Munira Mutaher

3 days ago | restofworld.org | Paromita Dey |Munira Mutaher

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 petroleum production. Ambitious climate targets, expanding charging infrastructure, and a growing range of vehicles at various price points are driving this EV revolution.

6 days ago | restofworld.org | Lam Le |Munira Mutaher

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 ShopeeiShopeeSingapore-based Shopee, a subsidiary of Sea Ltd., is a major e-commerce platform that operates across Southeast Asia.READ MORE, TikTok Shop, and Lazada, it’s not a full surrender yet.

1 week ago | restofworld.org | Kinling Lo |Munira Mutaher

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 as workers in factories, elderly care, and domestic settings. Several companies are hoping to begin mass production as early as this year. But escalating trade tensions could derail those efforts.

1 week ago | restofworld.org | Indulekha Aravind |Munira Mutaher

A 3-year-old homegrown startup has upended India’s ride-hailing sector. Namma Yatri, launched in 2022 as an auto-rickshaw aggregator, has changed how drivers earn from ride-hailing platforms. The app, developed in consultation with a drivers’ union in Bengaluru, discarded the dominant commission-based model and pioneered a subscription-based system where drivers pay the platform a nominal fee and get to keep the entire fare charged from customers.

2 weeks ago | restofworld.org | Kinling Lo |Munira Mutaher

Washington’s latest export restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 chips are likely to accelerate China’s shift toward domestic alternatives, as homegrown firms strive to close the gap with global rivals. Years of controls on U.S. chips have pushed the Chinese government to invest billions in its domestic supply chain for semiconductors that are key to the development of artificial intelligence.