By John Liu and Hassan Tayir, CNN

 7 minute read 

Published 9:27 PM EDT, Wed March 26, 2025

BYD’s logo is seen at a showroom in Warsaw, Poland on March 22, 2025. Stringer/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesHong KongCNN — 

In the world of electric vehicles, there’s a Chinese company outdoing Elon Musk’s Tesla. And it’s just getting started.

BYD, the Shenzhen-based Chinese EV champion, eclipsed Tesla in annual sales last year. Last week, it unveiled a revolutionary battery charging technology that it says adds 250 miles of range in five minutes, outpacing Tesla’s Superchargers, which take 15 minutes to add 200 miles. And last month, BYD launched “God’s Eye,” an advanced driver-assistance system rivaling Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature, at no extra cost for most of its cars.

Continue reading It’s the world’s hottest car company. You can’t buy one in America →

Al Jazeera English – 17-3-2025

Far from being a tragedy for Africa, the demise of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at the hands of President Donald Trump’s administration should be cause for celebration, argues Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the former ambassador of the African Union to the US.

Chihombori-Quao tells host Steve Clemons that USAID doesn’t have much to show for its decades of education and healthcare projects in Africa and often destabilised countries under the guise of environmental, human rights or social justice agendas.

And if the US is not interested in Africa, African leaders shouldn’t beg for better relations, she said. “It takes two to tango,” the former diplomat said.

WSJ News – 4-2-2025

WSJ’s Shelby Holliday breaks down why President Trump and Elon Musk have targeted USAID, the DC-based international aid organization with more than 10,000 employees and relief operations around the world. Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Zuma Press/Will Oliver/Shutterstock

New York Times

The president ordered the withdrawal of the country from the Paris climate agreement and took action on immigration policy and other issues such as creating the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump Signs Executive Orders at Inaugural Celebration

President Trump signed several executive orders in front of his supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

“So I am revoking nearly 80 destructive, radical executive actions of the previous administration, they’ll all be null and void within about what, five minutes. Is that them over there? Five minutes.” “The first item that President Trump is signing is the rescission of 78 Biden era executive actions, executive orders, presidential memoranda and others.” [cheering] “Thank you, sir.” [cheering] “The next item here is the withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty.” [cheering]

Continue reading Trump’s slew of actions at inauguration →

UNCTAD

17 January 2025

UN Trade and Development’s 16th quadrennial conference is set for October with a focus on driving economic transformation for a more sustainable future.

Default image copyright and description© UNCTAD Photo | The Trade and Development Board meets for its 33rd special session in Geneva on 17 January.

The 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) will take place Viet Nam in October 2025 under the theme “Shaping the future: Driving economic transformation for equitable, inclusive and sustainable development”.

Continue reading UNCTAD16: Countries to meet in Viet Nam to propel development in a multipolar world →

Here are some stories you might have missed this week, curated by Times editors and personalized for you.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press Trump’s Deportation Plan Is Said to Start Next Week in ChicagoThe size of the planned immigration raids is unclear, but they would be the opening step in the president-elect’s goal of overseeing the largest deportation program in history.By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz

Audra Melton for The New York Times As Polio Survivors Watch Kennedy Confirmation, All Eyes Are on McConnellThere are an estimated 300,000 polio survivors in the United States. For some, the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary is reviving their painful memories.By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

The New York Times Support for Trump’s Policies Exceeds Support for TrumpA new poll found the public is sympathetic to the president-elect’s plans to deport migrants and reduce America’s presence overseas.By Jeremy W. Peters and Ruth Igielnik

The Intervew Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening.The once-fringe writer has long argued for an American monarchy. His ideas have found an audience in the incoming administration and Silicon Valley.52 MIN LISTEN

Doug Mills/The New York TimesNews Analysis Under Trump’s Big Tent, Republicans Are Starting to ClashDonald J. Trump won his battle with establishment Republicans. Now, it’s disputes over immigration, taxes and foreign policy that will test his party’s unity.By Lisa Lerer and Michael C. Bender

