Plan for U.S.-Iran talks. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to meet in Istanbul Friday to discuss a potential nuclear deal and de-escalation of bilateral tensions, multiple news outlets reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media today that he had instructed Araghchi to pursue “fair and equitable negotiations.”
New U.S. mineral stockpile. The United States will create a strategic reserve of critical minerals intended to reduce reliance on China and protect against disruptions in international markets. A $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and more than $1.6 billion in private money will fund its creation, Trump and the bank announced yesterday. Trump compared the planned cache to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying it is intended to protect firms from the kind of pressures suffered last year when China halted its rare earth exports.
Lawsuit over immigration ban. An immigrant rights organization and group of U.S. citizens sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department yesterday over a recent ban on legal immigration for citizens of seventy-five countries. The lawsuit argues the ban, which suspended visa approvals for affected countries, violates immigration law’s “commitment to family unity” and is based on a false claim. A State Department spokesperson said the immigrant visa suspension was intended to ensure immigrants are financially “self-sufficient.”
Japan’s deep sea mining. A first-of-its-kind maritime mining mission recovered samples of a rare earth-rich mud from almost four miles below sea level, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae wrote on social media yesterday. She said the mission was part of broader efforts to lessen dependence on other countries for rare earths, most of which are processed in China.
French budget squeaks through. France adopted its 2026 budget yesterday following months of political upheaval, after center-right Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu secured support from the Socialist Party with concessions over student lunch fees and bonuses for minimum-wage workers. With an increase in military spending as well, the budget deficit comes in at around 5 percent of GDP—over the EU’s 3 percent limit, which France hopes to reach by 2029.
Venezuela ups oil exports. The country exported around eight hundred thousand barrels of oil per day last month, a roughly 60 percent increase from December. The surge comes after the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro at the start of January, rolled back a December embargo on Venezuelan oil, and began marketing some of the country’s oil in coordination with the country’s interim authorities.
Solar power in Africa. The continent experienced its fastest-ever growth in solar power last year, installing over 50 percent more capacity than in 2024, a new report by the Global Solar Council said. Even so, last week a group of solar mini-grid companies said they would require as much as $46 billion in investment by 2030 in order to meet the electrification targets in twenty-nine African countries set by a World Bank-backed solar power framework.
Spain floats social media restrictions. Spain’s government plans to update a social media bill to ban people under the age of sixteen from creating accounts, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said at a Dubai governance summit today. He also announced plans to hold social media executives responsible for hate speech on their platforms, saying Spain is joining a European “Coalition of the Digitally Willing” to enforce tech regulations across borders. He did not provide further details regarding the coalition’s membership.
