Author: ALJAZEERA

Taipei, Taiwan – As United States President-elect Donald Trump gears up for a second trade war with China once he takes office on January 20, the rare earth minerals essential to the production of electronics, vehicles and weapons are one resource expected to be caught up in the fray. While rare earths are plentiful across the earth’s surface – despite what their name suggests – China controls about 70 percent of their production and 90 percent of processing, according to estimates by the US Geological Survey and the International Energy Agency. The 17 elements, which include scandium, promethium and yttrium,…

Taipei, Taiwan – Five years ago, Jane Meng travelled from her home in Shanghai to Hong Kong to get herself something special for her birthday. The 31-year-old wealthy owner of an import-export company was not looking for a watch or a designer handbag. Instead, she came for critical illness insurance. “I didn’t have faith in the Chinese healthcare system and insurance market being able to provide the care and insurance that I might need later in life,” Meng, who asked not to be referred to by her real name, told Al Jazeera. “So, I decided to go and open up…

Nippon Steel and US Steel have filed a federal lawsuit in the United States challenging the Biden administration’s decision to block Nippon’s proposed $15bn acquisition of the Pittsburgh company. The companies say the head of the United Steelworkers union and a rival steelmaker worked together to scuttle the buyout. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges US President Joe Biden prejudiced the decision of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) which scrutinises foreign investments for national security risks, and violated the companies’ right to a fair review. In moving to block the transaction on Friday, Biden said US…

The US president hails the passage of the budget legislation after days of uncertainty and negotiations that went down to the wire.United States President Joe Biden has signed into law a bipartisan funding bill that averts a government shutdown, days after Congress was thrown into turmoil after President-elect Donald Trump rejected an initial deal. The White House announced on Saturday that Biden had signed the legislation, which funds the government through mid-March. “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought,…

Taipei, Taiwan – As the investigation into the deadly crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 stretches into its third day, aviation experts are raising questions about what role a concrete structure at the end of the runway at South Korea’s Muan International Airport may have played in the accident, among other factors. The Boeing 737-800 slammed into a concrete embankment and burst into flames after being forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday morning, killing 179 of 181 people on board in the deadliest-ever plane crash on South Korean soil. The pilot had reported a bird strike to air…

Odisha, India – Ajay Rout is an Indigenous farmer in a remote village in a southern district of India’s Odisha state. The village is surrounded by forest and hills, with the nearest market 10km (6.2 miles) away. The 34-year-old grows sweetcorn and vegetables on his 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) for both his family to eat and to sell at the market. Rout said this income is a pittance, so he has taken up growing cannabis, a banned drug, for a better income. He has about 1,000 cannabis plants located deep in the hills, which require a trek of at least two…

As authorities probe passenger jet crash, police conduct ‘search and seizure operation’ at airline’s offices and airport.Police in South Korea have banned Jeju Air chief executive Kim E-bae from leaving the country amid an investigation into the deadliest-ever air disaster on South Korean soil. The move came on Thursday as aviation authorities stepped up their probe into the cause of the deadly crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 on Sunday, which killed 179 of 181 people on board, with the police issuing a statement saying they planned to “swiftly and rigorously determine the cause and responsibility” for the accident. On Thursday morning,…

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says most workers have seen wages outpace inflation.Singapore’s economy grew 4 percent in 2024, comfortably beating forecasts, according to preliminary government figures. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 4.3 percent in the October-December period, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Thursday, lifting full-year growth to its strongest performance since 2011, excluding the post-COVID-19 pandemic rebound in 2021. Officials in the Southeast Asian nation had in November forecast growth for the year at about 3.5 percent. Manufacturing, a major driver of the city-state’s export-reliant economy, expanded 4.2 percent in the last quarter, while construction and…

Medan, Indonesia – Winston, a medical doctor who lives and works in the capital of North Sumatra Province, is a self-proclaimed Apple fan. Currently the proud owner of an iPhone 15, Winson had been looking forward to upgrading to the latest model, the iPhone 16, released in September. Winston, however, has reluctantly given up on the idea since the Indonesian government banned sales of the iPhone 16 and the Google Pixel in late October, citing the tech giants’ failure to comply with the country’s Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri, or TKDN, policy, which requires phones to source at least 40 percent…

Taipei, Taiwan – The fatal crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 in South Korea has highlighted the risks birds can pose to commercial airliners. Pilots told air traffic control that their aircraft collided with a flock of birds shortly before declaring Mayday and making an emergency landing at Muan International Airport, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Footage of the crash on Sunday showed the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 making a belly-flop landing on the runway without its landing gear deployed. The aircraft then skidded across the tarmac before hitting a concrete wall and exploding into flames,…