“Pakistan is battered by a cascade of crises—from the economic shocks of the COVID-19 lockdowns to the catastrophic 2022 floods that hit a third of the country. Political instability, acute insecurity, rampant inflation, widening fiscal deficit and unsustainable external debt, have all pushed the nation to the brink. Amid this turmoil, the 2022 food crisis exacerbated Pakistan's already dire nutrition situation. Capitalising on this vulnerability, the Pakistani government has increasingly (…)

It was only a matter of time. The European Commission has now given its official backing to lithium extraction at Serbia's Jadar mine, despite widespread local and national protests against the prioritisation of economic interests—those of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the European Union—over the will of the Serbian people. On 4 June, the project led by multinational mining giant Rio Tinto through its subsidiary Rio Sava Exploration doo was included in the list of 13 strategic (…)