The Trump administration has expanded its pressure campaign against Cuba into the critical minerals sector, sanctioning a nickel joint venture tied to Canadian miner Sherritt International in a move that could reverberate through China-linked battery supply chains…Hours earlier, Sherritt said it had suspended its direct participation in joint-venture activities in Cuba “effective immediately” and had begun repatriating expatriate employees from the island. The company also said it had asked partners to repatriate personnel in Canada…The developments underscore growing tensions between Washington’s aggressive sanctions policy and its parallel effort to secure alternative sources of nickel and cobalt, minerals essential for electric-vehicle batteries and energy-transition technologies that are heavily processed within China’s industrial supply chains…Sherritt says nickel and cobalt produced through the Moa joint venture are sold primarily in Europe, Japan and China, underscoring how the operation feeds into Asian battery and industrial supply chains…Analysts say Sherritt represents a relatively rare Western-linked nickel and cobalt supply chain operating largely outside China, even though much of its output ultimately flows into Asian markets dominated by Chinese processing…The company’s Fort Saskatchewan refinery in Alberta has an annual production capacity of about 35,000 tonnes of nickel and 3,800 tonnes of cobalt, according to company reports, making it one of the few significant nickel-cobalt refining hubs in North America…In a corporate update earlier this week, Sherritt described the Alberta facility as the only significant cobalt refinery and one of just three nickel refineries in North America…Analysts say the sanctions risk complicating Western efforts to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from Chinese dominance, even as Washington seeks to reduce reliance on Beijing in strategic sectors.

Many American car buyers are gravitating to hybrid vehicles to offset the recent surge in gas prices from the Iran war, ​according to fresh industry sales data and dealers…U.S. hybrid sales rose 37% in the two months since the Middle East conflict began ‌at the end of February, according to data from research firm Motor Intelligence. That outpaced the sales growth of the overall car market, which was up 15% in that period…But fully electric cars have not attracted the same level of consumer interest…U.S. sales of ​EVs rose just 11% in the two months since the war began, below the broader sales pace, Motor Intelligence figures show. EV sales remain ​far below where they were a year ago, still depressed following the expiration last autumn of a $7,500 federal tax credit…U.S. shoppers’ relative ⁠apathy toward EVs diverges from the trend in Europe, where electric sales are booming amid higher fuel prices. There are many more affordable EVs on sale ​in Europe, where tailpipe-emissions rules are far more stringent than in the U.S…In the United Kingdom, EV sales jumped 79% in the two months after the Iran conflict ​began, a sharper increase than the broader market. Germany’s sales of fully electric cars also outpaced the overall industry, rising 39% in that span.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said he ​was open to standing for a third term, angering opposition politicians who accused him of planning ‌to break through mandate limits in the constitution and cling to power…Tshisekedi also said fighting in the east could make it impossible to hold the next presidential vote on time in 2028 - raising the prospect of a delay that could prove equally divisive in ​the mineral-rich nation which has endured decades of conflict…Congo experienced a prolonged political crisis under former president ​Joseph Kabila after he delayed elections beyond the end of his mandate in 2016, ⁠triggering deadly protests and international condemnation…Congo's constitution currently limits presidents to two terms. Tshisekedi said any change would require a constitutional revision approved by referendum…The debate over ​a possible ⁠constitutional revision is unfolding against the backdrop of insecurity in the east, where the AFC/M23 coalition, a rebel group backed by Rwanda, controls large swathes of territory.