Prince William has said he comes with “no other agenda” than wanting to “help people who are in need,” in a documentary series that follows the future King as he launches a five-year program he hopes will help end homelessness in six locations across the United Kingdom.

The “Homewards” program, launched in collaboration with the prince’s Royal Foundation, will provide up to £500,000 ($648,000) worth of seed funding in each of the six sites to support pioneering homeless initiatives, which – if successful – could be replicated in other locations, both nationally and internationally.

“The ultimate ambition is to prove that we can prevent homelessness in these regions so that others will come along and say, ‘well if they can do it, why can’t we?,’” the Prince of Wales said in the two-part ITV series, which aired in the UK on Wednesday and Thursday. “I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century.”

Filmed over a 12-month period, the documentary follows the prince and other experts on a hunt for potential solutions to the UK’s homelessness crisis.

When the Homewards program was launched last year, William faced some pushback for his involvement, seen by critics as ironic, or even counterintuitive, given his sprawling personal property portfolio. On the UK radio station LBC, he was dubbed the “prince of homelessness” by host James O’Brien.

But William opted to confront his detractors head-on in the film. “Why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people where I can?” he said. “I like a big challenge, I do like that, but I can’t do it on my own.”

William’s ability to put people at their ease is a quality recognized by many featured in the documentary, including Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, who was formerly homeless but is now an advocate for the initiative, working closely with the prince.

Raised in Newport, south Wales, the 41-year-old started living on the streets when she was 15 years old. “My dad had a terminal brain tumor, he died when I was 9 years old,” she said in the documentary. “The impact on the family was enormous.”

Cohen-Hatton ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Newport to “escape” her family breakdown at home, she said. Like many UK cities, Newport has seen street homelessness almost double over the past three years, according to the documentary.

Now the chief fire officer for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in south England, Cohen-Hatton is supporting the prince by scouting out successful homelessness programs across the UK that could be scaled up.

“That’s one of the great things about the prince, he has real convening power. He’s able to get people around the table thinking about a perennial problem in a completely different way, and what their contribution to that could be.”

She added: “From my perspective, he has been absolutely critical in driving this forward.”

For Mick Clarke, CEO of London homelessness charity The Passage, the documentary offers viewers a glimpse of the real William.

“We see him as the real person. When he comes (to The Passage) he’s very relaxed, very chilled. I kind of get a feeling there’s a bit of a family relationship there, given the history back to when he was 11,” he explained in a Q&A after a press screening of the documentary. “He’s also very authentic and people who have lived with homelessness are very good at sussing almost instantly whether someone is straightforward, whether they are authentic or not, and he just feels very comfortable.”

He continued, “I think it shone a light on a side that we see all the time – that these guys will see in the meetings they have with him – but sometimes the public don’t.”

The second episode explored the issue of youth homelessness in the UK and saw the prince offer up Duchy of Cornwall land to build 24 new homes, which are set to be completed in 2025.

The two-part documentary will be available to stream globally on Disney+ from Friday, and viewers in the UK can catch up on ITVX.

Israel expects its “Iron Beam” laser defense system to be operational within one year, saying it will bring “a new era of warfare” as it engages in a war of drones and missiles with Iran and its regional partners.

The Jewish state spent more than $500 million on deals this week with Israeli developers Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, architect of Israel’s Iron Dome, and Elbit Systems to expand production of the shield. Dubbed the Iron Beam, the shield aims to use high-power lasers to counter an array of projectiles, including missiles, drones, rockets and mortars, Israel’s defense ministry said this week.

“It heralds the beginning of a new era in warfare,” Eyal Zamir, director general of the defense ministry, said in a statement this week. “The initial capability of the ground-based laser system… is expected to enter operational service within one year,” he said.

Israel first unveiled a prototype of the Iron Beam in 2021 and has since been working to get it up and running.

The defense ministry’s comments come as Israel presses on with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and after its military engaged twice in direct missile attacks with Iran.

Since Israel began its war on Hamas in Gaza last year, following the October 7 attack, it has also been fighting a war with the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” across Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Iran and its partners have been seeking to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome by pelting it with various projectiles, from rockets and drones to mortars and ballistic missiles, experts previously said.

From southern Lebanon, where Israel is now waging a ground war, Hezbollah’s rockets have reached deep inside Israel. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s beachside home in the coastal city of Caesarea was damaged in a drone strike claimed by the Shiite Lebanese group. One of the three drones that were launched evaded Israel’s aerial defense system.

Experts say the Iron Beam could be an added layer of defense for Israel, both in terms of effectiveness and cost.

How does it work?

