Stalling

For decades, China powered spectacular growth through exports, infrastructure and cheap credit. But that old model is running out of steam, even as it hits a record trade surplus with the world this year.

The property sector is drowning in debt, confidence is fading, and consumers are holding back. Now, Beijing faces its toughest test yet: how to keep the world’s second-largest economy growing without relying much on the engines that once drove it.

A new five-year plan promises “high-quality growth” built on technology and self-reliance. But trade tensions with the United States could make the climb even steeper.

In the second quarter of 2025, MP Materials‘ (MP -0.76%) revenue declined sequentially from the first quarter. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and earnings both fell deeper into the red. That’s not a change that most investors will find pleasing to read, but the company’s future remains very bright.

Here’s why MP Materials’ growth isn’t stalling, even though there’s a lot of heavy lifting for the company to do from here.

What does MP Materials do?

MP Materials mines for and processes rare earth metals. These metals are vital to the technology sector and get used in everything from cellphones to missiles. That said, MP Materials is really best viewed as a mining company.

Image source: Getty Images.

That’s important because mining is a very capital-intensive business. A company has to find a place to mine, get approval for it, build the mine, operate it (in this case also process the output into usable rare earth metals products), and then return the mine back to its pre-mine state once it is depleted. MP Materials is really just at the very beginning of this process, which is the most expensive from a capital investment point of view.

That said, MP Materials finds itself in a very enviable position thanks to geopolitical issues. The new U.S. tariff regime has led to friction with China, which is the world’s largest producer of rare earth metals. China has been very willing to limit access to these vital metals as it vies for the best tariff deal. That, essentially, has put the world on notice that China can’t be counted on as a supplier of rare earth metals.

MP Materials has a huge opportunity to exploit

MP Materials didn’t just magically find itself here. The company’s specific goal was to create a rare earth metals supplier that is located in an economically and politically stable region. The company is exactly where it wanted to be and that is leading to a huge influx of cash.

The U.S. government has invested in MP Materials. Apple has inked a sizable deal with the company. And, after the stock advance following these two events, the company was able to sell shares into the market at attractive prices. Demand was so strong for MP Materials’ stock that it was able to sell more shares than it had originally planned.

This is all very good news from a growth perspective. It means that MP Materials has the cash it needs to keep building out its business. And that, in turn, means that it still has a huge growth opportunity ahead that will be easier to achieve since access to capital is less of a constraint. If anything, the growth opportunity isn’t stalling out, it is getting more attractive.

Don’t expect instant results at MP Materials

Despite the positives here, there’s still one small problem. MP Materials is a young miner that is building out its business. That takes time and will likely mean red ink for at least a while longer.

MP Materials stock is up over 350% over the past year, with most of that gain coming after the U.S. government’s investment in the company. So while the business has huge growth potential, a lot of that appears to have been priced into the stock in a very short period of time. Investors should probably tread cautiously with MP Materials, which looks like it has become a story stock at this point.

If the story doesn’t happen as expected (including as quickly as expected), the shares could quickly turn lower again even if the long-term opportunity for the business remains robust.

Report says Karim Khan ‘privately threatened’ by then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron with UK’s withdrawal from International Criminal Court.

New details have emerged about a series of intimidation campaigns, including threats to safety as well as possible sanctions, directed at the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as he pursues an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza.

Karim Khan has also been subjected to intense pressure from top British and United States public officials for The Hague court to withdraw the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news website reported.

The latest report followed an earlier revelation by the London-based online publication in July that Khan and the ICC were threatened with being “destroyed” if they pursued the case against Israel.

According to the MEE report published on Friday, Khan was “privately threatened” by then-British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in April 2024 that the UK would defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued warrants against the Israeli leaders, which it did so in November.

In May 2024, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also “threatened” Khan with sanctions if he applied for the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, the MEE reported.

Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Khan and four ICC judges.

Khan also received a security briefing warning him that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency “was active in The Hague and posed a potential threat” to him, the MEE reported.

Khan, who is currently on indefinite leave amid allegations of sexual misconduct, was also reportedly told by his female accuser in text messages that there were “games being played” and attempts to make her a “pawn in some game I don’t want to play”, according to the MEE.

