New York (AFP) – The Justice Department said Friday it reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing to settle a long-running criminal probe into deadly 737 MAX crashes, drawing condemnation from some crash victim families.

Under an "agreement in principle," Boeing will pay $1.1 billion and the Department of Justice (DOJ) would dismiss a criminal charge against Boeing over its conduct in the certification of the MAX, DOJ said in a federal filing.

A judge must approve the accord, which would scuttle a criminal trial scheduled for June in Fort Worth, Texas.

The agreement would resolve the case without requiring Boeing to plead guilty to fraud in the certification of the MAX, which was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives.

Family members of some MAX victims slammed the proposed settlement as a giveaway to Boeing.

"The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, don't worry about making your products safe for your customers," said Javier de Luis in a statement released by attorneys for plaintiffs suing Boeing.

"This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history," said Paul Cassell, an attorney representing relatives of victims. "My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it."

But the DOJ, in its brief, cited other family members who expressed a desire for closure, quoting one who said "the grief resurfaces every time this case is discussed in court or other forums."

Family members of more than 110 crash victims told the government "they either support the Agreement specifically, support the Department's efforts to resolve the case pre-trial more generally or do not oppose the agreement," the filing said.

The DOJ filing called the accord "a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest."

"The Agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial," it said.

Boeing declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Friday's proposed agreement marks the latest development in a marathon case that came in the wake of the two crashes that tarnished Boeing's reputation and contributed to leadership shakeups at the aviation giant.

The case dates to a January 2021 DOJ agreement with Boeing that settled charges that the company knowingly defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the MAX certification.

The 2021 accord included a three-year probation period. But in May 2024, the DOJ determined that Boeing had violated the 2021 accord following a number of subsequent safety lapses.

Boeing agreed in July 2024 to plead guilty to "conspiracy to defraud the United States."

But in December, federal judge Reed O'Connor rejected a settlement codifying the guilty plea, setting the stage for the incoming Trump administration to decide the next steps.

Under Friday's proposed accord, Boeing "will admit to conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group."

But this acknowledgment "doesn't carry any criminal penalties," said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

"You don't have that kind of stigma or retribution or whatever it is that we think of as deterring that behavior," Tobias said. "It's a slap on the wrist."

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who held hearings into Boeing's problems in 2024, condemned the agreement as an "outrageous injustice" to victims and the public.

"After repeatedly rebuffing responsibility and lying, Boeing will now permanently escape accountability," Blumenthal said. "Victims, families, and the flying public deserve better. They deserve justice, not this sham."

Caracas (AFP) – Leading Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa was arrested Friday on charges of conspiring to sabotage upcoming parliamentary and regional elections that the opposition has vowed to boycott.

The arrest of Guanipa, a 60-year-old former MP and close ally of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, comes amid rising tensions ahead of Sunday's election.

Machado has called on voters to spurn the ballot, which comes 10 months after elections that leftist President Nicolas Maduro is widely accused of stealing.

Guanipa, like Machado, went into hiding after the July 2024 presidential vote, which the opposition and much of the international community believes opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia rightfully won.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello linked Guanipa's arrest to what the government called a foiled plot by foreign mercenaries to sabotage Sunday's vote for members of parliament and 24 state governors.

"He is one of the leaders of this terrorist network," Cabello said on state television, adding that the plan to disrupt the vote was detailed on four telephones and a laptop found in Guanipa's possession.

The suspects planned to plant bombs in hospitals, metro stations, police stations and power plants, Cabello said, adding that authorities had seized explosives, weapons, detonators and cash.

He added that 70 other people had also been arrested in connection with the alleged plot, including citizens of Ecuador, Argentina, Germany, Serbia and "a few" Pakistani nationals.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement expressing "concern following the unjustified and arbitrary arrest of opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa and over 70 individuals" in what he labeled a "new wave of repression from the Maduro regime."

A message on Guanipa's X account, shortly after his arrest, read: "If you are reading this, it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduro's regime."

"I am not sure what will happen to me in the coming hours, days and weeks. But what I am sure of is that we will win the long fight against the dictatorship."

Machado accused Maduro of "STATE TERRORISM, pure and simple," saying Guanipa was "an example for all citizens and political leaders, inside and outside Venezuela."

Maduro has presided over the collapse of oil-rich Venezuela's economy over his past 12 years of increasingly repressive rule.