The system uses a high-power laser that is stationed on the ground. With a range of hundreds of meters to several kilometers, the laser heats up the target’s shell in vulnerable areas, including its engine or warhead, until the projectile collapses.

This is different to Israel’s traditional means of destroying missiles and rockets, where radar is used to identify an incoming threat and then an interceptor missile is fired to destroy the projectile midair.

Compared to the Iron Dome, a laser shield would be cheaper, faster and more effective, experts said.

Israel has been intercepting projectiles almost daily since the war with its northern neighbor began. Just on Tuesday, some 50 projectiles crossed from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that some were intercepted and others weren’t.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is helping produce the Iron Beam, said that a laser defense system has “almost zero cost per interception.” In 2022, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said each laser-based interception was expected to cost just $2.

The laser system would be most effective against drones, experts said, which Israel’s Iron Dome has repeatedly failed to intercept.

While Israel’s Iron Dome does intercept and destroy most projectiles, it is primarily designed to counter rockets and missiles, not drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are small, light and have a low radar signature, which means Israel’s radar systems will not always detect them the way they detect missiles, which are bigger, experts said. Drones also don’t always have a set destination and may change direction mid-travel.

The laser system will be very effective against drones, Kalisky said. The laser will be able to effectively “heat and destroy” drones and UAVs.

Who else has it?

Other governments have experimented with different types of laser systems. The US Navy has tested high-energy laser weapons that can destroy aircraft mid-flight and the United Kingdom has recently showcased a laser-energy weapon called DragonFire that can be used against aerial threats. The Pentagon has also said that China and Russia are developing lasers that could target satellites.

It is unclear if Iran has developed a laser defense system of its own. In 2022, Iran said it was “capable of manufacturing laser weapons to defend… sensitive regions,” state media said.

Iran is, however, suspected to have the Chinese-made “Silent Hunter” laser weapon, experts said, adding that the laser is not as high-powered as the ones designed for the Iron Beam.

Will it really be a gamechanger?

An Israeli Iron Beam would still have its drawbacks.

The laser system would not operate well in cloudy, rainy or hazy weather, experts said, adding that this decreases the laser’s ability to pass through the atmosphere and reach its target. The system would also require great amounts of power to keep it running.

The project’s aspirations and expected timeframe also remain unclear.

One of the main problems was that to meet their aspirations with this laser technology, governments always needed billions of dollars and decades of research, Bruchmann said. The world is yet to see if Israel “actually cracked the code this time,” and can operate it by next year, he said.

Kalisky of the INSS said that, while it is unclear if the Iron Beam will indeed be a “gamechanger” for Israel, it will still be “another layer of defense,” adding that it will likely be most effective against drones and short-range rockets and missiles. It may not be as effective against ballistic missiles, he said, which Israel’s Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors have traditionally thwarted.

Experts say the Iron Beam could also act as a deterrent to further attacks by Iran or its proxies. Last month, The New York Times reported that Hamas was keen to carry out its October 7 attack by the end of 2023, fearing Israel would start deploying its laser system, which would have been more effective against Hamas rockets. The newspaper was citing documents seized by the Israeli military and obtained by the Times.

“Iran and its proxies (may) calculate that this would be, from their point of view, a gamechanger,” Bruchmann said, “that it would seriously devalue the tens or hundreds of thousands of missiles they are building up as a strategic arsenal to deter Israel.”

The winner of the US presidential election could have a sweeping impact on the contentious relationship between the world’s two largest economies and rival superpowers.

But in China, where election news is filtered through heavily censored state and social media, the focus has been more on spectacle than substance – with a sense that no matter who wins, the tensions of the US-China relationship will remain.

Part of the reason for that may well be a consensus in China – from policymakers down to regular citizens – that the die is cast for a US administration that wants to constrain China’s rise on the global stage, regardless of whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump wins.

Trump’s last term saw the Republican slap tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods, launch a campaign against Chinese telecoms giant Huawei and use racist language to describe the virus that causes Covid-19, which was first identified in China.

The past four years under President Joe Biden have seen a tone shift and effort to stabilize communication. But US concern about China’s threat to its national security has only deepened, with Biden targeting Chinese tech industries with investment and export controls, as well as tariffs, while also appearing to sidestep longstanding US policy in how he has voiced support for Taiwan – a “red line” issue in the relationship for Beijing, which claims the self-ruling island democracy as its own.

Meanwhile, people in China have seen their economic prospects dim as the country has struggled to fully rebound following its stringent pandemic controls amid a wider slowdown and property market crisis, among other challenges.

So, while the presidential campaigns are still playing across China’s daily news coverage and online discussions, interest in the candidates and their policies appears muted compared with past US elections.

