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South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Why Trump is attacking China's dominance in humble graphite
Whatever it's been called – plumbago, black-cawke, wadd, black-lead – through century after century, graphite has been nothing if not humble. Last week, the United States slapped a 93.5 per cent duty on graphite imports from China. Share prices soared for graphite miners outside China, from Australia to Canada and South Korea. For some exporters, Trump's tariffs are not an ill wind. The drama comes down to the global surge in the electric vehicle (EV) market, and the humble but essential role played by graphite in lithium-ion batteries. Graphite will never play a more important role, it seems, than in the battery anodes of the future, whether in EVs, solar and wind energy storage, or smartphones. Before the US storm over Chinese graphite blew up, I had a serendipitous encounter this summer with graphite – that greasy, black, slippery, uncharismatic carbon cousin to diamonds. I never expected that a holiday soaking up the charms of Britain's bucolic Lake District would alert me not just to the long and largely unnoticed history of graphite, but to its diverse and dual-use properties that drew more parallels between 16th century England and US President Donald Trump's national security obsessions than I could have imagined. The first records of graphite coming from the Seathwaite Mine in Borrowdale in the Lake District date back to the 1550s. It is still talked of as the world's only large graphite deposit found in a solid form, which allowed it to be cut into sticks. At first employed by Lake District farmers to mark their sheep, graphite's use soon proliferated. It was used to rustproof cooking stoves, in glazing pots and as a lubricant in ships' rigging. Mixed with wine or ale, it was also used medicinally to treat colic and gallstones, though its effect remains open to question. What made graphite critical was its use as a separating layer in iron moulds. This enabled Queen Elizabeth I and her navy to produce smooth, high-quality cannonballs that likely played a part in her crushing defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Who would have thought that graphite could be so indispensable to national security? Because of the strategic importance of graphite, the Seathwaite Mine was taken over by the Crown, and guardhouses were constructed around the mine to protect its resources – a 16th century version of export control that I am sure both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump's tariff warriors would appreciate.
The Herald Scotland
06-07-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Bucket list: Five Scottish islands you've probably not visited yet
Owned by the Nicolson family since 1937, this trio of now uninhabited islands hide away in the Minch between Skye and Harris. When tide and wind allows you dare a rocky landing on the narrow isthmus that connects Garbh Eilean and Eilean an Taighe. The isles house around 2% of the world's puffin population and thousands of gannets, guillemots, skuas, kittiwakes and those hulking sea eagles too. A flotilla of dolphins guided us in today too. You can ramble on land if you're very careful not to disturb the avian residents. And then admire the hulking basalt columns that are much higher than either Staffa or the Giant's Causeway. The Shiant Islands (Image: Robin McKelvie) Get there – Hebrides Cruises ( are the only small ship operator running live-aboard Hebridean cruises that offer overnights in the Shiant Islands. Foula The Romans declared their Ultima Thule here 20 miles west of the Shetland Mainland and this magical island retains a palpable sense of the end of the world today. It's easy to see why Foula was chosen as the doppelganger for St Kilda in the 'Edge of the World' film. There is nowhere in Scotland quite like Foula though as they run to a different calendar (the Julian) than the rest of us, celebrating Christmas on January 6. The islanders are in my experience both stoic and welcoming; the kamikaze bonxies less so when you're hiking the hills without another human in sight. I saw a minke whale on our approach the first time I flew in, then a bonxie rip apart a healthy lamb right in front of its mum. Foula is that sort of wild and untamed outpost. Foula (Image: Robin McKelvie) Get there – You can fly on a wee plane from Tingwall ( or catch the ferry ( It gets so rough that the ferry is often hauled out of the water to protect it. Fair Isle Yes we all know about the jumpers with geometric patterns supposedly inspired by waylaid Spanish Armada sailors, but where is it? Roughly halfway between Orkney and Shetland, that's where, with administrative duties taken care of by the latter. It's brilliant for birds with an RSPB reserve and the chance to get right up to puffins on the grassy cliffs. They've spent £7.4m on rebuilding the bird observatory destroyed by far in 2019. The scenery and the sea cliffs are epic too. Fair Isle (Image: Robin McKelvie) Get there – You can fly from Tingwall or catch a ferry ( Papa Westray There is far more reason to come to this northerly Orcadian wonder than taking the world's shortest fight from Westray – the journey distance is less than the length of Edinburgh