Tag: Democratic Republic of Congo

  • Saudi Arabia enters talks with Tesla for potential manufacturing facility in kingdom

    Saudi Arabia enters talks with Tesla for potential manufacturing facility in kingdom

    Saudi Arabia is engaged in preliminary discussions with the American electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, regarding the establishment of a manufacturing facility within the kingdom, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

    This development coincides with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request to Tesla CEO Elon Musk to consider the construction of a vehicle production plant in Turkey. Furthermore, Elon Musk is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California today.

    To incentivize Tesla, Saudi Arabia has been offering the company access to essential metals and minerals required for electric vehicle production, procured from various nations, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

    This effort aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil. Notably, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund holds a majority stake in Lucid Group, an electric vehicle startup aiming to challenge Tesla’s market dominance.

    One proposal being explored by Saudi Arabia involves extending financial support to Trafigura, a prominent commodities trading company, for a struggling cobalt and copper project in the Congo. 

    This project could potentially serve as a source of crucial supplies for a prospective Tesla factory. Both Tesla and Trafigura have not yet provided responses to Reuters’ inquiries, while Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund, has declined to comment.

    Elon Musk previously mentioned in May that Tesla was likely to select a location for a new factory by the end of the year. Presently, Tesla operates six factories worldwide and is in the process of constructing a seventh in Mexico as part of its ambitious global expansion strategy. 

    The company’s goal is to achieve annual vehicle sales of 20 million units by 2030, a significant increase from the approximately 1.3 million vehicles sold in 2022.

  • Three Pak army officers, three soldiers embrace martyrdom in UN Peacekeeping mission

    Three Army Officers and three soldiers were martyred including two other UN Peacekeepers from Russia and Serbia in a helicopter crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) on Tuesday.

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a statement that stated, “Pakistan Aviation Unit is deployed in UN Mission Congo on peacekeeping duties since 2011. On Mar 29, 22 while undertaking a reconnaissance mission in Congo, 1 PUMA Helicopter crashed.”

    According to the mission, “the causes of this disappearance are not yet known. Research is ongoing.”

    ISPR released the names of the martyred who are Lt Col Asif Ali Awan, (Pilot), Maj Saad Nomani (Co-Pilot), Maj Faizan Ali, ​​N/Sub Sami Ullah Khan (Flight Engineer), Havaldar Muhammad Ismail (Crew Chief), and L/Hav Muhamad Jamil (Gunner).

    Earlier on Tuesday, the UN Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) tweeted that they had ‘lost contact’ with one of its helicopters in which eight UN peacekeepers were on board. They were on a reconnaissance mission in the area of Tshanzu, southeast of Rutshuru in North Kivu Province, an area which has been the scene of recent fighting between government troops and rebel group M23.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan also expressed his “deep sense of shock and grief”, the Prime Minister’s office stated.