January 15, 2025By Victor Cha and Ellen Kim, CSIS

Photo credit: The Presidential Office/Handout Yoon Suk Yeol, the lionized prosecutor-turned-politician who led the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye before becoming president himself, was arrested this morning at 10:33 am Seoul time on charges of insurrection related to his declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. He is the first sitting South Korean president ever to be arrested. 
Continue reading The Arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol →

Updated 9:12 PM EST, Tue January 14, 2025

A burned car left in the wake of the Palisades Fire is seen in the Santa Monica Mountains at sunrise on Tuesday, January 14. 
Continue watching on CNN >>

 

By Natasha Bertrand and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN

Updated 4:48 PM EST, Wed January 8, 2025

When President-elect Donald Trump mused about buying Greenland from Denmark during his first administration, the Danish prime minister called the idea “absurd” and rebuffed him outright.

Now, Danish officials are being warned by Trump allies and advisers that he is serious, multiple Danish officials told CNN. And they’re carefully weighing how to respond without sparking a major rupture with a close ally and fellow NATO member.

“The ecosystem supporting this idea is totally different now” than it was in 2019, when Trump first proposed it, said one senior Danish official. “This seems much more serious,” said another senior Danish official.

Continue reading Danish officials fear Trump is much more serious about acquiring Greenland than in first term →

By Michael Williams, CNN

 6 minute read 

Updated 6:15 PM EST, Wed January 8, 2025

A ship is guided through the Panama Canal’s Miraflores locks near Panama City on April 24, 2023. Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN — 

Editor’s Note: This story originally published on December 23, 2024. It has been updated to reflect recent developments.

President-elect Donald Trump is not letting up on his suggestions that the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that has been rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

In social media posts and remarks to supporters, Trump has accused Panama of charging the US “exorbitant rates” to use the canal and hinted at growing Chinese influence over the crucial waterway. And at an hour-long news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, he said the nearly half-century-old decision by the US to hand over control of the canal was a “terrible thing to do.”

Continue reading What’s the history of the Panama Canal, and why is Trump threatening to retake control of it? →

Al Jazeera English 16-12- 2024

Donald Trump has promised to introduce a range of new tariffs on imports to the US when he takes office in January. What exactly are tariffs? Why is Trump so keen on them? And why do some people think his plans could backfire and hurt the US economy? #AJStartHere with Sandra Gathmann explains.

Continue reading What are tariffs and could Trump’s plans backfire? →

SÁNG ÁNH – 29/12/2024 07:55 GMT+7

TTCT – Sau biến cố 7-10-2023 ở Israel, tại khu vực Trung Đông, vấn đề chính năm qua vẫn là xoay quanh Palestine.

Ảnh: The New Arab

Chuyện này không có gì mới, nhưng cường độ của vấn đề ở mức cao nhất từ hơn 100 năm qua, tức từ ngày xuất hiện phong trào Zion chủ nghĩa vào cuối thế kỷ 19. 

Nhắc lại, đây là phong trào thế tục sanh ra tại Âu châu, nơi người theo đạo và văn hóa Do Thái từng bị 1.000 năm phân biệt, chèn ép, bài xích, đưa đến xua đuổi, trục xuất và tiêu diệt. 

Giải pháp của Zion chủ nghĩa không phải là tranh đấu và đòi quyền bình đẳng sinh sống tại các nước Âu Tây, nơi họ có bấy nhiêu thế kỷ hiện diện, mà là lập một quốc gia riêng biệt.

Như vậy, Israel ra đời năm 1948 là vì người Do Thái bị Âu châu bạc đãi và trù dập. Hoàn cảnh lịch sử với ngày tàn của đế quốc Ottoman, thất trận của đế quốc Đức, rồi Đức quốc xã, khiến họ trở thành đồng minh đắc lực của Tây phương trong khu vực.

Như ngoại trưởng Mỹ Alexander Haig nói 35 năm trước: “Israel là tàu sân bay lớn nhất thế giới của Mỹ mà không thể bị đánh chìm, (lại) không cần đến một người lính Mỹ và ở tại vị trí then chốt cho an ninh Mỹ”.

Continue reading Trung Đông 2024: Một năm đảo lộn →

Al Jazeera English – 22-12-2024

Thousands of pilgrims and visitors normally flock to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank during the Christmas holidays. But celebrations have been quiet for the second year in a row as Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Haji reports.