Airport's runway. You'll rejoice in epic white sand beaches, a thriving community and one of the most impressive wee churches in our isles. Then there is the Knap of Howar, which makes Orkney Mainland's Neolithic wonders seem like IKEA. Northwestern Europe's oldest dwelling is a full half millennia older than Skara Brae. Savouring a dram here with our ancestors on a June Orkney night that refused to die is one of my most sublime travel memories. Papa Westray (Image: Robin McKelvie) Get there – NorthLink ( ferry you to Orkney, then you can fly island hopping from Kirkwall ( on that route. St Kilda I wasn't sure when I started writing this I would include this distant archipelago, but how could I not? Set adrift in the Atlantic 40 miles west of North Uist the geology has more in common with the Faroes and Tolkien than the rest of Scotland. It was the first place in the world to be recognised on Unesco's World Heritage list twice – both for its natural and its human heritage. Since we abandoned St Kilda in 1930 the wildlife has thrived with thousands of gannets, puffins, gulls and sea eagles enjoying the run of this epic outpost. I've been five times and been lucky enough to land on all but one. I wish you all the luck in landing on the granddaddy of the Scottish islands you probably have not been to yet. St Kilda (Image: Robin McKelvie) Get there – A number of small ship operators brave the Atlantic rigours on live aboard adventures out here. I love the eight-passenger Splendour from Argyll Cruising ( who welcome guests with an intimacy and authenticity that is the antitheses of the massive cruise ships.
Irish Independent
01-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Ten stunning Sligo coastal walks you can explore this weekend
Here are 10 walking highlights to get you started 1. Enniscrone Beach Sligo's longest beach at almost 5km, this stretch of stunning coastline provide unrivalled views over the Atlantic waves, and to your rear the dunes rise above the golf club. Parking at the seafront, the beach walk extends to your left, or an alternative is the short looped trail that begins at the pier and extends for around 2km. This walk also have seating located along the path, giving an opportunity to stop and take in those breath taking views across Killala Bay. 2. Mullaghmore Head From the most westerly to the northern coast of the county. And what more can be said about the 4km looped walk at Mullaghmore, probably the most photographed spot in Sligo, with its views of Classiebawn Castle and with Benbulben rising to the rear. Park in the village and head out past the Pier Head for the best views. Remember that you're sharing the walk with cars, so as much as you'll want to take in the views, be aware that with the low lying sun this time of year, caution should always be exercised when walking on the road. 3. Lissadell A woodland walk leads to an opening in the trees where Lissadell Beach reveals itself, a lovely simple walk with plenty of nature around you, even at this time of year. Park considerately near the main entrance at the gate lodge and then walk along the forest road, arriving at the sea where the path diverges left and right. Follow the path around to the right, where it meanders through a tree lined path before arriving at the beach itself. Extend your walk by taking in some of the beach, retracing your steps to arrive back at the start. 4. Raghly Coastal Walk The popular Raghly trail offers excellent coastal views. Drive almost to Raghly Pier, where an area of roadside parking is clearly marked. Walking uphill from here the coastal path opens up to your right. The path hugs the coast before turning inland, rising further before meeting a minor road, where you turn right towards the pier and back to your starting point. During stormy weather and high tides, evidence of the power of Mother Nature can sometimes be seen at the famous blow holes, located along the trail. 5. Aughris and Dunmoran We often rave about the wonderful coastal walk at Aughris, which offers possibly the most spectacular clifftop views in Sligo. Parking near the Beach Bar, head towards the pier, where the opening to the path can be found. The trail follows the cliff before turning inland, heading past a World War II lookout post and a deserted village dating to Famine times, before heading back to the start. Continue on then along Aughris and Dunmoran Beaches before retracing your footsteps to the car park. 6. Streedagh The De Cuéllar Trail at Streedagh follows in the footsteps of a famous Spanish Armada captain who was shipwrecked here in 1588 and survived to tell the tale. Park near the Armada monument that overlooks the beach and walk from here down the road until you arrive at the beach itself. This extends for 3km and you can return either along the beach itself or aim for a gap at the end of the beach and meander your way back on the lagoon side, which offers views towards Benbulben. 7. Killaspugbrone Coastal Walk With the increasing popularity of Strandhill in the Summer, this is a lovely time of year to explore one of Sligo's most diverse coastal walks. Parking in the main car park in the village, walk to the cannon on the shoreline and then along the path that leads you through the caravan park. The path follows the coast, around the end of the airport, past Killaspugbrone Church. A small horseshoe shaped beach leads to an area of woodland and on to the estuary. The path leads to a minor road that brings you back into Strandhill, and follow the main road back to the beach. 