People sitting their driving theory test will soon need to swot up on life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills, the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has decided.
All road users are being encouraged to learn the basics and know how to use a defibrillator in an emergency.
It’s hoped the questions, which will be added to the car and motorcycle theory test in early 2026, could prevent avoidable deaths.
Drivers are often first on the scene when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, says the DVSA.
Adding the information into the official learning materials means that the 2.4 million learner drivers who take their theory test each year will have a better understanding of the skills to use in an emergency, it says.
Learning materials have already been updated with the new content, including questions such as “Who can use a public access defibrillator?” – the answer being “everyone”.
A defibrillator gives a jolt of energy to the heart, which can help get it beating normally.
The devices are designed to be user-friendly, with clear instructions.
If CPR is given and a defibrillator used within the first minutes of collapse, survival rates could be as high as 70%, evidence suggests. Without it, fewer than one in 10 survive.
If someone is unconscious and not breathing normally, call 999 and start CPR straight away.
This can be “hands-only” CPR to deliver timely chest compressions to get blood pumping.
One of the new theory test questions is about the correct depth to push down.
James Cant, chief executive of Resuscitation Council UK, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the DVSA and other partners to introduce CPR and defibrillator awareness into the driving theory test.
“By embedding these life-saving skills into such a widely taken assessment, we can help ensure that more people, from all communities, gain the knowledge and confidence to act during a cardiac arrest.”
Elon Musk’s long-running feud with OpenAI and its chief, Sam Altman, appears to be continuing as he threatens a lawsuit over the App Store ranking of Grok AI assistant that competes with ChatGPT (JIM WATSON)
Elon Musk has taken his feud against OpenAI to the App Store, accusing Apple of favoring ChatGPT in the digital shop and vowing legal action.
“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation,” Musk said in a post on his social network X on Monday, without providing evidence to back his claim.
“xAI will take immediate legal action,” he added, referencing his own artificial intelligence company.
X users responded by pointing out that DeepSeek AI out of China hit the top spot in the App Store early this year, and Perplexity AI recently ranked number one in the App Store in India.
DeepSeek and Perplexity compete with OpenAI and Musk’s startup xAI.
Both OpenAI and xAI released new versions of their AI assistants, ChatGPT and Grok, in the past week.
App Store rankings on Tuesday listed ChatGPT as the top free iPhone app with Grok in fifth place.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Factors going into App Store rankings include user engagement, reviews, and the number of downloads.
OpenAI and Apple in June of last year announced an alliance to enhance iPhones and other devices with ChatGPT features.
ChatGPT-5 rolled out free to the nearly 700 million people who use it weekly, OpenAI said in a briefing with journalists last week.
Tech industry rivals Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and xAI have been pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence since the blockbuster launch of the first version of ChatGPT in late 2022.
Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the AI sector early this year with a model that delivers high performance using less costly chips.
OpenAI in April of this year filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a “relentless campaign” to damage the organization after it achieved success without him.
In legal documents filed at the time in northern California federal court, OpenAI alleged Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT.
The lawsuit was another round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world’s richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission.
In its countersuit, the company alleged Musk “made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead — not for humanity but for Elon Musk.”
KARACHI: After a 43pc surge during FY25, the new fiscal year FY26 began on a positive note, with sales of cars, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), pickups, and jeeps rising 28pc year-on-year in July to 11,034 units. However, sales were down 49pc month-on-month, largely due to the high base effect of June.
Data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) showed significant momentum in the electric vehicle (EV) segment. The newly launched Honda ICON e EV scooter led the way, with production and sales at 313 and 303 units, respectively. United, traditionally a petrol bike manufacturer, also reported EV-bike production and sales of 229 and 270 units in July 2025, up from 88 and 74 units in July 2024.