“(It) doesn’t matter who it is (that wins),” one social media user wrote in a popular comment on China’s X-like platform Weibo. “Their containment of China won’t ease.”

Watching the ‘turmoil’

As the campaigns unfolded over recent months, Beijing’s state media has honed in on social discord and polarization in the US.

In recent days, the top post under the “US election” hashtag on Weibo has been about American concerns over potential post-election violence. The post, by an arm of state broadcaster CCTV, cites survey data from US media.

A recent cartoon from state-owned newspaper China Daily circulated in domestic media showed the Statue of Liberty being crushed in the jaws of a dragon labeled “political violence.”

“All walks of life in the United States are highly nervous, and public opinion is in turmoil,” reporters from state-run news agency Xinhua wrote in a recent dispatch, which also noted that “as political polarization and divisions in public opinion intensified in this year’s US election, political violence has also intensified.”

A magazine affiliated with Xinhua has alternatively portrayed the elections as “lacking hope,” being ultimately decided by “invisible forces” of power, like Wall Street.

Some nationalist bloggers have published videos and posts at times gleefully playing up what they describe as the potential for a post-election American “civil war” – rhetoric echoed in chatter on social media platform Weibo, which is heavily censored and largely dominated by nationalist voices.

While picking up genuine concerns reported by American and international media in what has been a contentious and violent US election cycle, the coverage and conversation appears geared to telegraph the superiority of China’s own political system. There, China’s ruling Communist Party has an iron grip on political power and discourse.

But despite the coverage, many in China have also keenly observed the democratic process – and pointed out the contrast to their own.

“There’s no perfect system, but at least they allow people to question them,” one social media user said on Weibo.

Candidate of choice?

Both Harris and Trump have been hot topics on Chinese social media platforms.

Harris appeared to be relatively unknown to Chinese social media users prior to becoming the Democratic candidate after Biden’s July withdrawal from the race.

Since then, many posts and videos on Tiktok’s sister video app Douyin have mocked the vice president, for example picking on her laugh – in line with what is often a chauvinistic tone on China’s social media platforms and echoing comments made by Trump himself.

Some posted clips of Harris’ speeches have a positive spin, however. Those point to her middle-class background and rise to the second-highest American office, a contrast to today’s China where the top echelons are stacked with men who often hail from politically elite families.

“This is a true ordinary person’s story,” read one comment with hundreds of likes posted under a video with a clip of a recent Harris speech.

Trump has at times captured tongue-in-cheek admiration across the Chinese internet. As president he earned the nickname Chuan Jianguo, or “Trump, the (Chinese) nation builder” – a quip to suggest his isolationist foreign policy and divisive domestic agenda were helping Beijing to overtake Washington on the global stage.

But after the tumult of the past eight years, Trump fever appears to have cooled.

“People are not optimistic about these two candidates … as their image and abilities can’t compare to those of past figures,” said Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University. That’s one reason why the level of Chinese public interest in this election appears lower than in the previous two votes, he said.

View from the top

Whoever wins the US race, Communist Party leaders likely expect there will be little improvement in tense ties, analysts said.

“Looking to the future, regardless of whether Harris or Trump becomes the next US president, the continuity in US policy toward China will almost certainly outweigh any potential major shifts,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing.

Beijing is careful not to directly comment on any views of the election, but likely sees Trump as bringing more uncertainly – and thus risk – into the relationship. The former president has threatened upwards of 60% tariffs on all imports from China and is known for his volatile foreign policy.

But Beijing could see benefit in that if it weakens US overseas partnerships, observers say. The Biden administration has sought to work more closely with allies in Europe and Asia to counter what it sees as the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order” – China, while Trump has repeatedly questioned traditional US alliances.

Chinese leaders will also be closely watching how a Trump presidency would handle the war in Ukraine – with Beijing likely wary of him taking steps to mend US relations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, a critical ally for Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the global stage. The end of that war – which Trump has claimed he can quickly achieve – would also likely bring more US focus back to Asia-Pacific, which China doesn’t want to see.

But Trump is still seen in Beijing’s policy circles as likely to drive a more fractious relationship with China than Harris would.

The vice president is expected to tread a similar path to that laid by Biden – maintaining pressure on China to limit the development of its technology and military, but trying to keep some exchange and dialogue open.

“That means it will be a mixture of tension, friction, and some limited degree of exchanges and cooperation … (while) Trump would present greater challenges to US-China relations. The main issue is that (Trump) handles US-China relations in an unconventional manner, lacking a sense of proportion and boundaries,” said Wu in Shanghai.

“The most you can say is that the challenges to the relationship will vary depending on who is in office.”

