Motions of censure proposed by far left and right
Brussels — European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen survived two no-confidence votes she faced in the European parliament on Thursday.
The motion of censure proposed by the far-right Patriots for Europe group was rejected, with 378 EU legislators voting against it compared with 179 in favour.
The second motion of censure proposed by parliament’s hard left group was rejected, with 383 EU legislators voting against it compared with 133 in favour. She also hosted multiple African leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Angolan President João Lourenço at the Global Gateway Forum. Reuters
China tightens export controls on more rare earths
Beijing — China said on Thursday it would add several new rare earth elements to its export control list in a further tightening of its controls over the critical materials.
The elements holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium and related materials would be added to the existing control list, the ministry of commerce said in a statement.
In a separate release at the same time, the ministry also added dozens of pieces of rare earth processing equipment to the control list.
Exporters will need to apply for licences before exporting any of the items from China. Reuters
Zelensky says strikes cut Russian petrol supplies 20%
Kyiv — Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities may have resulted in petrol shortages of up to 20%, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a briefing.
In remarks released on Thursday, he added that Kyiv’s forces had used domestically produced Neptune and Flamingo missiles in attacks in the past week.
Zelensky also said Russian forces had carried out 1,550 strikes on energy-related targets in Ukraine’s Chernihiv, Sumy and Poltava regions over the past month but had achieved only 160 hits. Reuters
CAA warns OpenAI’s Sora poses risks to artists
Bengaluru — Hollywood’s premier talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, said on Thursday OpenAI is exposing artists to “significant risk” through its new AI video-generating tool, Sora.
The Los Angeles-based CAA, founded in 1975, represents thousands of actors, directors, music artists and athletes.
“The question is, do OpenAI and its partner companies believe that humans, writers, artists, actors, directors, producers, musicians, and athletes deserve to be compensated and credited for the work they create?” CAA said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. Reuters
US container imports fall 8.4% amid China slump
Los Angeles — US imports of containerised goods in September fell 8.4% from the year earlier, including a 22.9% drop in goods from China, amid ongoing trade ructions from President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, data released on Thursday showed.
US seaports handled 2.31-million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container cargo last month, the third-highest September volume on record despite being a decline from last year, supply chain technology and data provider Descartes said.
With most holiday merchandise delivered earlier than usual and tariffs continuing to rise, monthly import cargo volume at the nation's major container ports is forecast to fall below the 2-million TEU mark for the remainder of the year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates said. Reuters
DRC to build gold reserves as prices soar
Nairobi — The Democratic Republic of the Congo will start building gold reserves to bolster its currency and lift its economy, the central bank governor said, joining a rush in Africa and elsewhere to stockpile the precious metal as prices soar.
Gold prices, which hit record highs above $4,000 an ounce on Wednesday, have surged more than 50% year-to-date, partly driven by strong central bank buying around the world.
Congo, whose national budget has been strained by an escalation at the start of this year of a long-running conflict in its mineral-rich east, has not been holding gold as a store of value despite producing sizeable quantities of the metal.
The Central African country is also a top cobalt and copper producer but is among the world’s poorest. Reuters
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