In the four-wheeler segment, combined sales of Honda Civic/City, Suzuki Swift, and Toyota Corolla/Yaris/Cross rose to 1,143, 522, and 2,418 units in July 2025, compared to 790, 502, and 1,106 units a year earlier — an increase of 45pc, 4pc, and 119pc, respectively.
Hyundai Elantra and Sonata also posted improved numbers, selling 141 and 66 units compared to 33 and 34 units in July 2024. Suzuki Cultus sales climbed to 239 units from 96. PAMA data showed no production for the Suzuki WagonR, indicating that Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd may have discontinued the model. Meanwhile, Suzuki Alto sales dipped to 2,327 units from 2,869.
EV segment sees notable expansion
Sales of Toyota Fortuner and Revo rose to 919 units from 558, while Hyundai Tucson and Honda BR-V/HR-V saw growth to 546 and 357 units, from 113 and 141, respectively. Haval by Sazgar and the JAC X200 recorded sales of 1,079 and 149 units, up from 824 and 102. Hyundai Porter and Santa Fe reached 395 and 77 units, versus 349 and 58, showing increases of 13pc and 33pc, respectively.
Myesha Sohail of Topline Securities attributed the YoY growth to a relatively stable macroeconomic environment, lower interest rates, and easing inflation — factors that have improved consumer confidence. The sharp MoM decline, she noted, was due to a high base in June 2025, driven by pre-budget buying and accelerated purchases ahead of anticipated fiscal changes.
She added that two- and three-wheeler sales rose 44pc YoY to 122,441 units but declined 12pc MoM. Atlas Honda led with 104,276 units sold in July 2025, up from 70,255, while Suzuki’s two-wheeler sales reached 2,518 units compared to 1,643. Yamaha sold 586 units, up from 302 last year.
The tractor segment, however, saw sales fall 18pc YoY and 57pc MoM to 1,195 units, as weak farm economics continued to weigh on rural demand.
Truck and bus sales reached 374 units in July 2025, reflecting a 22pc YoY increase but a 49pc MoM drop.Looking ahead, Myesha expects auto sales to maintain momentum through FY26, supported by lower interest rates and a strong pipeline of new model launches, particularly in hybrid and plug-in hybrid categories.
A South Korean former tech executive accused of helping to spark a cryptocurrency crisis that cost investors more than $40bn (£31.8bn) has pleaded guilty to two criminal counts of fraud.
Do Kwon was the boss of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, which operated two cryptocurrencies – TerraUSD and Luna – both of which collapsed in 2022, triggering a wider sell-off in the crypto market.
The US says he was responsible for the failure of the two digital currencies, accusing him of “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud”.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to refrain from seeking a sentence longer than 12 years. Kwon is due to be sentenced on 11 December.
Kwon’s guilty plea in a New York court comes after a lengthy legal battle.
He initially fled South Korea after a warrant for his arrest was issued in 2023, eventually ending up in Montenegro where he was arrested and jailed before being extradited to the US.
US prosecutors said Kwon misrepresented features that were supposed to keep the so-called stablecoin at $1 without outside intervention.
They alleged that in 2021, Kwon arranged for a trading firm to surreptitiously purchase millions of dollars worth of the token to restore TerraUSD’s value, even as he told investors that a computer algorithm called Terra Protocol was responsible.
Prosecutors say the alleged misrepresentation prompted a wide array of investors to buy Terraform’s offerings, which helped prop up the value of the company’s Luna token, which was closely linked to TerraUSD.
The following year, Kwon’s TerraUSD and the Luna cryptocurrency crashed.
“In 2021, I made false and misleading statements about why [TerraUSD] regained its peg,” he said in court on Tuesday.
“What I did was wrong and I want to apologise for my conduct,” he added.
Kwon had originally pleaded not guilty to nine counts stemming from the crash, including securities and wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
He had faced up to 135 years in prison if convicted of the charges in the original indictment.
As part of his plea deal, Kwon agreed to refrain from challenging the allegations in the indictment.
