinted at de-escalating their current conflict after firing missiles at each.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Rights group says global brands are at risk of links to forced labor in China's minerals industry
Several global brands are among dozens of companies at risk of using forced labor through their Chinese supply chains because they use critical minerals or buy minerals-based products sourced from China 's far-western Xinjiang region, an international rights group said Wednesday. The report by the Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance says companies including Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola and paint supplier Sherwin-Williams may be linked to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where rights groups allege the Chinese government runs coercive labor practices targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The report comes as China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, continue talks aimed at easing their trade dispute. The report found 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang. It said the suppliers are at risk of participating in the Chinese government's 'labor transfer programs," in which Uyghurs are forced to work in factories as part of a longstanding campaign of assimilation and mass detention. Commercial paints, thermos cups and components for the aerospace, auto and defense industries are among products sold internationally that can trace their supply chains to minerals from Xinjiang, the report said. It said companies must review their supply chains. 'Mineral mining and processing in (Xinjiang) rely in part on the state's forced labor programs for Uyghurs and other Turkic people in the region,' the report said. The named companies did not immediately comment on the report. A 2022 United Nations report found China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrarily detained as part of measures the Chinese government said were intended to target terrorism and separatism. The Chinese government has rejected the U.N. claims and defended its actions in Xinjiang as fighting terror and ensuring stability. In 2021, former U.S. President Joe Biden signed a law to block imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove the items were made without forced labor. The law initially targeted solar products, tomatoes, cotton and apparel, but the U.S. government recently added new sectors for enforcement, including aluminum and seafood. A recent report by the International Energy Agency said the world's sources of critical minerals are increasingly concentrated in a few countries, notably China, which is also a leading refining and processing base for lithium, cobalt, graphite and other minerals. Many of China's major minerals corporations have invested in the exploration and mining of lithium, a key component for electric vehicle batteries, in Xinjiang, Global Rights Compliance said. Xinjiang is also China's top source of beryllium, a mineral used for aerospace, defense and telecommunications, its report said.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Tariffs: US-China talks end with plan for Trump and Xi to approve
The US and China say they have agreed in principle to a framework for de-escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal should result in restrictions on rare earths and magnets being sides said they would now take the plan to their country's presidents - Donald Trump and Xi Jinping - for announcement came after two days of negotiations in London between top officials from Beijing and Washington. Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for modern technology, were high on the agenda of the month, Washington and Beijing agreed a temporary truce over trade tariffs but each country has since accused the other of breaching the deal."We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus," Lutnick told reporters."Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it," he added."The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting," Li said.
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Telegraph
One in five Afghans at risk from landmines
One in five Afghans is at risk of being killed or maimed by landmines and unexploded bombs, the world's biggest de-mining charity has warned. After 40 years of conflict, Afghanistan is second only to Ukraine in terms of its contamination with unexploded ordnance but risks becoming 'a forgotten humanitarian problem'. Some 6.4 million people – around a fifth of the country's total population – live in areas littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance, The Halo Trust has said in a new analysis of the threat facing Afghans. As a result, roughly 50 Afghans are being killed or severely wounded in explosive accidents every month. More than 80 per cent of victims are children, often sent to collect scrap metal that is subsequently sold-on in order for their families to make a living. The problem has been exacerbated recently by the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. Many of those arriving back in the country fled following the Taliban takeover in 2021, and often have few means to support themselves. The Halo Trust has cleared over 800,000 landmines and 11 million pieces of unexploded ordnance from Afghanistan since it began working in the country in 1998. But recent cuts to foreign aid spending – particularly USAID, the US's foreign aid agency which was a major funder of international demining programmes – has forced the organisation to cut its mine-clearing staff in Afghanistan by almost half, from 2,200 to 1,000 people. 'Afghanistan is now a forgotten humanitarian problem. The Afghan people have struggled for over four decades of conflict, displacement, poverty, and we need the international community to continue to support people to the end of this journey and not leave them stranded halfway through,' said Dr Farid Homayoun, the Halo Trust's Afghanistan Programme Manager. Earlier this year, the Halo Trust sounded the alarm after several European countries announced plans to leave the Ottawa Treaty, a landmark agreement introduced in 1997 that bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland announced their intentions to withdraw in April, citing the threat of a Russian attack.
