Rare Earth & Mining Ethics: The Inter-American Development Bank chief met Pope Leo XIV to argue rare-earth mining can power the tech boom if safeguards and local value-add are built in, amid Vatican concerns over mining’s harm to Indigenous communities. Oil & Gas Deal in Equatorial Guinea: Kosmos Energy completed the sale of its non-operating interests in offshore assets to Panoro Energy, including the Ceiba field and Okume Complex in Block G, receiving $127m at closing plus possible performance-linked payments. Health Security Funding: Angola pledged $5m to the Africa CDC to back the Great Lakes Ebola response, urging partners to shift from statements to direct budget support for prevention, surveillance, and response. Sleeping Sickness Milestone: WHO validated Kenya as free of human African trypanosomiasis, marking the 10th African country to eliminate the disease as a public health problem. Mobile Tech Boost: A GSMA report says mobile services could add $290bn to Africa’s economy by 2030, with the key challenge now being getting more people to use mobile internet. Equatorial Guinea Governance: Commentary highlights Equatorial Guinea’s cabinet resignation and the limits of “hand-picked” reshuffles in a system dominated by the presidency and dynastic succession. Seismic Data for Exploration: TGS agreed with Equatorial Guinea’s hydrocarbon authorities to harmonize offshore seismic data into a MegaSurvey, aiming to reduce exploration risk across the Rio del Rey and Rio Muni basins.