He must also forfeit up to $19.3m plus interest and several properties and pay restitution.
While prosecutors have agreed to limit their requested sentence to 12 years, Judge Paul Engelmayer maintained that he was entitled to prescribe a longer sentence.
That sentence could be up to 25 years in prison.
He still faces charges in South Korea, according to his attorney.
If the system gets it wrong, you can prove your age with a government-issued ID, credit card, or selfie. Browsing without logging in? Some content will be blocked unless you verify your age another way.
The trial comes amid growing political and legal pressure for tech platforms to step up age verification, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law aimed at restricting minors’ access to explicit material.
James Beser, YouTube’s director of product management for youth, said in a blog post that the system is designed to “deliver safety protections while preserving teen privacy,” though digital rights groups caution it could raise privacy and free speech concerns.
If successful, this test could pave the way for a global rollout—marking a future where YouTube knows your age not because you told it, but because it figured it out. For millions of users, that could mean smarter recommendations, stricter safeguards, and a new standard in how online platforms handle age verification.
Justin is a personal finance author and seasoned business journalist with over a decade of experience. He makes it his mission to break down complex financial topics and make them clear, relatable, and relevant—helping everyday readers navigate today’s economy with confidence.
Before returning to his Middle Eastern roots, where he was born and raised, Justin worked as a Business Correspondent at Reuters, reporting on equities and economic trends across both the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
Happy mid-week from Singapore. Asia markets are set for a mostly higher open.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 43,325, while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 43,280, against the index’s last close of 42,718.17.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 25,144, pointing to a higher open compared with the HSI’s last close of 24,969.68.
However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,852, compared with the index’s last close of 8,880.8.
— Lee Ying Shan
S&P 500 hits new intraday high
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on August 11, 2025.
NYSE
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% on Tuesday to hit a new intraday high.
S&P 5D chart
During the session, the S&P 500 surpassed its prior high from July 31. A closing high would be the S&P’s 16th of the year.
Earlier in the morning, the Nasdaq Composite also hit a new intraday high. A record close would be the benchmark’s 19th of the year.
Farrow & Ball is known for its outré colour names that include “Elephant’s Breath”, “Arsenic” and “Dead Salmon” but the company that owns the UK paint-maker has more than the luxury interiors market covered. Hempel a/s, a 109-year-old Danish company that owns various brands such as Crown, also manufactures cutting-edge coatings including those that adorn London’s Tower Bridge, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Elsewhere, its innovations can be glimpsed on the exteriors of oil rigs and gas platforms, as well as wind-turbine blades and ship’s hulls. All are rigorously formulated to reduce drag and pollution, and dazzle for far more than their hue.
Orange, the new black?Marine paint
Watching paint dry has never been this fascinating or this lucrative: in 2023, Hempel’s revenue grew by a record 13.7 per cent to €2.4bn. “Our marine business has seen huge growth in the past three years,” says Michael Hansen, Hempel group president and CEO, when Monocle meets him just north of Copenhagen at the company’s headquarters in Lundtofte. “Shipping is experiencing a paradigm shift. The focus now is on the environment and decarbonisation. Our marine coatings are here to help these organisations achieve their goals. If we can solve the biggest challenges facing the wind-energy industry, there is potential for real growth there too.”
The technicians in the research and development technology centre downstairs are busy tackling these issues. As Monocle dons anti-static overshoes, goggles and white coats, formulations specialist Camilla Holmberg informs photographer Mathias Eis that, due to the solvents used, this is an atex (“explosive atmosphere”) zone. For safety reasons, he’ll need to shoot at a minimum height of 80cms. First we visit the Colour Room, which is painted the most neutral of greys, where colours can be assessed under all sorts of lighting conditions. Next, Holmberg hands me a tongue of polyurethane paint that is used to coat the blades of wind turbines. Rain is an existential threat to offshore wind farms. In testing, Hempel subjects the blades to its helicopter-engined weather simulator and they come out looking like they’ve been gnawed by a colony of vicious rabbits. The paint’s rubbery texture counteracts this by enhancing wind resistance and providing protection against adverse conditions. Another of its miracle paints can help to maintain the integrity of burning buildings by puffing up to 50 times its original volume. It can withstand temperatures of 500c and is typically used for oil refineries but also coats the steel frame of Schiphol Airport.
