France’s central bank has liquidated its remaining 129 tonnes of gold held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, selling the “non‑standard” bars between July 2025 and January 2026 and buying replacement bullion in European markets that meets modern international bar specifications. The transaction generated a €13 billion ($15 billion) capital gain, turning a 2024 net loss of €7.7 billion into an €8.1 billion net profit for 2025, while keeping total reserves unchanged at about 2,437 tonnes now stored entirely in the BdF’s La Souterraine vault. The Bank of France still plans to upgrade a further 134 tonnes of older bars to current standards by 2028.

The Institution of Civil Engineers has warned that the UK government’s new Better Connected integrated transport strategy lacks the clear, long-term objectives and investment pathways needed to steer major rail, road and mass transit schemes. ICE argues the document omits essential components such as defined modal priorities, a sequenced project pipeline and stable funding signals that asset owners and contractors require for planning multi‑decade programmes. The critique signals continued uncertainty for large schemes needing early geotechnical investigation, corridor safeguarding and staged capacity upgrades.

US rare earth strategy is shifting from securing ore to controlling processing, with Aclara Resources’ Virginia Tech pilot and planned Louisiana separation plant illustrating a policy pivot towards domestic heavy rare earth separation for dysprosium and terbium used in EVs, wind and defence. Patricio Faúndez, economics leader at GEM Mining Consulting, notes Washington is now deploying price floors, equity stakes and long-term offtakes—tools long associated with China—to de-risk capital-intensive plants. The emerging model favours allied feedstock plus US-based processing, redistributing supply risk across jurisdictions rather than eliminating it.