Vietnam Amends Law To Ban Exports Of Raw Rare Earth Minerals

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's attempt to sell dozens of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. global ports — including two in the strategically key Panama Canal — has slowed as negotiators try to untangle a web of issues hampering an agreement, according to people familiar with the matter.

While talks are ongoing, the timing of any potential deal is unknown because of uncertainties such as the structure of the buying consortium, the people said. Differences over influence and strategy have caused the negotiations to run for months without a clear end in sight, the people added.

Unresolved matters include what kind of role China Cosco Shipping Corp. will play, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. China's biggest shipping company has been in talks to join a buyer group that includes BlackRock Inc.'s Global Infrastructure Partners and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment Ltd.

Some buyers including the Aponte family are still committed because they regard the deal as important for growth, one of the people said.

Spokespeople for Hutchison, TIL and Cosco didn't respond to requests for comment. A representative for BlackRock declined to comment.

CK Hutchison in August ruled out the likelihood of the sale of 43 ports being completed this year, but remained optimistic about its prospects after inviting a Chinese investor into the mix. The conglomerate pointed out the complexity of the process, which if completed could net it more than $19 billion in cash.

While US President Donald Trump hailed the planned sale as a win over the Panama waterway, Beijing has expressed strong displeasure with what it sees as a betrayal of China and kowtowing to American pressure.

CK Hutchison has said it wouldn't proceed with a transaction that didn't have the approval of all relevant authorities.

Revenue from CK Hutchison's ports and related services business rose 9% from a year earlier in the first half of 2025, helped by higher throughput and storage income in regions including mainland China, Asia, the Middle East, Mexico and Europe as customers stocked up on goods before US tariffs kicked in.

The Hong Kong-listed company's shares have climbed 31% this year, with a big jump coming in early March when the ports deal was announced. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 28% in 2025.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi conveyed "grave concerns" over rising security tensions involving China and Russia during video meetings with NATO's chief and Italy's defense minister, in a sign of Tokyo's efforts to gain support from a broader international community.

On Wednesday evening, Koizumi briefed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on China's alleged use of fire-control radar against Japanese fighter jets, as well as a joint flight by Chinese and Russian bombers south of Okinawa, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.

Koizumi confirmed his intention to strengthen cooperation with both Rutte and Crosetto, the ministry said in separate statements. He also reiterated Japan's stance to respond to developments in a "calm and yet resolute manner."

US and Japanese military forces conducted a joint exercise in the airspace over the Sea of Japan Wednesday that reaffirmed the nations' will "not to tolerate unilateral changes to the status quo by force," according to a statement released Thursday by the Japan Joint Staff. The drill included two US B-52 bombers and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said.

The Japan–China dispute, triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Nov. 7 remarks on Taiwan, continues to simmer as the two sides trade accusations and seek support from other nations. While the US ambassador in Japan has flagged State Department support for Tokyo, key officials in Washington have largely steered clear of commenting on the spat. Meanwhile, China has reached out to nations including the UK, Germany and France to support its "One China" principle.

The fallout has intensified in the security arena following the alleged radar incident on Dec. 6 and the joint bomber flight on Dec. 9, both of which occurred near Japan's southern islands, where Tokyo has been increasing its defense capabilities.

Tensions also remain high over disputed islands in the East China Sea — known as the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan — as both countries issued warnings to each other earlier this month.

On Wednesday, four China Coast Guard vessels entered Japanese territorial waters near the disputed islands, according to the Japan Coast Guard. Chinese boats are spotted near the waters on most days with some entering them on a monthly basis. Fifteen Chinese vessels entered the waters during March this year.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Key points:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged some young people were still on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the rollout was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives.

A day after the law took effect with bipartisan support from the major political parties and backing by some three-quarters of Australian parents, the country's social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16, including one on the prime minister's TikTok account saying "I'm still here, wait until I can vote".

Under the law, 10 of the biggest platforms including TikTok, Meta'sInstagram and Alphabet'sYouTube must bar underage users or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million). The government has said it would take some time for the platforms to set up processes to do this.

"Of course it isn't smooth," Albanese told Melbourne radio station FOX.

"You can't in one day switch off over a million accounts across the board. But it is happening."

On Nova Radio in Sydney, Albanese added: "If it was easy, someone else would have done it."

Governments around the world have said they would monitor the Australian rollout as they weigh whether to do something similar. U.S. Republican senator Josh Hawley endorsed the ban as it took effect, Nine newspapers reported, while France, Denmark, Malaysia and others have already said they plan to emulate the Australian model.

The Australian internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, would ask all affected platforms to report numbers of under-16 accounts on the days before and after the ban went live on Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

TikTok and Snap, owner of Snap, declined to comment on the rollout, while Meta, YouTube, X, Amazon'sTwitch, Redditand Australian-owned Kick - all of which are covered by the ban - were not immediately available for comment.

HEATED GLOBAL REACTIONS

The ban generated impassioned reactions across the spectrum of global commentators - including from U.S. psychologist Jonathan Haidt, whose book "The Anxious Generation" featured prominently in the Australian debate.

"Bravo Australia," he wrote on X.

The United Nations childrens agency UNICEF warned in a statement the ban might encourage children to visit less regulated parts of the internet and could not work alone.

"Laws introducing age restrictions are not an alternative to companies improving platform design and content moderation," the statement said.

U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in a tirade posted for his 4.4 million X followers, called the ban "the training wheels for the internet ID".

"It is the holy grail of tyrany," he said. "It's here."