Millions of people have fled the country, mostly to other Latin American countries.

In July, Maduro claimed to have won a third term, without producing detailed results to back his claim.

The opposition published its own tally of results, which showed a convincing win for Gonzalez Urrutia.

The state prosecutor's office on Friday accused Guanipa of having been part of a "criminal organization" that attempted to sabotage that election, as well as this weekend's vote.

Maduro, a former bus driver who was handpicked by late firebrand socialist leader Hugo Chavez to succeed him in 2013, frequently claims to be the target of US- and Colombian-backed coup plots.

Mass arrests of government critics have become routine.

The government on Monday suspended flights from Colombia after arresting dozens of people it said were mercenaries that had slipped into Venezuela from its neighbor.

A trained lawyer, Guanipa was named vice president in the now-defunct parallel government established by former opposition leader Juan Guaido after 2018 presidential elections which returned Maduro for a second term.

The opposition boycotted those elections after its most popular candidates were barred from running.

New York (AFP) – A judge suspended Friday the Trump administration's move to block Harvard from enrolling and hosting foreign students after the prestigious university sued, calling the action unconstitutional.

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.

But Harvard sued and US district judge Allison Burroughs ordered that "The Trump administration is hereby enjoined from implementing... the revocation of Plaintiff's SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification."

There will be an injunction hearing on May 29, a court filing showed.

The British authorities have brought trumped-up charges against a member of Irish hip-hop group Kneecap in a bid to stifle criticism of their own complicity with Israeli war crimes. But no amount of legal harassment can stop the truth from getting out.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://jacobin.com/2025/05/kneecap-mo-chara-genocide-gaza/

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

Guatemala City (AFP) – A United Nations human rights expert warned Friday of intensifying persecution of independent judges, lawyers and others fighting corruption in Guatemala, urging its contentious attorney general to stop "criminalization."

The United States and the European Union have sanctioned top public prosecutor Consuelo Porras for graft and undermining democracy, whiled President Bernardo Arevalo has accused her of seeking to overthrow him.

During a visit to Guatemala, Margaret Satterthwaite, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, warned of growing persecution of independent judges, prosecutors, lawyers, journalists and others.

"The instrumental use of criminal law by the prosecutor general's office appears to amount to a systematic pattern of intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights, targeted at specific groups," she said in a statement.

"This persecution appears to be intensifying, as those who have sought to end impunity and corruption, defend human rights, or speak out against abuses of power increasingly face digital harassment, threats, and criminal charges," Satterthwaite added.

The UN expert, who is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, called on Porras's office to "halt its process of criminalization."

Satterthwaite met with civil society and Indigenous groups, judicial officials and legislators, as well as both Arevalo and Porras during her visit.

"I did hear people who are afraid," she said as she presented her initial findings at a news conference.

"Criminalization is terrifying. It's something that no one wants to experience," she said.

After meeting Satterthwaite last week, Porras said that her office "investigates" and "does not criminalize."

But the UN expert said the "facts point to a very different reality."

"Criminalization operates through a set of identifiable actions, involving the public prosecutor's office, members of the judiciary, and often certain private actors," Satterthwaite added.

Arevalo's anti-corruption crusade helped to seal his August 2023 election but also put him in the crosshairs of prosecutors themselves accused of graft.

The former lawmaker, diplomat and sociologist has repeatedly denounced a "slow-motion coup d'etat" and unsuccessfully tried to remove Porras.

Chernigiv Region (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine and Russia began a major prisoner exchange Friday, which if completed would be the biggest swap since Moscow invaded more than three years ago.

Both sides received 390 people in this first stage. They are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total under an agreement reached at direct talks in Istanbul last week.

The process will last three days, Kyiv said.

The two enemies have held regular exchanges since Russia launched its 2022 offensive -- but none have been on this scale.

Images released by Kyiv showed Ukrainian soldiers smiling and embracing after being released, some of them draped in bright Ukrainian flags.

"The first stage of the '1,000-for-1,000' exchange agreement has been carried out," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X.

"Today -- 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue."

Russia said it had received 270 Russian troops and 120 civilians, including some from parts of its Kursk region captured and held by Kyiv for months.

The two sides have not yet revealed the identities of those exchanged.

US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.

"This could lead to something big???" he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II have thus far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

Several Ukrainians told AFP they were anxiously waiting to see if their relatives were included in the swap.