CEO Michael Hansen
Chief people and culture officer Pernille Fritz Vilhelmsen
Hansen is particularly proud of Hempel’s newer marine coatings: one protects hull interiors against brutal cargos while also being easy to clean, enabling a quick turnaround in ports; another super-slippery, self-polishing, silicone-based external paint can reduce drag, and therefore fuel usage, by more than 17.7 per cent. There’s even a special paint to smooth over vertical welds on a ship’s outer hull. “This is really cool because welds are structural and you can’t grind them down,” says Hansen, taking nerdy delight in the details. “Using our paint on welds alone can reduce fuel consumption by 2 to 3 per cent. And it’s biocide-free, so it’s non-toxic.” To demonstrate the challenges faced when applying marine paints, Holmberg shakes a bottle of tomato ketchup. “To paint a ship, you need to be able to spray it but it mustn’t run or drip,” she says. “Just like ketchup when you shake it out of the bottle, it has to flow with the perfect consistency.”
In this context, Hansen’s move from shipping to paint, after 19 years at Danish shipping giant Maersk, doesn’t seem like such an odd career change. As he notes, Hempel started out in 1915 and Maersk was its first major customer. It was responsible for formulating the trademark “Maersk blue”. There are similarities between the company’s founders too. “Like Maersk, JC Hempel was a very entrepreneurial, outward-looking and innovative man: he went into the Middle East and Asia in the 1960s, for example,” says Hansen. “In addition to this, he firmly believed in moral responsibility.”
Protective clothing
This mindset led Jørgen Christian Hempel, who died 1986 aged 91, to effectively give away his fortune in 1948 when he created the Hempel Foundation, which is still the sole owner of the company. “He did it primarily to protect the group from a hostile takeover but over the past 20 years it has grown as a philanthropic foundation, giving more and more to charity,” says Hansen. Many of Denmark’s larger organisations, such as Lego, Maersk and Carlsberg, have separate charitable foundations but it is rarer for an entire company to be owned and run by them. It does have implications when the company needs to raise funds, though. “True, it means that we have to live from our own retained earnings but we want to be the industry leader in sustainability. For that, it is an advantage to have the foundation’s long-term approach. Above all, the fact that our dividends go to philanthropy gives the people who work here a huge sense of purpose.”
“The foundation is a major reason why so many people are drawn to roles at Hempel,” says Pernille Fritz Vilhelmsen, chief people and culture officer. “When we go to work, we know that our proceeds are not going straight to shareholders or an owner but towards doing good. It is a unique proposition in terms of employer branding and we do use it in recruitment.”
Inside Hempel’s HQ
This purpose-driven loyalty is one of the reasons why Hempel is considered to be among the best companies in Denmark to work for. Its HQ is appealing too. Built by Swedish architects Sweco, it has a central spiral staircase that emulates a can of paint being stirred. There is a fully staffed canteen and working hours are flexible. “Our Danish business is [financially] insignificant but we are still inspired by the country’s values,” says Hansen, who took over the top post a year-and- a-half ago. “We put our people first because innovation doesn’t come from nowhere. It also makes sense to be in Denmark. It’s easy to reach the rest of the world from Copenhagen; the reputation for quality of life here means that we attract overseas talent; and we have access to educated labour.” Since 2017 the Hempel Foundation has supported a science and technology centre within The Danish Technical University (DTU) that specialises in sustainable coating solutions. Once they have concluded their studies, many graduates join the organisation.
7,500 Employees in total (including 400 in the Danish HQ, 1,300 in the UK and 1,000 in China).
