🇺🇸🇨🇳
China just banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets. In August China restricted the export of gallium and germanium.
These components are vital for semi conductors. China holds the highest reserves of mineral earths (see graph attached) and the US registered a very high mining output in 2022.
Rare earths and the whole logistic and manufacture chain is a matter of national security for the US and Europe since they fear they will lose Taiwan, which is the world leader in the manufacturing of semiconductors.
The tech battle for semiconductors is of strategic importance since they are needed for everything, aircraft, missiles, computers, medical equipment, etc.
The us, through the US SOUTHERN COMMAND and foreing policy, is trying to secure the production of semiconductors within "the americas". This said, south america plays a very important role as Brazil holds one of the biggest rare earth materials deposits. Besides the rare earth deposits, the US is trying to block all chinese investments in south america. (graph from statista)

🇨🇩 DR Congo presidential election: partial results give Tshisekedi a clear lead

The Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission (Céni) continued to release partial results from the December 20-21 presidential election, with incumbent leader Félix Tshisekedi leading by a wide margin -over 80% of the vote.

The results announced so far relate to 1,876,827 voters, out of a total of nearly 44 million registered in the vast country of around 100 million inhabitants.

Félix Tshisekedi was followed by businessman and former governor of Katanga (southeast) Moïse Katumbi (15.18%) and the other opponent Martin Fayulu (1.2%). The twenty or so other candidates in the running, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, failed to reach 1%.

#DRC

@africaintel

⚠️ An Israeli airstrike took place in Bint Jbeil south Lebanon.

📷 Additional footage of the attack that targeted in the middle of the village.

Casualties are reported.

📷 Closeup photo of the attack on Bint Jbeil city in south Lebanon.

⚡️Prime Minister Netanyahu: We have fighters on the ground and underground, and we have eyes in the sky. We say to the Hamas terrorists:

We see you and we will come to you.
We are continuing the war, deepening the fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

We fight to the end.

— 🇮🇷 NEW: Iran has increased its monthly production of 60% enriched uranium from 3kg to 9kg a month

According to the IAEA, the rate at which Iran has been producing near weapons-grade uranium enriched up to 60% at the Natanz and Fordow facilities combined has increased to approximately 9 kg per month in December.

By the IAEA's theoretical definition, around 42 kg of this 60% enriched uranium is the amount at which making a nuclear bomb with it cannot be excluded. - Reuters

@Middle_East_Spectator