"We have been looking for our son for two years," said Liudmyla Parkhomenko, a mother of a Ukrainian soldier who went missing during combat in the city of Bakhmut.

"Today I would like the Lord to send us good news... We feel in our hearts that he's alive," she said.

Anastasia Ruda, 28, said she hoped her brother would return.

"It's been eight months of silence, we don't even know whether he is in captivity or not, we hope that maybe the guys will help us today," she said.

After 39 months of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.

Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives held by Moscow estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

Kyiv and Moscow have both accused each other of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs. The UN said prisoners on both sides had been "subjected to torture and ill-treatment".

Shortly before the exchange, Kyiv released a statement accusing the Russian army of having executed around 270 Ukrainian POWs since its invasion.

Russia regularly violates international norms by putting POWs on trial, and allegations of torture are widespread and several Ukrainian captives confirmed to have died in custody.

Moscow's forces are also believed to have taken an unknown number of Ukrainian civilians into Russia in three years of seizing Ukrainian towns and cities.

Around 60,000 Ukrainians have been declared missing, 10,000 of whom were believed to be in captivity, Kyiv's Commissioner for Missing Persons, Artur Dobroserdov, told Ukrainian media last month.

With Kyiv not knowing the fate of thousands, each exchange brings surprises, a senior official told AFP.

"Almost every exchange includes people no one had knowledge about," he said.

"Sometimes they return people who were on the lists of missing persons or were considered dead."

A sizeable number of Ukrainian troops held in Russia were taken captive during the 2022 siege of Mariupol.

Aside from the thousands held since Moscow's invasion in 2022, Russia has also held some Ukrainians since its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The number of Russian POWs in Ukraine is believed to be considerably smaller.

Zelensky has throughout the war encouraged the taking of Russian troops as prisoners to fill up what he calls Kyiv's "exchange fund" for future swaps.

Until the Turkey talks last Friday, the only communication channels open between the warring neighbours in three years were on exchanges of prisoners and soldiers' bodies as well as on the return of children taken into Russia during Moscow's invasion.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday cast doubt on the Vatican as a potential venue for peace talks.

Oslo (AFP) – The helmsman of a huge container ship that ran aground in Norway just a stone's throw away from a cabin as its owner slept was probably asleep as well at the time of the accident, Norwegian media reported Friday.

"Only one person was on the bridge at the time. He was steering the vessel, but didn't change course when entering the Trondheim fjord as he should have," the news agency NTB reported.

"Police have received information from others who were on board that he was asleep," police official Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told NTB.

The 135-metre (443-foot) NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just metres from Johan Helberg's wooden cabin around dawn on Thursday.

Helberg discovered the unexpected visitor only when a panicked neighbour who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone.

"The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don't like to open," Helberg told television channel TV2.

His neighbour, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was roused at around 5:00 am by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Helberg's house.

None of the cargo's 16 crew members were injured, and Norwegian police have opened an investigation.

"We are aware of the police stating that they have one suspect, and we continue to assist the police and authorities in their ongoing investigation," the NCL shipping group said Friday.

"We are also conducting internal inquiries but prefer not to speculate further," it added.

Efforts to refloat the ship have failed so far, and the massive red and green container ship remained stuck, looming over the small cabin.

New York (AFP) – Donald Trump's administration on Thursday revoked Harvard's ability to enroll foreign nationals -- more than a quarter of the student body -- in a dramatic escalation of the US president's fight against the prestigious university.

The school in Cambridge, Massachusetts quickly slammed the move as "unlawful" and said it would hurt both the campus and the country, while one student said the community was "panicking."

Trump is furious at Harvard -- which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners -- for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and "woke" liberal ideology.

The loss of such a large proportion of the student body could prove to be a huge financial blow to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.

"Effective immediately, Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Program certification is revoked," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the United States.

Harvard, which has sued the government over a separate raft of punitive measures, quickly fired back, calling the move "unlawful."

"We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host our international students and scholars," it said in a statement, adding that it was working to offer students guidance and support.

"This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission."

Karl Molden, an international student from Austria, said he had applied to study at Oxford in Britain because he feared such measures.

"It's scary and it's saddening," the 21-year-old government and classics student told AFP.

"I love Harvard, and getting into the school has been the greatest privilege of my life.

"It's definitely going to change the perception of... students who (might) consider studying there -- the US is getting less of an attractive spot for higher education."

