Denmark and Germany have effectively put the Bornholm Energy Island back on the rails by agreeing to move ahead together with the cross-border offshore wind hub, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presenting the decision alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at an energy gathering in Hamburg.

In political terms, the message is that what had become a difficult, cost-heavy infrastructure concept is now being treated as a shared strategic priority rather than a Danish national megaproject that Germany merely benefits from at the margin.

China significantly expanded its global footprint in the mining sector last year, committing over $21 billion to overseas mining projects, the highest level since the launch of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. A new report highlights China’s growing strategic control over critical minerals, reinforcing concerns in the West about over-reliance on Beijing for key resources.

China’s deepening involvement in the metals and mining industry, through both equity investments and construction contracts, reflects its dominance in global mineral production and refining.

The war involving Iran has abruptly overturned what had been the dominant expectation for the global LNG market in 2026: that a wave of new supply, led by the United States and Qatar, would loosen conditions, moderate prices, and support another leg of demand growth across Asia.

Before the conflict escalated, analysts broadly expected global LNG output to expand substantially this year as new liquefaction capacity came online. That outlook has now been badly damaged by two overlapping shocks: the disruption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about one-fifth of global LNG trade, and physical damage to Qatari export infrastructure that has sidelined a meaningful portion of the country’s liquefaction capacity for years rather than weeks.