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☆ Argentina's lithium pipeline promises 'white gold' boom as Chile tightens control
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Lucila Sigal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Neighboring Chile, the region's top lithium producer, last week unveiled plans for a state-led public-private model, spooking investors. Bolivia has long maintained strict control over its huge though largely untapped resources, while Mexico nationalized its lithium deposits last year. The country has six lithium projects under construction and 15 in the advanced exploration or feasibility stage, Mignacco said. "Argentina's lithium sector has thrived through a decentralized, pro-market strategy," said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at The Wilson Center, adding in contrast Bolivia's lithium sector had "repeatedly stalled as a result of excessive state control." "Chile today produces and exports much more lithium than Argentina," said Natacha Izquierdo, analyst at consultancy ABCEB.

[1/2] The new GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., March 16, 2021. Many teem with lithium, calcium and other minerals, and DLE technologies aim to separate out the lithium and leave the rest. LITHIUM METAL FROM BRINEEnergyX has said its technology can make lithium metal directly from brine, a tantalizing prospect for GM that could let the automaker bypass lithium refining, which is widely seen as a key supply chain bottleneck. The EnergyX investment comes after GM in January agreed to pay $650 million to become the largest shareholder in Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), which is developing the Thacker Pass clay lithium project in Nevada. "This GM investment will completely change the trajectory of EnergyX," said Teague Egan, the startup company's founder and chief executive.

☆ France's Macron announces water saving plan, says protests will not stop reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to members of the media as he visits Savines-Le-Lac, South Eastern France, March 30, 2023. With the water plan, Macron and his government are looking to move to other topics. "There are protests, but it does not mean everything must stop," Macron said. Before his speech, Macron told reporters that protests would not stop him from adopting new policies. In some towns, half the water is lost to water leaks, with a nationwide average of 20%.

For 100 of those applicants, the Energy Department has hired staff to provide business development advice and "intense mentorship," Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Given the rapidly evolving technologies in the clean energy space, Shah said the department might shorten loan terms. If we think that that's a risk, then we just change the terms of the loan," Shah said. The LPO office would like more applications from electric utilities and oil and gas companies for projects designed to reduce emissions, as well as geothermal companies, Shah said. Commercial debt markets are "less interested in the more innovative approaches that (wind companies) are taking.

☆ Despite East Palestine toxic train disaster, railroads still want single-person crews
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The rail safety legislation, introduced in Congress Wednesday with bipartisan support, would include a prohibition on single-person crews. There is no such existing law or federal regulation requiring both an engineer and a conductor to be on a train. The Association of American Railroads confirmed that its position in favor of one-person crews has not changed. “No data shows a two-person crew confined to a cab is safer, and train crew size should continue to be determined through collective bargaining,” a statement from UP. But it might have one or two provisions which are deal breakers for the unions, such as allowing single-person crews.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - The race for electric vehicle (EV) battery metals is heating up. Carmakers have already been busy tying up supplies of battery metals under direct off-take agreements with existing metals producers. Automakers' collective move into the mining sector has so far largely prioritised the lithium sector, where Western companies have been playing catch-up with Chinese investors. Lithium supply is struggling to scale up at the speed required to meet accelerating demand from battery-makers. Capital expenditure in the sector slumped, miners opting to return cash to shareholders rather than dig more big copper mines.

☆ Column: Latin America on track to harness solar power potential
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LITTLETON, Colorado, March 2 (Reuters) - Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have the largest solar power development pipeline outside Eastern Asia and North America, making the bloc a key renewable hot spot to track over the coming decade. Solar power currently generates only 3%-4% of the electricity produced across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), according to data from think tank Ember. But with nearly 250 projects constructing 19,429 megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity, the region's solar power supply potential is primed to jump by at least 70% from current levels once projects are completed, GEM data shows. Collectively, those five countries account for over 88% of current installed solar capacity and about 97% of planned capacity additions that are already in construction. That compares to $0.07/kWh for China, $0.10/kWh for the United States, and $0.07/kWH for India, the top three global solar producers.

☆ How NYC's oldest chocolate house survived a century
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Caroline Mishelle Aghajanian | Amelia Kosciulek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The company still makes chocolate following the founder's original recipes and techniques. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyLi-Lac Chocolates is Manhattan's oldest chocolate shop, having survived decades of change in New York City. Since Li-Lac opened in 1923, owners have stuck to the founder's original chocolate recipes while adding new confections along the way. Today, Li-Lac makes its legendary fudge, butter crunch, and truffles, as well as over 1,000 specialty molds for occasions like Easter and Thanksgiving. The company has six locations in New York City, with all of its ingredients made inside its Brooklyn factory.