Leaders of the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors called the move "the latest in a string of nakedly authoritarian and retaliatory moves against America's oldest institution of higher education."

"The Trump administration is unlawfully seeking to destroy higher education in the United States. It now demands that we sacrifice our international students in the process. Universities cannot acquiesce to such extortion," it said.

Last month, Trump threatened to stop Harvard from enrolling foreign students if it did not agree to government demands that would put the private institution under outside political supervision.

"As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege to enroll foreign students," Noem wrote.

"All universities must comply with Department of Homeland Security requirements, including reporting requirements under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program regulations, to maintain this privilege," she said.

"As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' policies, you have lost this privilege."

More than 27 percent of Harvard's enrollment was made up of foreign students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to university data.

Fourth-year US student Alice Goyer told AFP "no one knows" what the development would mean for international students already enrolled.

"We just got the news, so I've been getting texts from a lot of international friends, and I think everyone's just -- no one knows," she said.

"Everyone's panicking a bit."

On whether students would willingly transfer to other institutions, as suggested by Noem in the letter, Goyer said, "I doubt people would do that."

"I would hope maybe there's going to be a legal battle that'll take place."

A special court in Senegal has charged four former government ministers from ex-president Macky Sall's cabinet with corruption and embezzlement related to the management of Covid-19 funds – under a wider anti-corruption campaign by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

The court on Thursday indicted Moustapha Diop, who was the industrial development minister under Sall. He is accused of misusing some $4 million dollars from the West African nation's fund for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Dakar court charged Aissatou Sophie Gladima, Sall's former mining minister, with embezzlement and placed her under a detention order, a source close to the case told French news agency AFP.

She is accused of embezzling more than 193 million CFA francs (approximately €295,000) from an aid fund intended for miners affected by the pandemic.

On Tuesday, the court charged former justice minister Ismaila Madior Fall with taking bribes and on Monday charged former women's minister Salimata Diop with "complicity in embezzlement". Diop was released after paying bail of about $97,750, according to a source close to the case and local media reports.

Former minister for community development Amadou Mansour Faye, Sall's brother-in-law, is also accused of diverting around $4.5 million from a fund set up to tackle the effects of the pandemic in the west African nation in 2020-21, according to a national assembly report.

The High Court of Justice, a special court that began operating earlier this year and is empowered to try presidents and ministers for acts committed in the exercise of their functions.

For the director of the NGO 3D, Moundiaye Cisse, these cases demonstrate the proper functioning of institutions.

"It's positive, because we have a justice system that tries to put everyone on an equal footing," he told RFI's correspondents in Dakar. "It's a good instrument."

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was voted in last year, vowed to crack down on corruption, particularly by the previous administration under Sall.

He decided that Senegal would summon former president Sall himself to court after the country's audit office unveiled irregularities in the treasury's bookkeeping on his watch, a government spokesman said on 28 February.

Sall led Senegal from 2012 to 2024 and is accused of having presided over "catastrophic" mismanagement of the public purse, after an independent report invalidated official figures under his stewardship, revising both debt and the public deficit sharply upwards.

Sall, who has lived in Morocco since leaving office last year, has rejected the row over the report as "political".

(with AFP)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35122987

[...]

Zhang Youmiao was detained for seven days before being released, although they were later sectioned again for 15 days, without the consent of their parents. The doctors had been sympathetic, with one even quietly suggesting to Zhang that they could apply for political asylum in a foreign country. “That was something I’d never heard of,” Zhang says. “I didn’t view my behaviour as political, I was just protecting my rights.”

Chinese law states that if a person is hospitalised involuntarily, they should have a diagnosed psychiatric condition. Zhang says they didn’t receive a formal diagnosis in either of their spells in hospital. They do not have hospital records from that time, but provided documentary evidence to support other elements of their account.

Zhang never formally complained about their treatment. “I was frightened, I was afraid of being put into jail or a psychiatric ward again. I even doubted myself, I thought that maybe I was the root cause of the problem”.

Zhang left China in 2023 and is now applying for asylum overseas.

[...]

Others have sought accountability from the Chinese system. More than 100 people attempted to bring legal cases related to involuntary hospitalisation against hospitals, police or local governments between 2013, when the mental health law was enacted, and 2024. Few succeed.