8. Culleenamore and Shelly Valley Located on the Ballisodare side of Strandhill, access to Culleenamore is via a minor road where you can park with care. Heading right along the beach past the back of the golf club, an opening in the dunes to the right marks a path that brings you through Shelly Valley and then on to Strandhill Beach. Here, if tides allow, you can turn left, walking to the end of Strandhill Beach, looping back towards Culleenamore and your starting point. 9. Rosses Point Parking at the entrance to the village, walk along the roadside path, taking in views of Oyster and Coney Islands. At the entrance to the RNLI station, bear left and follow the coastal path past the Metal Man and on to the Yacht Club. Here, you can follow the road until you reach the first and second beaches, ensuring that you won't get cut off by an incoming tide. When retracing your steps, keep to the roadside path for a variation, bringing you past the caravan park, golf club and through the village of Rosses Point itself. 10. Easkey A short walk in one of Sligo's most scenic coastal villages. Park in the centre of the village and take the river walk which brings you to the shore at Easkey Castle. From here the road continues, offering wonderful ocean views, and keep an eye out for surfers who take to the water throughout the year. Retrace your steps to get back to the start of the walk. Information on all of the above walks can be found on
Spectator
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Demographics is the new dividing line on the right
It's an ominous time for a state-of-the-nation conference. Each week, the shores we defended against Hitler, Napoleon and the Spanish Armada are breached by hundreds of foreign men, while asylum seekers make up 'a significant proportion' of those currently being investigated for the grooming of British children. Earlier this month, there were days of violent anti-immigration riots in Ballymena. The five Gaza independents elected last year marked the grim rise of electoral sectarianism in the UK, a trend that is only set to accelerate. Academics and government insiders, despairing at the state of Britain, fret about looming civil war along ethnic lines. 'Now and England', a one-day conference hosted by the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation this week in Westminster, was billed as 'exploring nation, culture, and identity in a time of change and renewal'. In truth, 'a time of decline and crisis' would probably have been more apposite. At the root of each issue lies mass, unasked for immigration and the resultant demographic change. The figures are bleak. On current trends, white British are expected to be a minority in Britain by 2063, according to a recent study by Prof Matt Goodwin; the figure is even sooner for England. The Centre for Migration Control forecasts that if nothing changes, by 2035, one quarter of the population will be foreign-born, with one third of the of the population a first- or second-generation migrant. Fewer than one in four children in Greater London's schools are white British. To the predominantly younger right-wingers in attendance, along with the country, such trends are deeply alarming. Yet do political leaders on the right feel the same way? When Reform's Richard Tice was pressed on Goodwin's demographics projections recently on GB News, for instance, he scarcely seemed bothered. The question of the conference, then, was just how seriously it would take these issues. What is England without the English? Robert Jenrick gave it his best shot with the opening keynote. 'Mass immigration lies at the root of… so many of our problems', he said. Reckless border policies, his own party's included, had eroded our 'sense of home'. He reiterated calls for a legally binding cap on immigration and ECHR reform. It wasn't nothing, but a stump speech was hardly going to break the Overton window. Next came a worthwhile panel on cultural renewal, before the second keynote by Dr James Orr, Cambridge academic and Nat Con grandee. 'England is slipping away', he warned gravely, and the cause was 'hyper-liberalism'. It was a philosopher's way of saying that we had recklessly imported millions of foreigners in the vain pursuit of GDP growth. But it was notable that even this conservative luminary seemed to be dancing around the issue somewhat. It was on the final panel, 'England's Past and England's future' that things came to a head. Danny Kruger MP spoke of Bede, the common law, and the importance of homogeneity, but it all remained rather abstract. Apparently, what we needed was a 'violent rebellion against encroaching ideas' and to 'tame the technium'. A leading light of the class of 2019, Kruger seemed to have forgotten why his party was turfed out with such disgust at the last election. Robert Tombs spoke about historical memory. Rupert Lowe MP ranged widely on statism, Blair's constitutional revolution, the rape gangs and free speech, but demographic change didn't feature. We had all been waiting to hear from Thomas Skinner, the former Apprentice star and small business owner known for cheerily belting out 'Bosh!' on social media and seemingly eyeing a tilt at the London mayoralty (he wouldn't be drawn). But if he had any concerns about immigration and cultural change he never made them explicit, instead preferring populist bromides ('England is about the people'). All of which meant that by the Q&A, the young audience had grown restive. Up stepped one mid-20s professional to speak for England. He noted that while Kruger had spoken of greater localism – 'watching the barley grow' from his Wiltshire idyll – this was hardly much of a solution when demographic change has already rendered some English councils corrupt tribal fiefdoms. Being from Rotherham, he said, he would know. 