Feb 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday ordered regulators to reconsider part of the permit approving Lithium Americas Corp's (LAC.TO) Thacker Pass lithium mine project in Nevada, though the mixed ruling rejected claims that the project would cause unnecessary harm to the environment or wildlife. Chief Judge Miranda Du of the federal court in Reno, Nevada, ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to determine whether the company has the right to dump waste rock at the site, a ruling based on a complex set of case law. Du's ruling can be appealed. Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ GM, Lithium Americas to develop Thacker Pass mine in Nevada
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 31 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) and Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) on Tuesday announced they would jointly invest to develop the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada. Under the agreement, GM will make an equity investment of $650 million in Lithium Americas. Lithium carbonate from Thacker Pass will be used in GM's proprietary Ultium battery cell. U.S.-listed shares of Lithium Americas rose over 9% in premarket trade. Production at Thacker Pass, which is expected to create 1,000 jobs in construction and 500 in operations, is projected to begin in the second half of 2026, the companies said in a statement.

☆ Life's no longer rosy at Senegal's Pink Lake after floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A general view of the submerged tourism businesses at the Pink Lake (Lac Rose), officially known as Lake Retba, after extreme floods washed away salt mounts and contaminated the lake and turned its famous waters from pink to green, in Niaga, near Dakar, Senegal, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/ Zohra BensemraNIAGA, Senegal, Jan 24 (Reuters) - On the shore of Senegal's Pink Lake, salt farmer Pape Sira Ba has raked in what he fears may be his last harvest. Nearby, the new wide channel spewed brownish-green water into the lake whose shore was dotted with dead fish. The flooding destroyed 7,000 tonnes of salt worth around 420 million CFA francs ($696,000), according to the Lake Retba salt extractors association. "The over-salinisation of the water also allowed visitors to float on top of the lake like in the Dead Sea.

☆ Live updates: Suspect in shooting at dance hall near Los Angeles is dead, sheriff says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Erick Mendoza | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mirna-Alsharif-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +33 min

Share this -Link copiedAlhambra officials release statement on Monterey Park shooting Alhambra officials released a statement on the Monterey Park shooting early Sunday evening. Officials also acknowledged the shooting that occurred in the city after the Monterey Park shooting. Share this -Link copiedPolice release pictures to identify Monterey Park shooting suspect The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has released pictures seeking to identify the Monterey Park shooting suspect. Law enforcement has connected him to the Monterey Park shooting and a shooting minutes later in Alhambra. Patrons of the Alhambra dance hall wrestled a firearm away from a man about 20 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting.

Monterey Park Police officers at the scene of a mass shooting on Jan. 22, 2023 in Monterey Park where 10 people were killed at a dance hall. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)The gunman behind the deadly dance hall shooting in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park may have been targeting his ex-wife on the Lunar New Year, the California city's mayor said Monday. A vigil will be held Tuesday in Monterey Park in memory of the dead. And about a dozen hours after the bloodshed in Monterey Park, police tracked Tran's white van to a car park 30 miles away in the suburb of Torrance where the suspect killed himself. "I tried to reach her, but I didn't get any response," Monterey Park resident Vivian King said of a friend she last heard from earlier in the weekend.

☆ Live updates: Possible suspect in mass shooting at dance hall near Los Angeles is found dead, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Erick Mendoza | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mirna-Alsharif-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +31 min

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

☆ India-China border clash video shows troops fighting with sticks and bricks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Though they’re separated by barbed wire, the footage appears to show Indian troops beating the Chinese soldiers with makeshift weapons, including what look like wooden sticks and metal pipes. In several instances, Indian soldiers can be seen throwing bricks or stones. Many of the Chinese soldiers, gathered on the other side of the wire, also appear to be holding long sticks or batons. Speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, India’s defense minister accused Chinese troops of trying to cross the LAC, saying they were trying to “unilaterally” change the status quo. Later that evening in a statement posted online, the Chinese military’s Western Theater Command accused Indian troops of “illegally” crossing into the Chinese side of the border.

☆ US and Indian troops are teaming up for tough training in the Himalayas near a tense border with China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US soldiers are training with Indian troops in the Himalayas this month for exercise Yudh Abhyas. This year's version of the exercise is being held near India's disputed border with China. An Indian army convoy on a highway leading to Ladakh, in Kashmir's Ganderbal district in June 2020. REUTERS/Danish Ismail"The US and India probably anticipated that conducting the exercise near the Chinese border would draw Beijing's ire. Indian soldiers during Yudh Abhyas in Alaska in October 2021.

Republican leaders had promised voters during the election they would cut the mining permit review timeline in half and boost domestic EV mining, rather than seek more supply overseas. Westerman and other Republicans will be partially stymied by Republicans' failure to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats. With their newfound control, Republicans could threaten to withhold funding from agencies perceived as taking too long to approve mines. The Resolution project is opposed by Representative Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who will relinquish his chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee to Westerman. Republicans say that expanding such deals to other countries is not a priority for the new Congress.