400 million Total amount of paint produced in litres in 2023.
6,500 Number of Hempel paint standards.
26 Number of factories, plus 15 R&D centres.
€21m The Hempel Foundation: has total assets of €848m and donated a record €21m in 2022.
Hempel’s business is divided into four sectors. Besides its marine, infrastructure and energy ventures, it also runs a decorative operation. Under this umbrella is paint and wallpaper company Farrow & Ball, which was founded in 1946 in Dorset, England, where it is still based. In 2021 it was bought by Hempel from US private-equity firm Ares for a reported €580m. The decorative arm also includes Crown Paints and JW Ostendorf in Germany. Farrow & Ball showrooms and Crown Decorating shops make up some of the 200 or so high street shops that Hempel runs in the UK. “Sometimes I wonder why we aren’t solely available online but the painting and decorating industry is surprisingly conservative,” says Hansen. “It turns out that professionals love to come into the shops for a cup of coffee before they start their day. It’s a big part of the appeal.” The decorative sector boomed during the coronavirus pandemic but has been hit by energy and material price hikes over the past two years. “There are still real challenges,” says Hansen. “Decorative hasn’t recovered yet.”
Paint samples in the Colour Room
The R&D lab’s paint storage
Ana Henriques, Hempel’s executive vice-president, head of decorative, is partly responsible for nurturing the sector back to health. Henriques joined the company from AB InBev in New York and has faith that the consumer brands can innovate their way back to greater revenues. “Farrow & Ball has always been a pioneer: we were the first to have showrooms rather than just traditional paint shops,” says Henriques.
“We have also embraced working with colour consultants, e-commerce and collaborating with designers. These days we are very well connected with influencers and a have a more-than-two-million-strong following on social media. But what comes first is the quality of our products, which are known for their richness and depth of colour.” In total, Farrow & Ball uses 12 different pigments to blend its 132 current shades. Historically, pigments would have come from a wide range of unusual sources: “India Yellow”, for instance, was once made from the urine of cows fed on a diet of mango leaves. Today they are all chemically created. The company is in the middle of gently revamping its colour range – something that happens every five years. The expectation this year is that surfaces that were painted at the height of the coronavirus pandemic will be looking a little tatty. “It has been a while since everyone redecorated,” says Henrique.
The air that we breathe in our homes and offices is a major topic among Danish architects right now. Volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are released when paint is applied, and over the longer term, are of particular concern. “Farrow & Ball was the first company to go 100 per cent water-based,” says Henriques. “People want their homes to feel healthy: they don’t want the smell of paint to linger, which means that they are going for low VOC options [Farrow & Ball paints are low- trace VOC – the best rating]. They also want to use colour to create specific moods.”
What’s on the cards?
Camilla Holmberg, formulations specialist
Customers can enlist the help of Farrow & Ball’s colour-consultancy service, which sees a representative visit homes to suggest a palette of calming tones or energising combinations. Before the end of the year the company will also offer an upgraded virtual service. It will then be possible to scan rooms, furniture included, on your phone and see the effect of different paints.
As a global company, Hempel employs a cross-cultural approach to colour and finish. “We have colour-trend teams who keep an eye on textiles, fashion, ceramics and social media,” says Henriques. “For instance, customers in the Middle East look for external paint in natural shades, you won’t see dark colours on houses and finishes need to withstand sand erosion. Cooler climates tend to like yellowish hues. In hotter climates, where the use of whiter indoor lighting is more widespread, colours appear differently. Big, bold reds are having a moment in Germany but in Scandinavia everything is white. Different countries are also drawn to different textures: in the US, smooth surfaces appeal whereas in Germany more ‘movement’ is allowed.” Even the way in which professionals work with Hempel varies. “In Germany, people prefer to use an oval paint bucket so that they can dip the roller straight in, unlike in other places, where they use trays.”