'So my question is, if we reach a juncture where democracy becomes a zero-sum game between different ethnic and religious blocs, what feasible future is there for it?' It was like a dam breaking: suddenly, thunderous applause and whoops filled the 200-seat lecture theatre, the loudest we had heard all day. (Later, several people went to congratulate him.) Skinner seemed uncomfortable, while Lowe was making notes. Piling on the pressure, there followed the voice of Carl Benjamin of the Lotus Eaters, noting how the central question of demographics had loomed over the whole conference largely unsaid. He then went after Danny Kruger for a remark in his speech that 'anyone can become English', also drawing applause. The panel tried to answer, but it was clear they were on uncomfortable territory. 'I detect a very strong desire for action to restore the basis of our polity lest we lose it altogether', noted Kruger, gingerly. Rupert Lowe offered simply that people who come to Britain ought to speak English and pay their taxes; Skinner had gone out for a phone call. Tombs at least volunteered that we should ban postal voting and cousin marriage. But in his view, the best approach would be to 'clone Katharine Birbalsingh', the headmistress of the ultra-diverse and disciplinarian Michaela School in West London. If you've seen 'little girls with headscarves on reciting Kipling and singing the national anthem' he said, 'you think becoming English is quite possible if you want to do it, and if you're encouraged to do it and indeed required to do it'. Tombs then argued that being English was something that 'we all learn'. This is the nub of the issue: the largely generational divide that is becoming increasingly visible on the British right. There are many who prefer to ignore ethnicity, ancestry and demographics on the grounds that such topics are both immaterial and icky; there are even some who insist, against all the available evidence, that multiculturalism has been a success. On the other hand there are those who are unapologetic about believing that the English are an ethnic group, that England is our home, and that the more diverse our society becomes, the less happy it will be. Such sentiments would have been common sense to most people throughout human history. It is ordinary and natural to identify with one's ethnic group. It is also ordinary and natural for a people to understand itself as a people. Yet for the past 60 years, as woke moral guardrails have expanded throughout our culture, such sentiments have been rendered deeply taboo. If that taboo is now being broken, it is not before time.
New York Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump must show remarkable leadership qualities if he makes the tough call – a preemptive strike on Iran to thwart nuke threat
On Wednesday, July 3, 1940, Winston Churchill had a decision before him as hard as any he ever had to take in his long career of statesmanship. If the Vichy French fleet stationed at Oran in Algeria were to fall into German hands, as seemed highly likely, it would, when combined with the German and Italian navies, pose an existential threat to his country, which after the Fall of France was already gearing itself up for the Battle of Britain. The French admiral would neither hand his fleet over to the Royal Navy, scuttle it, nor sail it to Canada. So, after some anguished heartache, the lifelong Francophile Churchill ordered it to be sunk, which it was with the loss of 1,299 French sailors. There are some moments in history when a sudden act of opportune ruthlessness readjusts the world toward a safer path. In the Middle East, these include Israel's surprise attacks that saved her from certain invasion in the Six-Day War of 1967 and her destruction of Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility in 1981. Going back far further, impending invasions of Britain were foiled by Francis Drake sending fireships against the Spanish Armada in August 1588 and then-Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson preemptively destroying the Danish fleet at Copenhagen in 1801. Preemptive action sometimes works, but it requires remarkable leadership qualities. Does President Trump have them? History in the making For iIf Iran's centrifuges are still spinning in its nuclear facility 300 feet underground at Fordow, then Israel will have only scored a tactical win, rather than the strategic victory she it needed. The successes against the upper echelons of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, military high command and nuclear scientists are