"Interview with the Vampire" is a new series based on the popular book by Anne Rice. You can watch new episodes on AMC Plus and the AMC cable channel every Sunday through November 13. "Interview with the Vampire'' is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by author Anne Rice. How to watch 'Interview with the Vampire' (2022)You can watch "Interview with the Vampire" season one every Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on AMC. You can watch "Interview with the Vampire" for free if you sign up for an AMC Plus trial.

President Joe Biden last week doled out $2.8 billion to miners developing new U.S. sources of lithium, nickel, copper and other EV minerals, as well as battery parts manufacturers and recyclers. Those grants followed August's Inflation Reduction Act, which links EV tax credits to minerals extracted domestically or from 20 allies. "People have a misconception about how quickly we can get mines up and running given the U.S. permitting process," said Megan O'Connor, Nth Cycle's CEO. "Hopefully, they'll give us some help and fast track some of the permitting process," said Kent Masters, Albemarle's CEO. The yawning divide between America and China's approaches to funding the EV supply chain is now a top concern for many policymakers and their advisers in the nation's capital.

☆ Enbridge says it agreed to pay $11 mln on Line 3 pipeline penalties
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Enbridge Inc FollowOct 17 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) said on Monday it has reached an agreement on penalties over its Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project and that it will pay $11 million to various Minnesota regulators and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The Canadian company said $7.5 million of the total will be used to provide financial assurances and fund multiple environmental and resource enhancement projects, as part of the agreements with the Minnesota regulators and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Line 3, built in the 1960s, carries oil from Edmonton, Alberta, to refineries in the U.S. Midwest, but for years was transporting less than its capacity because of age and corrosion. The replacement project, announced in 2014 and amounting to roughly $8.2 billion, was opposed by environmental and Native American groups, particularly in the last stage of the expansion in Minnesota. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Seher Dareen and Swati Verma in Bengaluru Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ London, Paris, Frankfurt and beyond: CNBC names Europe's best hotels for business travel
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Monica Buchanan Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

CNBC Travel and the market data firm Statista today release a ranking of the "Best Hotels for Business Travelers" in Europe. FrankfurtSofitel Frankfurt Opera JW Marriott Hotel Frankfurt Best Western Premier IB Hotel Friedberger Warte Le Meridien Frankfurt Steigenberger Airport Hotel FrankfurtSofitel Frankfurt Opera Source: Sofitel Frankfurt OperaThe Sofitel Frankfurt Opera is on Opera Square, or the Opernplatz, near the city's famed opera house. ParisLe Bristol Paris Les Jardins du Faubourg Kimpton - St Honore Paris Pullman Paris Center-Bercy Le MeuriceLe Bristol Paris Source: Le Bristol Paris | Claire CocanoGuests of Le Bristol Paris can count President Emmanuel Macron as a neighbor — Elysee Palace, the official residence of France's president — is just steps away. StockholmGrand Hotel Stockholm Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel Stockholm Hotel At Six Bank Hotel Lydmar HotelGrand Hotel Stockholm Source: Grand Hotel StockholmTying for No. ViennaPalais Coburg Hotel Residenz Hotel Sans Souci Wien The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna The Harmonie Vienna Grand Hotel Wien This grand hotel built in 1845 is the former home of Austrian royalty.

☆ 'Interview With the Vampire' review: AMC pumps fresh blood into Anne Rice's story
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Desperate to replace “The Walking Dead,” AMC might have completed an improbable baton pass from zombies to another kind of undead. In that sense, this seems to have been produced at least as much with AMC+ in mind as the linear network AMC. Sam Reid as Lestat Du Lioncourt and Jacob Anderson as Louis De Pointe Du Lac in "Interview with the Vampire." “Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire” premieres October 2 at 10 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+.

☆ India's military relationship with Russia isn't going away — it'll 'endure for decades,' analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders' summit in Samarkand on Sept. 16, 2022. Alexandr Demyanchuk | Afp | Getty ImagesIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have publicly rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, but the longstanding friendship between the two countries isn't going away, analysts said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, claimed that Russia and India were "friends," a month after Ukraine was invaded. But despite India's apparent change in stance over the war, India still needs Russia, analysts told CNBC. "Russia remains India's most important [military] partner," he added.

☆ Indian and Chinese troops disengaging from disputed border area, New Delhi says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

New Delhi, India Indian and Chinese troops have begun disengaging from the Gogra-Hotsprings border area in the western Himalayas, the Indian government said Thursday, two years after clashes at the frontier strained diplomatic ties. The statement comes ahead of a meeting in Uzbekistan next week which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to attend. India said disengagement was taking place in a coordinated and planned way and is meant to keep border peace. "The eyeball-to-eyeball contact has ended," an Indian defence source said, referring to the latest agreement, although both countries still have thousands of soldiers lined up along the de factor border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). They have not been de-inducted."

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