Looking ahead, the popularity of cold greys is waning and warmer tones might be returning to favour. But right now, Henriques detects a definite lust for coatings with depth. “Very rich green is having a bit of a moment,” she says, nodding emphatically.
Artist’s impression of a small nuclear power station
Rolls-Royce’s plan to power artificial intelligence (AI) with its nuclear reactors could make it the UK’s most valuable company, its boss has said.
The engineering firm has signed deals to provide small modular reactors (SMRs) to the UK and Czech governments to power AI-driven data centres.
AI has boomed in popularity since 2022, but the technology use lots of energy, something which has raised practical and environmental concerns.
Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic told the BBC it has the “potential” to become the UK’s highest-valued company by overtaking the largest firms on the London Stock Exchange thanks to its SMR deals.
“There is no private company in the world with the nuclear capability we have. If we are not market leader globally, we did something wrong,” he said.
Tufan Erginbilgic has overseen a ten-fold increase in Rolls-Royce’s share price since taking over in January 2023.
However, he has ruled out the idea of Rolls-Royce seeking to list its shares in New York as British chip designer Arm has done and the likes of Shell and AstraZeneca have considered in the search for higher valuations.
This is despite the fact that 50% of its shareholders and customers are US-based.
“It’s not in our plan,” said Mr Erginbilgic, a Turkish energy industry veteran. “I don’t agree with the idea you can only perform in the US. That’s not true and hopefully we have demonstrated that.”
AI investment
Rolls-Royce already supplies the reactors that power dozens of nuclear submarines. Mr Erginbilgic said the company has a massive advantage in the future market of bringing that technology on land in the form of SMRs.
SMRs are not only smaller but quicker to build than traditional nuclear plants, with costs likely to come down as units are rolled out.
He estimates that the world will need 400 SMRs by 2050. At a cost of up to $3bn (£2.2bn) each, that’s another trillion dollar-plus market he wants and expects Rolls-Royce to dominate.
The company has signed a deal to develop six SMRs for the Czech Republic and is developing three for the UK.
But it remains an unproven technology. Mr Erginbilgic conceded he could not currently point to a working SMR example but said he was confident in its future potential.
There are also concerns about the demands on water supplies from the data centre and SMR cooling systems.
In response, companies including Google, Microsoft and Meta have signed deals to take energy from SMRs in the US when they are available.
Next generation aircraft
Rolls-Royce sees SMRs as key to its future, but its biggest business is aircraft engines.
Already dominant in supplying engines to wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, it plans to break into the next generation of narrow-bodied aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. This market is worth $1.6tn – nine times that of the wide-bodied .
Rolls-Royce is abit player in a market that has powerful and successful leaders, and that rival Pratt and Witney lost $8bn trying and failing to break into.
The market is dominated by CFM International – a joint venture between US-based GE Aerospace and French company Safran Aerospace Engines.
Industry veterans told the BBC that market leaders can and will drop prices to airline customers long enough to see off a new assault on their market dominance.
But Mr Erginbilgic said this is not just the biggest business opportunity for Rolls-Royce. Rather, it is “for industrial strategy… the single biggest opportunity for the UK for economic growth”.
“No other UK opportunity, I challenge, will match that,” he said.
Share price up ten-fold
Although Rolls-Royce sold its car making business to BMW nearly 30 years ago, the name of the company is still synonymous with British engineering excellence.
But in the early part of this decade that shine had worn off. The company was heavily indebted, its profit margins were non-existent, and thousands of staff were being laid off.
When Mr Erginbilgic took over in January 2023, he likened the company to “a burning platform”.
“Our cost of capital was 12%, our return was 4% so every time we invested we destroyed value,” he said.
Two and a half years later, the company expects to make a profit of over £3bn, its debt levels have fallen and shares have risen over 1,000% – a ten-fold rise.
So how did that happen? And is Mr Erginbilgic right to think that Rolls-Royce’s roll is only just starting?
