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Better Together: Japan and the Five Eyes Need to Focus on Critical Minerals
Critical minerals are being consumed in greater volumes than ever before, and the level of demand will only increase over the next 10 to 20 years, and beyond. The governments of Japan and the Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) are aware that critical minerals, including rare-earth elements, will be increasingly needed as the world shifts from fossil-fuel systems to renewable energy sources. The partner nations are also clear about the challenges and opportunities, especially given that the supply chains for several critical minerals have only one or few dominant key players.
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Critical Metal Needs Rise as Cars, Trucks Decarbonize
The demand for battery-grade lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and platinum will climb steeply as nations work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through mid-century, but will likely set off economic snags and supply-chain hitches.
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From High to Low in 15 Years: Coal Continues Its Precipitous Decline
The country’s power generators used more coal in 2007 than ever before — a little over one billion tons. This year, coal use by U.S. electric-power producers would likely not reach 400 million tons. Roughly 40 percent of the country’s current coal-fired capacity is set to close by 2030. “This is not an economic cycle that is simply going to go away,” says an expert. “It is a real phaseout across the industry of the use of coal.”
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The Energy Transition Will Need More Rare Earth Elements. Can We Secure Them Sustainably?
Decarbonizing the world’s power generation will require huge numbers of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles (EVs), and storage batteries — all of which are made with rare earth elements and critical metals. Supplying these vast quantities of minerals in a sustainable manner will be a significant challenge, but scientists are exploring a variety of ways to provide materials for the energy transition with less harm to people and the planet.
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DOJ Investigating SPFPA Local - at Disney Land - in Theft of $160K
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is investigating the theft of $160,0000 from the union pension funds for workers at California’s Disneyland from a local of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) union.
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The Time to Prevent Shortfalls in Critical Materials Is Now
Rare earth elements are—despite their name—everywhere. They’re in your cellphone, your car, maybe even in a crown in your mouth. They’re in satellites, wind turbines, night-vision goggles, laser-guided missiles, and fighter jets. All of which makes China’s near-total domination of the rare earth market a matter of economic and national security concern.
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Making the Most of Australia’s Endowment of Critical Minerals
The geostrategic scramble to reduce supply-chain dependencies for critical minerals has overshadowed opportunities for Australia to use its resources to provide major benefits for the nation.
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A Spill Outside Philadelphia Adds to the Growing List of Chemical Accidents This Year
There have already been 50 chemical spills or fires in the U.S. this year, and it’s only March.
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Is Your Cybersecurity Strategy Undermined by These Six Common Pitfalls?
Many security specialists harbor misconceptions about lay users of information technology, and these misconceptions can increase an organization’s risk of cybersecurity breaches. These issues include ineffective communications to lay users and inadequately incorporating user feedback on security system usability.
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Should the U.S. Ban TikTok? Can It? A Cybersecurity Expert Explains the Risks the App Poses and the Challenges to Blocking It
A full ban of TikTok raises a number of questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an app?
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New Method Helps Locate Deposits of Critical Metals
The global shift to a carbon-free energy system is set to drive a huge increase in the demand for rare or limited earth minerals. This presents an urgent need to locate new sustainable sources of these elements. New technique could help locate new deposits of critical metals needed to enable the green-energy transition.
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If the Price Is Right: Fusion's Future in the U.S. Could Come Down to Dollars and Cents
Fusion energy is often hailed as a limitless source of clean energy, but new research suggests that may only be true if the price is right. The researchers say that the engineering challenges of fusion energy are only part of the problem — the other part lies in economics.
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Predicting Threats to Food Security
Pests and diseases remain one of the biggest threats to food production, increasingly destabilizing food security and livelihoods across climate-vulnerable regions around the world,” says one expert. Mathematical modelling can prevent crop devastation and preserve livelihoods.
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TikTok Faces Complete Ban in U.S. Unless ByteDance Separates from Chinese Owners
Amid concerns that the popular video app poses a security threat, TikTok was urged to part ways with its Chinese owners to avoid a national ban in the United States.
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Surge in Arms Imports to Europe, While U.S. Dominance of the Global Arms Trade Increases
Imports of major arms by European states increased by 47 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22, while the global level of international arms transfers decreased by 5.1 percent. The United States’ share of global arms exports increased from 33 to 40 percent while Russia’s fell from 22 to 16 percent.
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More headlines
The long view
Ransomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.