The Democratic Republic of Congo’s decision to maintain its newly introduced cobalt export quota system marks a significant shift in how the world’s largest supplier of this critical mineral intends to wield its market power. By moving away from an outright export ban toward managed quotas, Kinshasa is signaling that it seeks not only to stabilize prices but also to exert greater sovereignty over a sector that has long been dominated by foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms.

With the global transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy accelerating, cobalt’s strategic importance makes Congo’s policies a matter of international consequence. Cobalt is indispensable for the production of lithium-ion batteries, powering everything from smartphones to electric cars to grid storage systems.

The global corporate earnings season has revealed a stark and widening fault line caused by President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade war. Businesses across a broad range of industries — from consumer goods to airlines, automakers to pharmaceutical companies — are warning of rising costs, growing operational uncertainty, and faltering consumer sentiment as tariffs and trade tensions ripple through the global economy.

Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and American Airlines were among the major firms on Thursday to either cut profit forecasts or withdraw financial guidance entirely. Their earnings reports paint a clear picture: Trump’s tariffs are upending supply chains and sowing strategic confusion in boardrooms.

The disruption to container shipping in the Red Sea is escalating, according to Maersk, which projected that this would result in a reduction of the industry’s capacity between Asia and Europe by up to 20% in the second quarter. Since December, Maersk and other shipping companies have been rerouting…