‘Grudging respect’
The timing of his appointment was fortunate according to some industry veterans.
Rolls-Royce’s biggest business – supplying engines to commercial airlines – has rebounded strongly from the Covid pandemic.
The company’s most successful product – the Trent series of aircraft engines – are at the sweet spot of profitability as the returns on investment in their development over a decade ago begin to pour into company coffers.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 arguably made it almost inevitable that its defence business would see higher spending from European governments – which has been confirmed by recent announcements.
Unions have not always been fans of Mr Erginbilgic’s hard-charging approach.
In October 2023, one of his first major move was cutting jobs, which drew criticism from Sharon Graham, the boss of the Unite union.
“This announcement appears to be about appeasing the markets and its shareholders while ignoring its workers,” she said at the time.
However, overall global headcount has grown from 43,000 to 45,000 since 2023 and union sources say there is “grudging respect” for Mr Erginbilgic.
Those sources give him one third of the credit for the turnaround around in the company’s fortunes, with a third credited to market conditions and a third to his predecessor Warren East for “steadying the ship”.
So does Mr Erginbilgic really believe that Rolls-Royce can be the UK’s most valuable company – overtaking the likes of AstraZeneca, HSBC, and Shell?
“We are now number five in the FTSE. I believe the growth potential we created in the company right now, in our existing business and our new businesses, actually yes – we have that potential.”
Rolls-Royce is undoubtedly a company with the wind at its back – and Tufan Ergenbilgic certainly believes he has set the sails just right.
Rare earths are essential in the production of alloys for magnets
Drive three hours north of Perth, and you’ll arrive in Eneabba.
This is Western Australia mining territory – the landscape is barren and desolate, just the odd hill in the distance.
Buried in this vast terrain is a massive pit, full of what looks like mounds of worthless dirt.
But appearances can be deceiving: in fact, this pit is home to a million tonne stockpile containing critical minerals, and Australia’s bet on the future.
Earlier this year, carmakers and other manufacturers around the world rushed to their war rooms, alarmed that China’s tight export controls on rare earth magnets – crucial for makingelectric vehicles, wind turbines and defence equipment – could cripple production.
Ford was forced to halt production of its popular Explorer SUV for a week at one of its Chicago plants – a bold move for a major automaker already grappling with pressure from Trump’s tariffs.
A month later, CEO Jim Farley revealed the pause was triggered by a shortage of rare earths, admitting the company was still struggling to secure reliable supply of the critical minerals.
“It’s day to day,” Mr Farley told Bloomberg TV.
Beijing has since agreed to let rare earths minerals and magnets flow to the United States, which eased the disruption.
But without a trade deal between the US and China, the fear is that the rare earths bottleneck could return, creating a massive supply chain shock.
It’s triggered a realisation amongst policymakers and manufacturers everywhere: Beijing’s control of rare earths has the world in a chokehold.
“The West dropped the ball – that’s the reality. And China was in for the long run – it saw the benefit and was willing to invest in it,” says Jacques Eksteen, chair for extractive metallurgy at Curtin University.
Why rare earths matter
The phrase “rare earths” – referring to 17 elements on the periodic table which are lightweight, super strong and resistant to heat, making them useful in small electric motors – is something of a misnomer.
“Rare earths are not rare or scarce. Gold is scarce, but it’s not a critical material,” Professor Eksteen explains.
Rare earths are critical, however. Take the average electric vehicle – there might be rare earths-based motors in dozens of components from side mirrors and speakers to windshield wipers and breaking sensors.
The problem is therefore not amount, but the fact “somewhere in the supply chain you’ve got one or maybe a few countries controlling that bottleneck”, Professor Eksteen adds.
In the 90s, Europe and France in particular had a prominent rare earths industry. Today, almost all these minerals come from China, which has spent decades mining and refining at scale.
China now accounts for more than half of global rare earth mining, and almost 90% of processing.
