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How UAE is shifting gears to lead Middle East’s EV revolution

Once a land of gas-guzzling super-cars, the United Arab Emirates is rapidly emerging as the Middle East’s unexpected electric vehicle leader, signaling global energy transition has reached the heartlands of...

© Christopher Pike/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A Tesla Inc. electric vehicle drives past residential and commercial skyscrapers in the Dubai Marina district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. Chinese investors are gradually returning to Dubai's real estate market, joining Russian and other international buyers who have already pushed property prices in the emirate to record levels. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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How do you compete with Chinese e-commerce giants? A Vietnamese company is deploying housewives

Vietnam’s e-commerce platform Sendo, once seen as a homegrown rival to deep-pocketed foreign competitors, shut down its core marketplace on April 15. While Sendo’s closure stemmed from the dominance of...

© Photography by Linh Pham for Rest of World

Nguyen Lan Huong, 30, receives groceries from a Sendo Farm motorbike delivery rider on May 3, 2025, in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Linh Pham for Rest of World)
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The trade war is delaying the future of humanoid robot workers

As viral clips of robots doing flips, kung-fu, and running a marathon rack up views online, U.S. and Chinese firms are locked in a more high-stakes race: deploying humanoid robots...

© Florence Lo/Reuters/Redux

An employee works on a desk near displays of humanoid robot parts, at the office of developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Why India fell behind China in tech innovation

China’s DeepSeek moment has triggered unease for the Indian government and tech industry. Earlier this month, India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, rebuked the country’s entrepreneurs for their lack of innovation....

© Jishnu Bandyopadhyay for Rest of World

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Chinese sellers and U.S. buyers prepare for the end of ultracheap shopping

Phillip Dampier, in Rochester, New York, spends up to eight hours a day on Chinese shopping sites, and has already shelled out about $3,500 on electronics and home goods. He...

© Cooper Neill/The New York Times/Redux

FILE -- A shopper at a Shein pop-up store at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, Aug. 26, 2022. Two bipartisan bills were introduced in Congress this week seeking to change a nearly 100-year-old trade law that allows imported packages that fall under a certain price threshold to receive less oversight while moving through the United States customs process. Shein is one of the companies the bills would affect. (Cooper Neill/The New York Times)
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