In 2024, Shenzhen-based lawyer Zeng Yuan sued her local public security bureau after she was sectioned for four days after a dispute with local police. Zeng had smashed a sign in the police station, venting her frustration at their failure to help her contact her estranged father and handle a barrage of online harassment she had been receiving in relation to her job. Zeng lost her case, despite the fact that the Shenzhen health commission ruled that her medical records and behaviour “did not fully support a diagnosis of severe mental disorder”.

Zeng represented herself in her legal case. “If you directly accuse the government of violating the law, it’s basically impossible to find a lawyer in the commercial field who will represent you,” she said. Huang’s NGO, the Equity and Justice Initiative, used to provide legal aid to people bringing civil rights complaints, often funded with the help of donations from overseas. But tightened laws on foreign funding “has severely impacted our ability to do these cases”, she said.

[...]

Dhaka (AFP) – The banning of fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina's party offers a sliver of justice for Bangladeshis demanding she face trial for crimes against humanity but also raises concerns about the inclusivity of elections.

"The government has taken the right decision," said Jahangir Alam, whose 19-year-old son was killed during the mass uprising that forced Hasina into exile in August 2024, ending the 15 years of iron-fisted control by her once all-powerful Awami League party.

"Because of her, the Awami League is now ruined," Alam said, demanding Hasina return from India to comply with the arrest warrant on charges related to the crackdown that killed at least 1,400 protesters.

"Who gave Sheikh Hasina the authority to kill my son?" said Alam, the father of Ibrahim Hossain Zahid, accusing 77-year-old Hasina of being a "mass murderer".

Bangladesh's oldest political party played a key role in the country's liberation war from Pakistan in 1971 and was once led by Hasina's late father, the nation's founding figure, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

"People used to hang Mujib's photo over their heads," he said. "Because of Sheikh Hasina's wrongdoing, that photo is now under our feet."

Hasina's government was blamed for extensive human rights abuses and protesters demanded that the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus take action.

The South Asian nation of some 170 million people last held elections in January 2024, when Hasina won a fourth term in the absence of genuine opposition parties.

Yunus promises that inclusive elections will be held by June 2026 at the latest.

Among those demanding the Awami League ban was the National Citizen's Party made up of many of the students who spearheaded last year's uprising.

Others were supporters of the Hefazat-e-Islam group and Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party.

Jamaat-e-Islami was banned during Hasina's time in power and several of its leaders were tried and hanged. Unsurprisingly, its members were vocal supporters of the ban.

The government banned the Awami League on May 12 after protests outside Yunus's home, pending the trial of Hasina.

"The oppressed have begun becoming oppressors," said Latif Siddiqui, a veteran Awami League member and former minister, adding that the party was wider than Hasina alone.

"She is not the whole Awami League," he said. "Many loved the party."

Human Rights Watch issued stinging criticism on Thursday, warning that "imposing a ban on any speech or activity deemed supportive of a political party is an excessive restriction on fundamental freedoms that mirrors the previous government's abusive clampdown".

However, political analyst Farhad Mazhar, an ideological guru for many student protesters, said the ban was required.

"The democratic space may shrink, but the Awami League has shown no remorse," Mazhar said.

However, Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader said that banning any party stifled democracy.

"We believe in multi-party democracy," he said.

His party had been close with the Awami League under Hasina, Quader said, but it had also opposed the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami.

"We don't support banning any political party that... follows the rules," Quader said.

Jamaat-e-Islami supported Islamabad during Bangladesh's independence war from Pakistan in 1971. Rivals now question if it, too, should be restricted for its historical role.

"If the Awami League is banned for mass murder, then the question arises -- what will happen to those parties that were involved in genocide, directly or indirectly?" Quader said.

"In the history of Bangladesh, the most people were killed during the Liberation War."

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), widely tipped to win the elections when they happen, has taken a more pragmatic approach.

Key leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has said there is no bar on former Awami League loyalists joining his party, so long as they had not previously worked to "suppress" the BNP.

Regardless, the upcoming vote will now take place without what was one of Bangladesh's most popular parties.

Mamun Al Mostofa, professor of political science at Dhaka University, pointed out the party had been "banned before and went through severe crises... but it made a comeback".

Shahdeen Malik, a Supreme Court lawyer and constitutional expert, said a strong opposition helped support democracy.

"AL had a vote bank of around 30 percent of the total electorate," Malik said, noting that Hasina escalated her grip on power after crushing opponents in the 2008 election.