commendable, but nothing like enough. Only the United States US has the 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs necessary to shatter Iranian nuclear ambitions. So what does Trump do then? Benjamin Netanyahu certainly feels the weight of history on his shoulders. The son of a distinguished historian and an avid reader of books by and about Churchill, he said three days ago, 'Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future.' He is right. And history could record that about President Trump, too, if he acts decisively. If Trump has before him the Churchillian option, it is not hard to see who represents Neville Chamberlain in all of this. President Barack Obama's adamant and repeated refusal to help the Iranian opposition — either overtly or covertly — during his eight years in office wrecked its brave efforts to replace the regime, and gave the lie to his pretensions to be a new John F. Kennedy. His cringing, appeasing Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) utterly failed to stop the sinister, inexorable spinning of the centrifuges, and came at the cost of lifting key sanctions and unfreezing assets. It was neither joint (because Iran cheated) nor comprehensive (because it did not require Iran to abandon its nuclear program) nor a viable plan of action, although it did produce the sickening detail of pallets being loaded with billions of dollars and transferred to the regime in Tehran. Joe Biden then continued his master's policy of trying to mollify Iran, unsuccessfully. For all his obtuse, dangerous wrongheadedness throughout the 1930s, at least Chamberlain never subsidized the Nazi regime with British taxpayers' money in the way Obama and Biden have with Americans'. The United States has suffered so much at the hands of Iran since the humiliations of the Carter administration during the US embassy hostage crisis between November 1979 and January 1981 that no one would resent it finally setting things right. Fighting for peace There is hardly a government in the world that would not sleep easier knowing that the theocracy in Iran had been denied the power to initiate a third world war. Counterintuitively, perhaps, President Trump would never deserve the Nobel Peace Prize more than if he destroyed Iran's capacity for nuclear blackmail. For once Iran goes nuclear and thus becomes inviolate, it is only a matter of time before it acquires the intercontinental delivery systems that will threaten the rest of the world, including the United States. There are grave risks attached, of course, which should not be underestimated. Iranian terrorist sleeper cells will probably be activated in the West, such as the one plotting kidnappings and assassinations recently uncovered in London. The mullahs' penchant for attacking soft civilian targets such as synagogues and cultural centers is well known, and indicative of their frustration and rage at their failure to devastate Israel due to the technical genius of its Iron Dome defenses. We should believe the threats of dictators. History is littered with times that the West assumes that dictators were exaggerating or merely playing to their domestic audiences, but were in fact being coldly truthful. When Hitler stated in January 1939 that a world war would destroy the Jewish race in Europe only eight months before he deliberately started it, or Stalin promised that the Comintern would strive to undermine Western democracies, or Vladimir Putin claimed that there was a 'historical unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples' while massing an army on Ukraine's borders, the West ought to have listened, rather than assuming they were bloviating. We should similarly believe the Iranian mullahs' considered and oft-repeated promises to use a nuclear bomb to annihilate Israel. These threats are not idle; they are meant in cold blood. The imams of Tehran want to turn Israel into a sea of molten, irradiated glass, and even the hitherto-pussycat International Atomic Energy Agency now admits that it is ramping up efforts to obtain the means to do so. 'Axis of Ill Will' Western leaders such as Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Keir Starmer who are currently bleating about 'de-escalating the Middle East' should recognize that easily the best way of doing that is to defang the chief exporter of terror there. The United States has never had such an opportunity to rid the world of a specter that has haunted the Middle East for decades, and possibly might not again while what my friend and Free Press columnist Sir Niall Ferguson calls 'the Axis of Ill Will' — China, Russian, Iran, North Korea and their proxies — builds ever-closer ties. Donald Trump today has it in his power to act with Churchillian ruthlessness and wreck Iran's nuclear — and thus regionally strategic — ambitions for a generation. I fear he will not do this, however, for as his constant tergiversations over tariffs have shown, his bark tends to be much worse than his bite. If he does not, he ought to remove Winston Churchill's bust from the Oval Office, as he should not be able to look in the eye the man who said at the time of the Munich Agreement in October 1938, 'Do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year, unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.' From The Free Press