The US sources 80% of its rare earth imports from China, while the European Union relies on China for about 98% of its supply.
“China has since very deliberately and overtly sought to control the market for the purposes of supporting their downstream manufacturing and defence industries,” says Dan McGrath, head of rare earths for Iluka Resources, in between driving us around the company’s vast Eneabba site.
But Mr McGrath, and Iluka, are hoping to make a dent in that control – even if it wasn’t necessarily in the company’s original plan.
Iluka’s 1mn tonne stockpile is worth more than $650m
For decades, Iluka has been mining zircon in Australia – a key ingredient in ceramics, and titanium dioxide used in the pigmentation of paint, plastics and paper.
It just so happens the byproducts of these mineral sands include dysprosium and terbium – some of the most sought-after rare earths.
Over the years, Iluka has built up the stockpile, and is now worth more than $650m (£440m).
This was the easy part, however. The processing or refining is another matter altogether.
“They’re chemically very similar so to try and separate them requires a huge number of stages,” Professor Eksteen explained.
“Also, you’ve got residues and wastes that you have to deal with out of this industry, and that’s problematic. They often produce radioactive materials. It comes at a cost.”
And that is one of the reasons why the Australian government is loaning Iluka A$1.65bn ($1bn; £798m) to build a refinery to meet demand for rare earths which Iluka sees growing by 50-170% by the end of the decade.
“We expect to be able to supply a significant proportion of Western demand for rare earths by 2030. Our customers recognise that having an independent, secure and sustainable supply chain outside of China is fundamental for the continuity of their business,” says Mr McGrath.
“This refinery and Iluka’s commitment to the rare earth business is an alternative to China.”
The Australian government see investment in rare earths as a strategic decision
But the refinery will take another two years to build and come online.
“Without the strategic partnership we have with the Australian government, a rare earths project would not be economically viable,” Mr McGrath says.
A strategic necessity
China’s recent willingness to turn supply of rare earths on and off has spurred trading partners to diversify their suppliers.
Iluka says because automakers for example plan their production years in advance, it is already fielding requests for when its refinery does come online.
Rare earths are critical to the green transition, electric vehicles, and defence technologies – making their control a pressing national priority.
“The open international market in critical minerals and rare earths is a mirage. It doesn’t exist. And the reason it doesn’t exist is because there is one supplier of these materials and they have the wherewithal to change where the market goes, whether that be in pricing or supply,” Australia’s resources minister Madeleine King says.
Canberra sees government intervention as necessary to provide an alternative supply, and help the world rely less on China.
“We can either sit back and do nothing about that… or we can step up to take on the responsibility to develop a rare earths industry here that competes with that market,” Ms King adds.
But there is something that Australia will have to contend with as it invests and works to expand a rare earths industry – pollution.
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Critics say China’s environmental protections and regulations are weak
In China, environmental damage from years of processing rare earths has led to chemicals and radioactive waste seeping into waterways – cities and people bearing the scars of decades of poor regulation.
With rare earths, it’s not so much about the mining footprint, rather the processing that is a dirty business – because it involves extraction, leaching, thermal cracking and refining which produce radioactive components.
“I think there is no metal industry that is completely clean… unfortunately, it’s a matter of picking your poison sometimes,” Professor Eksteen says.
“In Australia, we’ve got mechanisms to handle that. We’ve got a legal environment and a framework to work with that to at least deal with it responsibly.”
The EU has in the past accused China of using a “quasi monopoly” on rare earths as a bargaining chip, weaponising it to undermine competitors in key industries.
The bloc – which is home to hundreds of auto manufacturers that so desperately need rare earths – said even if China has loosened restrictions on supplies, the threat of supply chain shocks remains.
Even if building a brand new industry will take time, Australia seems to have a lot going for it in the rare earths race, as it tries to be a more reliable and cleaner source.
And one that – crucially – is independent of China.