"Due to their atrocities, they may have lost some of that support -- but it is still unlikely to drop below 20 percent," he said.

"Stripping the voting rights of this 20 percent won't benefit anyone."

Bangkok (AFP) – An Australian firm's production of a heavy rare earth, a first outside of China, is a "major milestone" in diversifying a critical supply chain dominated by Beijing, experts say.

But the announcement by Lynas Rare Earths also illustrates how much more needs to be done to broaden the supply of elements critical for electric vehicles and renewable technology.

What are rare earths?

Rare earth elements (REE) are 17 metals that are used in a wide variety of everyday and high-tech products, from light bulbs to guided missiles.

Among the most sought-after are neodymium and dysprosium, used to make super-strong magnets that power electric car batteries and ocean wind turbines.

Despite their name, rare earths are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust. Their moniker is a nod to how unusual it is to find them in a pure form.

Heavy rare earths, a subset of overall REE, have higher atomic weights, are generally less abundant and often more valuable.

China dominates all elements of the rare earths supply chain, accounting for more than 60 percent of mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency.

What did Lynas achieve?

Lynas said it produced dysprosium oxide at its Malaysia facility, making it the only commercial producer of separated heavy rare earths outside of China.

It hopes to refine a second heavy rare earth -- terbium -- at the same facility next month. It too can be used in permanent magnets, as well as some light bulbs.

It "is a major milestone," said Neha Mukherjee, senior analyst on raw materials at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The announcement comes with China's REE supply caught up in its trade war with Washington.

It is unclear whether a 90-day truce means Chinese export controls on some rare earths will be lifted, and experts say a backlog in permit approvals will snarl trade regardless.

"Given this context, the Lynas development marks a real and timely shift, though it doesn't eliminate the need for broader, global diversification efforts," said Mukherjee.

How significant is it?

Lynas did not say how much dysprosium it refined, and rare earths expert Jon Hykawy warned the firm faces constraints.

"The ore mined by Lynas contains relatively little of the heavy rare earths, so their produced tonnages can't be that large," said Hykawy, president of Stormcrow Capital.

"Lynas can make terbium and dysprosium, but not enough, and more is needed."

The mines most suited for extracting dysprosium are in south China, but deposits are known in Africa, South America and elsewhere.

"Even with Lynas' production, China will still be in a position of dominance," added Gavin Wendt, founding director and senior resource analyst at MineLife.

"However, it is a start, and it is crucial that other possible projects in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Europe and Asia, also prove technically viable and can be approved, so that the supply balance can really begin to shift."

What are the challenges to diversifying?

China's domination of the sector is partly the result of long-standing industrial policy. Just a handful of facilities refining light rare earths operate elsewhere, including in Estonia.

It also reflects a tolerance for "in-situ mining", an extraction technique that is cheap but polluting, and difficult to replicate in countries with higher environmental standards.

For them, "production is more expensive, so they need prices to increase to make any seriously interesting profits," said Hykawy.

That is a major obstacle for now.

"Prices have not supported new project development for over a year," said Mukherjee.

"Most non-Chinese projects would struggle to break even at current price levels."

There are also technical challenges, as processing rare earths requires highly specialised and efficient techniques, and can produce difficult-to-manage waste.

What more capacity is near?

Lynas has commissioned more processing capacity at its Malaysia plant, designed to produce up to 1,500 tonnes of heavy rare earths.

If that focused on dysprosium and terbium, it could capture a third of global production, said Mukherjee.

The firm is building a processing facility in Texas, though cost increases have cast doubt on the project, and Lynas wants the US government to pitch in more funds.

US firm MP Materials has also completed pilot testing for heavy rare earth separation and plans to boost production this year.

Canada's Aclara Resources is also developing a rare earths separation plant in the United States.

And Chinese export uncertainty could mean prices start to rise, boosting balance sheets and the capacity of small players to expand.

"The Lynas announcement shows progress is possible," said Mukherjee.

"It sends a strong signal that with the right mix of technical readiness, strategic demand, and geopolitical urgency, breakthroughs can happen."

The United States will impose sanctions on Sudan after determining that the country’s military used chemical weapons last year while fighting against paramilitary forces.

