Froydis Cameron-Johansson, a former senior executive at Rio Tinto and Anglo American who began her career at Shell, has been appointed the International Council on Mining and Metals’ first woman president and CEO, effective 23 November. She succeeds Rohitesh Dhawan, who will remain to support the transition until end-2026 after overseeing the creation of the Global Tailings Management Institute and the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative. Her mandate centres on tightening industry-wide mining standards, accountability and ESG performance across critical metals and minerals value chains.

Welsh Senedd members have passed a motion calling for a review of the Barnett Formula and for rail to be formally devolved, arguing that UK Government classification of HS2 as an “England and Wales” project has denied Wales billions in consequential funding. The motion presses Westminster to accelerate rail infrastructure investment in Wales and give Welsh ministers greater flexibility over block grant allocations for schemes such as Core Valley Lines upgrades and mainline electrification. For civil engineers, any change could materially alter long-term funding certainty for renewals, resilience works and new capacity.

The Department for Transport has refused a freedom of information request to disclose what port facilities Chinese state-owned Cosco Shipping operates in the UK, after US officials alleged the firm has enabled Beijing to monitor US military communications. The decision limits public visibility of Cosco’s role in UK container terminals, logistics hubs and potential access to critical maritime data infrastructure such as fibre links and port management systems. Port planners, marine engineers and security consultants may face tighter scrutiny on future concessions, terminal upgrades and digital systems involving Chinese operators.