🇨🇳🔥📝 — Reuters reports that the Communist Party of China purged Li Chenggang from his post as Chinese Negotiator at the World Trade Organization

➡️ China has formalised the new role of top trade negotiator Li Chenggang, dropping him from the post of permanent representative to the World Trade Organization, the official news agency Xinhua said on Monday.

➡️ The news come after tension between the world's two biggest economies flared after the United States added more foreign companies under its sanctions and China set wide-ranging export curbs on rare earths and critical materials in response.

➡️ The announcement, following Li's April appointment to the job of lead international trade negotiator, was part of a routine list of recent ambassadorial changes approved by President Xi Jinping.

📝 China's current representative to the WTO now is Li Yongjie, who presented her credentials on September 29, the trade body said on its Weibo social media account. Beijing sometimes makes no formal announcement when an official takes up a new role.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🇺🇸🤝🇦🇺 — POTUS Donald Trump signs a critical minerals deal with Australian Prime Minister Albanese

"We're doing a real job on rare earth and many other things."

🇺🇸📞🇺🇦❌🇷🇺 — POTUS Donald Trump is asked about the War in Ukraine:

REPORTER:

At the UN, you said that Ukraine could possibly win the war...

Trump:

"Well, they could. They could still win it. I don't think they will, but they could still win it... anything can happen. You know, war is a very strange thing."

🇧🇴🤝🇺🇸🇵🇾🇪🇨🇵🇦 — New Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz thanks the Governments of Panamá, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador and US for recognizing his victory and dedicates his election to God

Rodrigo Paz announced that he has already spoken with Trump’s Undersecretary of State, Christopher Landau:

"I want to thank Landau, who on behalf of Trump has called us to foster a close relationship with the most important government in the world."

🔗 Reacción Nacional (@RNacional_News)

🇨🇱 — Santiago, Chile's capital, suffers a massive power outage

🇨🇱🗳📊 — Polymarket betting market places 70% of chances for José Antonio Kast (Republican Party of Chile), the Far Right Neo-Pinochetist Candidate, to win the Presidential elections of Chile

🇧🇷🤡❌🇺🇸 — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) provokes U.S. President Donald Trump and says he offended Brazil:

“We didn’t bow our heads because, even though we’re not as big as they are, we have character—something they often don’t realize we have.”

🇧🇴🤝🇻🇪 — Rodrigo Paz, president-elect of Bolivia held a call with María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuelan opposition

During the call Paz commited himself as an ally to the cause for the Liberation of Venezuela from the Chavista Regime and as a Christian-democratic partner for Machado, inviting her to his inauguration.

🔵❌💸🧲 — 📰 ZeroHedge | Rare Earth Miner Stocks Slammed After U.S. Defense Department Cancels Cobalt Purchase | October 16, 2025:

"Rare earth and battery metal stocks are tumbling today after the U.S. Defense Department abruptly canceled a high-profile tender to buy cobalt - at least for now - cutting short a torrid rally that had lifted the sector over the past several months.

However, it looks as though the cancellation may only be temporary, which if true the market is certainly overlooking…

Cobalt producers and related mining stocks had surged as prices more than doubled since February, fueled by export restrictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo — which supplies about three-quarters of global output — and renewed optimism over Western efforts to secure critical minerals.

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🇭🇺💬🇷🇺❝🤝🇺🇸❞ — 📰 ZeroHedge | Hungary Informs Putin "Preparations Are In Full Swing" To Host Summit With Trump | October 17, 2025:

"Hungary has announced that "preparations are in full swing" for a big anticipated near-future summit between Presidents Trump and Putin, following their Thursday lengthy 'positive' phone call.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Budapest is ready and willing to host the meeting, which would be the second of Trump's administration since the Alaska bilateral summit, calling it "great news for the peace-loving people of the world” and describing Hungary as an "island of peace."

No date was given, but it was concluded in the phone call that the aim of a future Budapest meeting would be to "bring this 'inglorious' War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end," according to Trump's words on Truth Social."

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😳🇨🇳🤖⚙️🏭 — 🇬🇧 The Telegraph | Western executives who visit China are coming back terrified | Robotics has catapulted Beijing into a dominant position in many industries | October 12, 2025:

"“It’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ford’s chief executive about his recent trip to China.

After visiting a string of factories, Jim Farley was left astonished by the technical innovations being packed into Chinese cars – from self-driving software to facial recognition.

“Their cost and the quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West,” Farley warned in July.

“We are in a global competition with China, and it’s not just EVs. And if we lose this, we do not have a future at Ford.”

The car industry boss is not the only Western executive to have returned shaken following a visit to the Far East.

Andrew Forrest, the Australian billionaire behind mining giant Fortescue – which is investing massively in green energy – says his trips to China convinced him to abandon his company’s attempts to manufacture electric vehicle powertrains in-house.

“I can take you to factories [in China] now, where you’ll basically be alongside a big conveyor and the machines come out of the floor and begin to assemble parts,” he says."

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