“The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations” under the Chemical Weapons Convention, US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on Thursday.

from #Reuters By Tim Cocks, Siyanda Mthethwa and Nellie Peyton May 22, 2025 6:58 PM EDT

Summary

• Trump falsely accused South Africa of genocide against white minority
• South Africans praise Ramaphosa's cool but question trip
• Foreign ministry defends need to engage with US

By Emma Farge
May 22, 20252:11 PM EDT

"GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that a paramedic who survived an attack that killed 15 aid workers was spared because he asked Israeli soldiers for mercy in Hebrew, adding that he hoped the man's testimony would help win justice. "

"Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters in Geneva that Al-Nassasrah was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. "What does Assad say in Hebrew? 'Don't shoot. I am Israeli.' And the soldier got a bit confused," he told reporters. "That confusion ... made him survive.""

Vienna (AFP) – This year's Eurovision Song Contest winner Austrian singer JJ called for Israel to be excluded from next year's competition in an interview published Thursday.

He also expressed regret over Israel's participation in this year's competition despite the war in Gaza.

Eurovision has faced criticism for allowing Israel to participate in the contest despite the devastating Gaza war. This year, pro-Palestinian activists staged protests during the extravaganza in Switzerland over the weekend.

Russia has not been allowed to participate in Eurovision since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

"It is very disappointing to see that Israel continues to participate in the contest," the 24-year-old countertenor told Spanish daily El Pais in an interview.

"I would like next year's Eurovision to take place in Vienna without Israel," he added.

"But the ball is in the court" of the organiser, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), he said.

"We, the artists, can only express our views on the subject."

JJ, whose real name is Johannes Pietsch, also called for "greater transparency" regarding the public vote, after Israeli singer Yuval Raphael was propelled into second place.

"This year, everything happened in a very strange way," said JJ.

The singer faced a backlash over his comments in Austria, one of Israel's staunchest supporters in Europe.

The country's public broadcaster ORF distanced itself from his remarks, saying they "reflected a personal opinion", APA news agency reported.

JJ said he was "sorry if his comments had been misinterpreted" via his record label Warner.

On Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most outspoken critics of the Israeli government, said Israel should be excluded from Eurovision.

He expressed his solidarity with "the people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment".

"What we cannot allow is double standards in culture," Sanchez said in reference to Russia's ban.

At least 29 children have died in recent days due to starvation in Gaza, said Palestinian health officials, as the humanitarian crisis deepens under Israel’s ongoing blockade and bombardment.

“In the last couple of days, we lost 29 children,” Palestinian health minister Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters on Thursday, describing the deaths as “starvation-related”, Reuters reported.

Maghayer al-Deir (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian residents of Maghayer al-Deir in the occupied West Bank told AFP on Thursday that they had begun packing their belonging and preparing to leave the village following repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

Yusef Malihat, a resident of the tiny village east of Ramallah, told AFP his community had decided to leave because its members felt powerless in the face of the settler violence.

"No one provides us with protection at all," he said, a keffiyeh scarf protecting his head from the sun as he loaded a pickup truck with chain-link fencing previously used to pen up sheep and goats.

"They demolished the houses and threatened us with expulsion and killing," he said, as a group of settlers looked on from a new outpost a few hundred metres away.

The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians, but also some 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Settlement outposts, built informally and sometimes overnight, are considered illegal under Israeli law too, although enforcement is relatively rare.

The Israeli military told AFP it was "looking into" the legality of the outpost at Maghayer al-Deir.

"It's very sad, what's happening now... even for an outpost," said Itamar Greenberg, an Israeli peace activist present at Maghayer al-Deir on Thursday.

"It's a new outpost 60 metres from the last house of the community, and on Sunday one settler told me that in one month, the Bedouins will not be here, but it (happened much) more quickly," he told AFP.

The Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission denounced Maghayer al-Deir's displacement, describing it as being the result of the "terrorism of the settler militias".

It said in a statement that a similar fate had befallen 29 other Bedouin communities, whose small size and isolation in rural areas make them more vulnerable.

In the area east of Ramallah, where hills slope down towards the Jordan Valley, Maghayer al-Deir was one of the last remaining communities after the residents of several others were recently displaced.

Its 124 residents will now be dispersed to other nearby areas.

Malihat told AFP some would go to the Christian village of Taybeh just over 10 kilometres (six miles) away, and others to Ramallah.

Uncertain they would be able to return, the families loaded all they could fit in their trucks, including furniture, irrigation pipes and bales of hay.