The ICC investigations into Khan’s alleged behaviour were later closed after the female witness refused to cooperate with them, but a separate United Nations probe remains.

Khan has strenuously denied all the allegations against him.

Two weeks before he was forced to go on leave in May 2025, Khan also reportedly met with Nicholas Kaufman, a British-Israeli defence lawyer at the ICC, to discuss the Israel investigation, the MEE report said.

In a note of the meeting on file at the ICC, Kaufman reportedly told Khan that if the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were not dropped, “they will destroy you, and they will destroy the court.”

The report said some ICC lawyers have privately “expressed doubts” about the allegations against Khan, which emerged after the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued.

The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. Deif has since been confirmed killed in an Israeli attack.

The Israeli defendants remain internationally wanted suspects, and ICC member states are under a legal obligation to arrest them.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 60,430 Palestinians and wounded 148,722.

In recent months, Israel has been accused of committing new war crimes after reports that Israeli forces intentionally shot and killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians waiting to collect humanitarian aid from GHF food distribution points.

VLADIMIR Putin will launch an assault on Lithuania next if he conquers Ukraine, an ex-CIA boss has warned.

The caution comes as Zelensky slammed the Russian despot for “stalling peace talks” following his dismal attempts to get to the negotiating table.

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David Petraus, a retired US general and director of the CIA, warned an attack on the Baltic state would not be an isolated event but part of a longer-term plan to test the West.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange Think-Tank in London, Petraeus said Lithuania has “featured prominently” in Putin’s speeches meaning he might turn on the NATO state for his next assault.

After mad Vlad has installed a “puppet leader to control all of Ukraine” there’s a strong chance he will turn his “focus on one of the Baltic states,” he added.

Taking aim at Trump, he said the US had dithered too much on “individual decisions” and was giving the Russian president too many second chances – causing immeasurable losses for Ukraine.

He said: “What we’ve seen is three incidences where the US President has threatened that in two weeks we’ll have to take a different approach. 

“We’ll see this time what actually happens. The US also temporised far too long over individual decisions such as M1 [Abrams] tanks.

“A blind man on a dark night could see it had to be the F-16 (a multi- role fighter aircraft).”

Ukraine responded yesterday saying: “The Russians’ fear of sending their ‘memorandum’ to Ukraine suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums, and they are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process.”

The comments come after Trump issued Vlad with a two-week deadline for a ceasefire following Russia’s deadly attack on Ukraine earlier this week.

Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday: “I’m very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now where people were killed in the middle of what you would call a negotiation.”

He added: “When I see rockets being shot into cities, that’s no good. We’re not going to allow it.”

When asked if Putin really wants to end the war, Trump replied: “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll let you know in about two weeks.

“Within two weeks. We’re gonna find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not.

“And if he is, we’ll respond a little bit differently.”

One of the largest stumbling blocks which is delaying any peace deal is said to be over Putin’s desire to control his former Soviet states and keep them away from Nato.

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This includes Ukraine themselves with the Kremlin always saying Kyiv gaining access to the group is a complete no go under any circumstances.

Kyiv has repeatedly said that Moscow should have no say in its sovereign right to pursue Nato membership however.

He declared he will only call off the war in Ukraine if the West vows to keep its hands off Russia’s prized former Soviet states.

Putin even demanded he got the assurances in writing.

The Russian president said he wants a “written” pledge from Western leaders to stop Nato’s expansion to countries eastward, top Russian officials revealed to Reuters.

The eastward expansion refers to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.

Putin is reportedly preparing for a major push to take more land in the north east.

Military analysts believe he is trying to press home his advantage and capture more Ukrainian land.

They warn that Putin only has a “four-month window” to get a breakthrough in Ukraine this year.

And this could be the beginning of Russia’s summer offensive targeting the border city of Kharkiv – the “fortress” city of Ukraine which put up the maximum resistance at the start of the invasion.

Reacting to the reports, German Chancellor Freidrich Merz predicted that peace was still a long way off.

He said: “Wars typically end because of economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides and in this war we are obviously still far from reaching that [situation].

“So we may have to prepare for a longer duration.”

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