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360 Global News Network, Waiyaki Way, Westlands (2025)

12/10/2025

China Accuses U.S. of Double Standards Amid Fresh Tariff Dispute

Beijing has vowed to take reciprocal action to protect its national interests after former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs in response to China’s restrictions on rare earth exports.

China has accused Washington of "double standards" on Sunday after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100% US tariffs on imports from the world's second largest economy.

"The relevant US statement is a typical example of 'double standards'," a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. "Should the US persist in its course, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," the statement read.

This comes in response to Trump threatening a new 100% tariff on Chinese goods and export controls on all critical software, starting November 1, in addition to existing 30% tariffs.

Beijing justified its position on restricting exports, saying China's measures are necessary given the military applications of medium and heavy rare earth metals amid the "current turbulent global situation and frequent military conflicts."

China has long used rare earths — the minerals essential for electronic, automotive and defense systems — as strategic leverage against the US.

Beijing added that it had notified relevant countries and regions before the announcement of the measures.

The Commerce Ministry's statement assured global tech companies and stakeholders that the export measures will have "extremely limited impact" on production and supply chains.

China said it is willing to strengthen dialogue and exchanges on export controls to safeguard supply chains further.

Speaking of its ties with the US, Beijing accused Washington of continuously adding new restrictions against China since the trade talks in Madrid.

It said China's position on tariff wars has been consistent.

"We do not want to fight, but we are not afraid to fight," the Ministry of Commerce said.

12/10/2025

Trump heads to Middle East to mark ceasefire deal and push for peace

President Donald Trump is setting off for Israel and Egypt on Sunday to celebrate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and urge Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to build a durable peace in the volatile region.

It’s a fragile moment with Israel and Hamas only in the early stages of implementing the first phase of the Trump agreement designed to bring a permanent end to the conflict.

12/10/2025

Gabon president's party wins parliamentary majority

President Brice Oligui Nguema's Democratic Union of Builders (UDB) secured a much-needed majority, results indicated, after a second round of the parliamentary vote on Saturday.

The party was on course to win 55 seats in the 145-seat national assembly.

The run-off vote was conducted in only 77 constituencies where no candidate won an absolute majority, according to the national electoral body.

The contest is mostly between UDB and the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), the party of former president Ali Bongo, which won three seats in the first round.

The victory is a huge boost to Nguema who won a presidential election in April.

The exercise concludes a political transition after an August 2023 coup by Nguema ended 55 years of the Bongo family rule over oil-rich Gabon.

12/10/2025

South Africa To Announce Major Nuclear Energy Expansion Plans

South Africa is preparing to make a significant announcement on expanding its nuclear energy capacity.

This according to Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who delivered the opening address at the G20 Nuclear Energy Ministerial Conference held in Durban.

“[We] will be making big announcements next week, post-Cabinet. We are close to that. Our ambition is to build a new job program [of] at least initially the size of 5000 megawatts, and we think that we can derive the benefits of industrialisation and ensuring that there is exponential increase of the skills that are required to support that build program,” he said.

Necsa [South African Nuclear Energy Corporation] is a big part of the conversation.

“As we know, we are running a 60-year-old research reactor. We are looking for suitors or partners to help us to take it to another level. We have seen that there is an insatiable appetite from across the globe to partner and work with us,” he said.

The Minister highlighted that small modular reactors [SMR] present a “pristine opportunity” for expansion going into the future.

They are rapid deployment and the fact that they can be the production can be standardised, and therefore, reducing the long lead times. But most importantly, is to power the requirements of the artificial intelligence complex.

“I think the prospect of locating data centres across various geographies is something that is particularly attractive, and we think that small modulary actors will help us,” he said.

Turning to the African continent, the Minister noted that the continent is an important producer of uranium – used for nuclear reactors – at 14% of global production with further untapped reserves.

Countries including Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana are either building, planning for, or considering nuclear power as a source of power.

Africa’s time is now and given them huge endowments that we have, especially on uranium, he said adding that "Energy demand is going to grow exponentially on the continent as people experience upward social and economic mobility, as we bring people out of poverty and I think, nuclear to power is going to be a big part of the African story."

“A long-term view must be such that we are able to build infrastructure that will be a precondition for such enrichment to happen on the continent. We possess all the necessary apparatus that is required for us to participate meaningfully in the nuclear fuel cycle,” Ramokgopa said.

12/10/2025

ICC Faces Credibility Crisis as African Leaders Urge Reform Over Bias Concerns

As debate intensifies over Africa’s relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC) following the recent legal experts are calling for reform rather than rejection of the court.

Donald Deya, CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union, acknowledged the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) early bias concerns but argued that walking away is not the answer.

“It is fair to criticise the ICC in its first years that it concentrated on Africa and led to the perception or the reality that it was going for the weak states and avoiding powerful perpetrators. But the way to address it, in my view, is not to walk away, but to reform the practice of the ICC,” Deya said.

He urged the court to rebuild trust and confidence by acting on global atrocities without political bias, communicating transparently with victims, and ensuring investigations are professional and complete.

“The ICC does face a big credibility problem… people are skeptical that it seems to be a tool of powerful states. But people should also look at the accountability gap that would happen if the ICC was not there,” he added.

Deya concluded that Africa should strengthen its own judicial systems — but emphasized the ICC’s vital role when national courts fail.

“It is the obligation of many actors, including the ICC, to strengthen national systems… But where they fail, the ICC should be able to kick in robustly,” he said.

The remarks come as divisions deepen across Africa on whether to reform or abandon the ICC amid mounting concerns over justice and sovereignty.

12/10/2025

Over 500,000 Palestinians Return to Devastated Gaza City as Truce Holds

More than half a million displaced Palestinians have returned to Gaza City since a ceasefire came into effect Friday, Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday.

