Venezuela’s push to reopen the Orinoco Mining Arc to global investors for gold, bauxite, coltan, iron ore and nickel is colliding with the presence of at least four uncontacted Indigenous peoples (Jödi/Hoti, Uwottüja/Piaroa, Yanomami and Eñepá/Panare) whose territories overlap or lie close to planned mining zones. Survival International reports 196 uncontacted groups worldwide, over 96% threatened by extractives, with Venezuelan Yanomami already facing mercury contamination, infectious disease and violent crime linked to illegal gold mining. The op-ed argues that without legally recognised territories, buffer zones, FPIC-compliant frameworks and IRMA-level safeguards, large-scale mining and associated access roads risk illegal encroachment, corporate complicity and potentially existential impacts on isolated communities.

Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton has been appointed chair of Invest in Canada and MEM Growth Partners founder Gurinder Grewal named CEO, tasked with steering a C$1 trillion ($720 billion) investment drive over five years into critical minerals, energy, artificial intelligence and major infrastructure. Ottawa expects about C$280 billion in federal capital and incentives to leverage more than C$1 trillion from public, private and institutional sources, building on C$96.8 billion of foreign direct investment in 2025. Invest in Canada will work closely with the federal Major Projects Office to move foreign investors from early interest to construction.

Public consultation has opened on Tasmania’s next road safety strategy, which will build on the current Towards Zero Tasmanian Road Safety Strategy 2017–2026 and its data on serious and fatal crashes. The new framework will benchmark against national and global best-practice, including Safe System principles and low-speed urban design, while tailoring measures to local conditions such as rural highways and regional freight routes. For civil designers and traffic engineers, outcomes are likely to influence speed zoning, barrier selection, intersection treatments and funding priorities for high‑risk corridors.