Albanese, visiting a school in Canberra, said the ban would lead to better educational outcomes and behaviour" since "you get better social interaction when students aren't subject to looking at their devices constantly".

Australian searches for virtual private networks (VPNs), which can mask an internet user's location, surged to the highest level in about 10 years in the week before the legislation took effect, according to publicly available Google data.

Free VPN provider hide.me told Reuters it experienced a 65% spike in visits from Australia in the days before the ban kicked in, although that had not translated to a rising number of downloads.

All 10 platforms named by the ban opposed it before saying they would comply. As the legislation came into force, some platforms not covered by the ban rose to the top of app download charts, prompting the Australian government to say the platform list was "dynamic".

One app, Lemon8, which is owned by TikTok parent Bytedance, introduced an age minimum of 16. Photo-sharing app Yope told Reuters it had experienced "very fast growth" to about 100,000 Australian users. About half its users were over 16.

The company told Reuters it had told the Australian internet regulator overseeing the rollout that it considered itself a private messaging service, not social media.

($1 = 1.4995 Australian dollars)

Source: TradingView

Source: Reuters

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado arrived in Oslo in the middle of the night on Thursday, the head of the Nobel committee said, after she failed to reach the Norwegian capital in time to receive her award at a ceremony held hours earlier.

The 58-year-old engineer had secretly left Venezuela for Oslo in defiance of a decade-long travel ban imposed by authorities in her home country and after spending more than a year in hiding.

"I can confirm that Maria Corina Machado has arrived in Oslo," Joergen Watne Frydnes told people gathered in the lobby of the Grand Hotel, where Nobel laureates traditionally stay.

"She is on her way here, but she will go straight to meet her family ... We'll see you all tomorrow."

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the Nobel Prize in her name and delivered a speech by her mother in which she said democracies must be prepared to fight for freedom in order to survive.

In her speech, Machado said that the prize held profound significance, not only for her country but for the world.

"It reminds the world that democracy is essential to peace," she said via her daughter, whose voice cracked when she spoke of her mother. "And more than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey: that to have a democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom."

LAUREATE LEFT VENEZUELA BY BOAT

Machado left Venezuela by boat on Tuesday and travelled to the Caribbean island of Curacao, from where she departed on a private plane for Norway, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The source, who had been briefed by Machado's camp, said her escape from the Venezuelan coast was handled by her security staff. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Machado's travel to Curacao, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

A large portrait of a smiling Machado hung in the Oslo City Hall to represent her. The audience cheered and clapped when Norwegian Nobel Committee head Joergen Watne Frydnes said during his speech that Machado would be coming to Oslo.

Evoking previous laureates Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa, he said fighters for democracy were expected "to pursue their aims with a moral purity their opponents never display".

"This is unrealistic. It is unfair," he said.

"No democracy operates in ideal circumstances. Activist leaders must confront and resolve dilemmas that we onlookers are free to ignore. People living under the dictatorship often have to choose between the difficult and the impossible."

'A CHOICE THAT MUST BE RENEWED EACH DAY'

"Freedom is a choice that must be renewed each day, measured by our willingness and our courage to defend it. For this reason, the cause of Venezuela transcends our borders," she said in her prepared speech.

"A people who choose freedom contribute not only to themselves, but to humanity."

In 2024, Machado was barred from running in the presidential election, despite having won the opposition's primary by a landslide. She went into hiding in August 2024 after authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures following the disputed vote.

The electoral authority and top court declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner, but international observers and the opposition say its candidate handily won and the opposition has published ballot box-level tallies as evidence of its victory.

'FRAGILE' DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS

In her speech, Machado said Venezuelans did not realise in time that their country was sliding into what she described as a dictatorship.

Referring to the late president Hugo Chavez, who was elected in 1999 and held power until his death in 2013, Machado said: "By the time we recognised how fragile our institutions had become, a man who had once led a military coup to overthrow democracy, was elected president. Many thought that charisma could substitute the rule of law."

"From 1999 onward, the regime dismantled our democracy."

President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, says U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to overthrow him to gain access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves and that Venezuelan citizens and armed forces will resist any such attempt.

DEDICATED TO TRUMP

When Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, she dedicated it in part to Trump, who has said he himself deserved the honour.

She has aligned herself with hawks close to Trump who argue that Maduro has links to criminal gangs that pose a direct threat to U.S. national security, despite doubts raised by the U.S. intelligence community.

The Trump administration has ordered more than 20 military strikes in recent months against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and off Latin America's Pacific coast.

Human rights groups, some Democrats and several Latin American countries have condemned the attacks as unlawful extrajudicial killings of civilians.

Source: Reuters

The Bank of Canada held its key policy rate steady at 2.25% on Wednesday as widely expected, and Governor Tiff Macklem said the economy was proving resilient overall to the effect of U.S. trade measures.

There was maybe a little bit of pushback around some of the excitement that followed the recent strong employment numbers... The Bank noting that their outlook hasn't really changed despite a few good data prints in Canada.

We do acknowledge maybe a little bit more progress is being made, a little bit more resilience in the economy. But at the end of the day, it is a fairly cautious tone and it leads me to be very comfortable with the idea that the bank will be on hold for quite some time.

Overall, I think the bank is watching the incoming data to see which path it may go. There are signs that Canada is adjusting to the trade shock but there's some lingering softness as well. So I think they'll keep their cards close to their chest and just watch the incoming data to see if additional policy action is needed.

The market is trying to figure out what the odds are for the next Bank of Canada action. Maybe a little premature on (pricing in) a hike but that's what markets do.

Source: Investing