Many displaced Palestinians returning home were left stunned by the destruction while others were amazed to find their homes still standing.

Gaza's civil defence agency on Saturday said more than 500,000 people have returned to Gaza City since a ceasefire took effect the previous day.

"More than half a million people have returned to Gaza (City) since yesterday," said Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the civil defence, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority.

Many displaced Palestinians were left stunned by the destruction even as others were relieved to find their homes still standing.

Israel agreed to the truce on Friday and pulled back troops from several areas of the territory, prompting long columns of exhausted residents to set off for the north along a coastal road.

Under a ceasefire deal proposed by US President Donald Trump, Hamas will hand over 47 remaining hostages – living and dead – from the 251 abducted during its October 7 attack on Israel two years ago.

The remains of one more hostage, held in Gaza since 2014, are also expected to be returned.

In exchange, Israel will release 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained since the war broke out.

It has released the list of prisoners, which does not include any of the top militant leaders Hamas is seeking to have freed.

12/10/2025

Côte d’Ivoire Presidential Race Begins

Campaigning in Cote d'Ivoire's presidential election kicked off on Friday.

The official campaign, setting the stage for a tense two-week race that will determine the future leadership of a nation still grappling with the legacy of past electoral violence.

Five approved candidates, including incumbent Alassane Ouattara, are now vying for votes under the shadow of controversial exclusions that threaten to overshadow the process.

The Constitutional Council has cleared five contenders for the October 25 ballot.

The race features President Alassane Ouattara of the ruling RHDP party, who launched his campaign in the economic capital, Abidjan.

He is joined by prominent opposition figures like Jean-Louis Billon of the Democratic Congress (CODE), former First Lady Simone Gbagbo, Henriette Lagou, and independent candidate Ahoua Don Mello.

Their campaigns will be closely monitored by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) amid calls for a peaceful process.
The election's outcome carries profound implications for the stability of this West African nation of 33 million people.

Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer and a growing gold exporter, making political continuity essential for economic health.

However, the country has a painful history of post-election violence, most notably the 2010-2011 crisis that killed thousands, casting a long shadow over the current campaign and raising the stakes for a peaceful transfer of power.

The campaign begins under a cloud of controversy following the Constitutional Council's rejection of several high-profile candidacies, including that of former President Laurent Gbagbo and ex-Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam.

In response, parties supporting these disqualified figures have planned a demonstration for Saturday, a move that underscores the deep political fractures and sets the stage for potential unrest in the final stretch before the vote.

12/10/2025

US Trump Says No Reason to Meet Xi, Threatens 'Massive' China Tariffs

US President Donald Trump stated there is currently “no reason” to meet China’s President Xi, while threatening very large tariffs on Chinese imports.

"Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile," Trump said on Truth Social.

By tightening export controls on rare earth minerals, China is leveraging its dominance in materials critical to modern technology and global manufacturing.

"I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he added in the post, which he sent as he headed for a medical check-up at a military hospital near Washington.

Trump said China had sent letters to countries around the world detailing export controls on "each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it's not manufactured in China."

"There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World 'captive,' but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time," Trump wrote, adding that Beijing had been "lying in wait" despite what he characterized as six months of good bilateral relations.

Rare earth elements are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology.

China dominates global production and processing of these materials, it was indicated.

"One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America," Trump said, adding that he was considering "many other countermeasures."

Trump said other countries had contacted the United States expressing anger over China's "great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere."

The president added that he had not spoken to Xi about the matter.

12/10/2025

No Foul Play Found in Death of South African Ambassador to France

No signs of foul play have been found in the death of South Africa’s Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, authorities say.
The exact cause is still unknown it was indicated.

French investigators are working closely with South African officials as the probe continues.

The 58-year-old diplomat was found dead on September 30, 2025, after falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile hotel. French authorities have indicated that the window's safety mechanism had been tampered with, but no immediate signs of struggle or drug use were found in initial examinations.

A message to his wife suggested suicidal intent, but the family has not accepted that explanation.

A five member team from South Africa’s police was dispatched to France to aid the investigation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to deliver the eulogy at Mthethwa’s funeral in Sunday.

Mthethwa had been ambassador since late 2023 and earlier served in multiple cabinet roles including arts & culture and sports,it was learned.

12/10/2025

Flooding set off by heavy rainfall in Mexico has left at least 28 people dead and more missing, and has caused landslides, damaged homes and highways, according to local authorities.

12/10/2025

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a summit to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, an Axios news reporter says on X, citing a senior Palestinian official.

12/10/2025

Sudan paramilitary drone strike kills 30 in Al-Fasher camp - activists

A paramilitary drone strike killed at least 30 people at a displacement shelter in the besieged city of Al-Fasher in western Sudan on Saturday, a local activist group said, AFP reported.

The resistance committee for Al-Fasher said the Rapid Support Forces hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement centre on the grounds of a university.

Bodies remained trapped in underground shelters, the committee said in a statement, describing it as a "massacre" and calling on the international community to intervene.

The local resistance committees are activists who coordinate aid and document atrocities in the Sudan conflict.

‘Open-air morgue’

The RSF has been at war with the regular army since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and pushed nearly 25 million into acute hunger.

Al-Fasher, the last state capital in the vast region of Darfur to elude the RSF's grasp, has become the latest strategic front in the war as the paramilitaries attempt to consolidate power in the west.

Activists say the city has become "an open-air morgue" for starved civilians.

Nearly 18 months into the RSF's siege, Al-Fasher - home to 400,000 trapped civilians - has run out of nearly everything.

Soup kitchens shut

The animal feed that families have survived on for months has grown scarce and now costs hundreds of dollars a sack.

The majority of the city's soup kitchens have been forced shut for lack of food, according to the local resistance committees.

360 Global News Network

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