INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS BLOG
The Infrastructure News Blog propose un aperçu de l'actualité mondiale en rapport avec le thème des infrastructures dans le contexte géopolitique. Le blog sera mis à jour régulièrement pendant la durée de l'exposition.
SEPTEMBRE 2025
Will Indonesia’s US$80 billion sea wall hold firm against environmental critics?
Indonesia is hoping to involve China in the project along northern Java, as critics also question Jakarta’s ability to finance the wall
The controversial Georgian mine fueling Europe’s new industrial arms race
A troubled manganese mine in the former Soviet state is exposing the European Union's double standards on environmental and worker protections.
AOÛT 2025
Laleh Khalili’s Extractive Capitalism: A beautiful map of the entangled global economy
The University of Exeter academic's book exposes how essential commodities, data and labour exploitation fuel wealth that is increasingly concentrated in the hands of an elite
Iron Rhine strategic railway chugs back to life to counter Russia
Iron Rhine, which once connected the Port of Antwerp in Belgium to Germany’s industrial Ruhr region, was pivotal for Allied forces during and after World War II. Largely unused for decades, parts of it have been abandoned since 1991.
Trump’s Geopolitical Gambit in the South Caucasus
Amid rising geopolitical tensions, the 43 km corridor in Armenia is expected to become a vital cross-Eurasia geostrategic and geoeconomic asset for the US, especially vis-à-vis Tehran, Moscow, and even Beijing. If developed, the corridor could fill the power vacuum in the historically Russian-dominated region and reshape regional geopolitics.
Iran’s Connectivity Vision in the South Caucasus: Ambitions and Challenges Amid Shifting Geopolitical Dynamics
The South Caucasus sits at the crossroads of vital Eurasian routes linking Russia with the Middle East and the EU with Central Asia and China. As the world is witnessing rapidly changing connectivity, Iran has promoted transit projects to integrate the South Caucasus into its wider transport network.
China’s new ‘Air Silk Road’ brings thousands of tons of goods from Xinjiang to Europe
More than 40 freight routes now connect Europe to the region, where Beijing is accused of subjecting the Uyghur ethnic group to forced labor.
JUILLET 2025
Eleven-minute race for food: how aid points in Gaza became ‘death traps’ – a visual story
Hundreds of people have died while seeking food since delivery was taken over by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May. But Palestinians facing extreme hunger have no choice but to take the risk
Europe’s big trash-burning experiment has become a dirty headache
Waste-to-energy was sold as a greener option to landfill, but evidence is mounting that burning garbage is far from clean.
Spain under fire for contracting Huawei to store judicial wiretaps
Huawei’s presence in European digital infrastructure varies across the bloc
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon
The damming of its Tibetan rivers “effectively gives China a chokehold on India’s economy,” a report from independent experts says.
China begins building world’s biggest hydropower dam in seismically active Himalayan Tibet
Chinese authorities have begun constructing what will be the world's largest hydropower dam in Tibetan territory, in a project that has sparked concerns from India and Bangladesh.
Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions
Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza since it withdrew from a ceasefire with Hamas in March, with entire towns and suburbs - once home to tens of thousands of people - levelled in the past few weeks.
Greek dock workers will refuse to unload Israel's 'murderous cargo'
The military-grade steel cargo on board the Ever Golden was set to be transferred to a ship owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund before being taken to Israel
The World Internet Conference (WIC) briefs media on Digital Silk Road Development Forum
With the theme "Embracing the Digital and Intelligent Maritime Silk Road – Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace", the forum will focus on digital trade under the Belt and Road Initiative and AI-driven private sector development, and smart, sustainable international transport
Digital sovereignty can’t be bargained away
One would rightly quail if just a few foreign firms owned Europe’s roads, ports or electricity grid. Yet, for 15 years, this is precisely what we’ve allowed to happen to our tech infrastructure — the backbone of our economy and democracy.
Quantum tech is coming — and with it a risk of cyber doomsday
The EU, and much of the rest of the world, wants critical infrastructure to move to post-quantum security by 2030.
Russian oil or mass layoffs: A German town's conundrum
In Schwedt, life flows through an oil refinery. If it doesn’t get help — or restart Russian imports — people worry their jobs will be gone.
JUIN 2025
Italy’s grand plan to meet NATO target: A €13.5B bridge to Sicily
Faced with a daunting new NATO spending target, Italian politicians are proposing that a long-discussed €13.5 billion bridge to Sicily should be defined as military expenditure.
China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power
Between January and May, China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind, enough to generate as much electricity as Indonesia or Turkey
The world wants China’s rare earth elements – what is life like in the city that produces them?
Environmentalists note that part of the reason that China has been able to dominate global supplies of rare earths at competitive prices is because, as well as being rich in natural resources, it has also been willing to let poor, rural people bear the brunt of the toxic, dirty work. But now China wants to clean up its image.
Trump can pull the plug on the internet, and Europe can't do anything about it
Trump is back — and with him, the risk that the U.S. could unplug Europe from the digital world.
India's Kashmir railway is an engineering feat - and an occupation project
India's new railway in Kashmir is less about connectivity and more about consolidating control through spectacle, displacement and militarisation
Dutch brawl over airport noise sets tone for rest of Europe
The government is moving to limit flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, but that’s angering activists and the aviation industry. The battle over the airport has become so bitter that it’s even given rise to a new Dutch word, schiphollen, meaning “manipulation, lies and distortion of facts,” something people living near the airport say they’ve been subjected to.
MAI 2025
Abandoned infrastructure one of the biggest polluters in the world – report
Emissions from abandoned coalmines, oil and gas wells globally are larger than any single country except China, the US and Russia
Europe is flushing its water down the drain
As climate change brings heatwaves, droughts and sudden bursts of torrential rain, much of Europe's leaky water infrastructure is dangerously underprepared for the coming storm.
Artificial intelligence threatens to raid the water reserves of Europe's driest regions
The EU wants to compete with the U.S. and China on artificial intelligence. But critics say policymakers haven't planned for the sector's extreme water demand.
Britain is wide open to Russian undersea sabotage
Critical gas pipelines, power lines and data cables are the “soft belly of British security,” ministers have been warned.
AVRIL 2025
Revealed: Big tech’s new datacentres will take water from the world’s driest areas
Amazon, Google and Microsoft are building datacentres in water-scarce parts of five continents
Clean energy's share of world's electricity reaches 40%, report says
More than 40 percent of the world's electricity was generated without burning fossil fuels in 2024, according to a new report from think-tank Ember.