Jane Seidel

6 days ago | restofworld.org | Lam Le |Jane Seidel

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing tour of Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia has drawn U.S. ire as he promotes free trade in a region facing some of the stiffest American tariffs. During Xi’s stop in Vietnam, the two countries signed agreements on supply chains and a joint railway.

3 weeks ago | restofworld.org | Lam Le |Jane Seidel

China’s satellite internet upstart seems to be taking aim at Starlink. SpaceSail, a Chinese space company backed by the Shanghai municipal government, has been entering markets where Elon Musk has faced friction. SpaceSail has launched around 90 satellites since last year. It is in talks with over 30 countries, with plans to have 648 satellites launched by the end of 2025, and 15,000 by 2030. Currently, Musk’s Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in orbit.

3 weeks ago | restofworld.org | Lorena Rios |Lorena Ríos |Jane Seidel

As the presidents of Mexico and the U.S. engaged in a diplomatic spat over tariffs earlier this month, one Mexican politician sprang into action. Samuel García, the governor of Nuevo León, a border state and key producer of parts for electric vehicles, announced plans to mitigate the “possible economic crisis.”Nuevo León will “remain in first place,” a defiant García said at a briefing, as a fresh 25% tariff on goods from Mexico took effect.

4 weeks ago | restofworld.org | Damilare Dosunmu |Jane Seidel

Africa just scored a major tech coup. On March 24, Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies announced a partnership with Nvidia to build Africa’s first artificial intelligence factory. This isn’t just another data center — it’s a specialized powerhouse designed specifically for AI computing. Cassava plans to use Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI technology in South Africa by June 2025, with expansion planned across Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. It has not given a timeline.

1 month ago | podcasts.apple.com | Jane Seidel

The Chinese company Gotion's EV battery plan was the kind of big, ambitious, the U.S. economy — and the struggling small town of Big Rapids — needed. But that’s not how some locals saw it. In this narrated feature Rest of World explores how ambitious executives at Gotion wanted to join America’s EV gold rush, but were met with geopolitics in rural Michigan, USA. Written by Viola Zhou. Narrated by Jane Seidel.