In subtle but increasingly vocal ways, Israel’s military leaders are signaling that the country has achieved all it can militarily in Lebanon and Gaza, and it’s time for the politicians to strike a deal.

It comes as Lebanon’s prime minister says that a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent. Both candidates for the American presidency have also made clear they do not want wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be on the agenda when they take office.

When the Israel Defense Forces’ top general sat down with officers in northern Gaza – who are waging one of the military’s fiercest operations since last year’s invasion – he went further than ever in suggesting the military phases of both conflicts should end.

“In the north, there’s a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion,” Herzi Halevi, Chief of the General Staff, said, referring to the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Gaza, he said, “if we take out the northern Gaza Brigade commander, it’s another collapse…. I don’t know what we’ll encounter tomorrow, but this pressure brings us closer to more achievements.”

What those achievements should be is the subject of much consternation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged “absolute victory.” His defense minister and longtime political tormentor Yoav Gallant has bristled at that goal. In August, he told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the idea of “absolute victory” in Gaza was “nonsense,” according to Israeli media.

Gallant’s dim view of Netanyahu’s war goal was made official when earlier this week he reportedly sent a private memo to the prime minister and the rest of his cabinet saying that the war had lost its way.

In Gaza, he wrote, Israel should ensure the release of the remaining hostages, make sure there is no military threat from Hamas, and promote civilian rule. That’s a far cry from the existing, maximalist war aim of eliminating Hamas’ military and governance capabilities.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday he was optimistic for a potential Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire to be struck “within the next few hours or days,” after speaking with US envoy Amos Hochstein, who arrived in the region on Thursday.

Israel has for the past month carried out a massive, country-wide bombing campaign in Lebanon, and killed Hezbollah’s elusive leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In his interview, Mikati indicated that Hezbollah is no longer insisting that its conflict with Israel will only cease once the war in Gaza ends. That would allow it to accept a ceasefire without an end to the Gaza campaign.

Gallant has said Hamas and Hezbollah have now been rendered totally ineffective as Iranian proxies.

“These two organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, that were groomed for years as a long arm against the State of Israel, are no longer an effective tool in the hands of Iran,” Gallant said during a memorial service on Sunday. “We know that some goals cannot be achieved by military action alone, and thus, we must honor our moral obligations to bring our captives home, despite the painful compromises involved.”

And yet Netanyahu has remained defiant. When the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, returned from recess this week, the prime minister seemed to repeat his maximalist goal, and indicated he was unlikely to accept a conclusion anytime soon: “The absolute victory is an orderly and consistent work plan that we fulfill step by step,” he said.

Spain is reeling from its worst flooding in decades, after a year’s worth of rain fell in just hours this week in the country’s southern and eastern regions.

The storm began on Tuesday and has so far killed at least 95 people while dozens more remain missing. It has also flooded towns and roads, caused rivers to burst their banks and left thousands without power or running water.

Valencia, the worst-struck region, saw its heaviest rainfall in 28 years with people caught off guard and trapped in basements and lower floors of buildings. Vehicles abandoned in traffic were swept away by the rising water.

Emergency workers are still fighting to rescue those who are trapped, with operations underway to recover bodies and clear debris.

Here’s what we know.

Where is the worst damage?

Spain’s eastern and southern regions often see autumn rain, but this year’s downpour was unprecedented. Most of the deaths occurred in Valencia, which is located along the Mediterranean coast and is home to more than 5 million people.

The flash flooding in the region, a tourist hotspot during summer months, saw rural villages submerged in water and rendered main highways unusable on Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

A courthouse was turned into a temporary morgue in the region’s capital, the city of Valencia.

At least 40 people, six of whom were in a retirement home, died in the town of Paiporta in Valencia, Spanish state news agency EFE reported, citing its mayor.

Trains have been suspended in Valencia, as have other major public services in other affected regions. Schools, museums, and public libraries were closed into Thursday, according to the local government.

Flooding was also reported in and around the cities of Murcia and Malaga with more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falling in some areas. In Malaga, in the region of Andalusia on Spain’s southern coast, a 71-year-old British man died from hypothermia, the city’s mayor said.

What has the response been?

More than 1,000 members of the military have been deployed to assist in rescue efforts, Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles said. Some areas can only be reached by helicopter.

Valencia’s regional leader Carlos Mazon told reporters early Wednesday that bodies were found as rescue teams began to reach areas previously cut off by the floods. As of Thursday morning, emergency services said they had reached all the affected areas.

The Spanish government sent emergency alerts on Tuesday asking people to stay indoors or seek high ground. Extreme rain warnings were put in place for some areas including around Valencia, according to Spain’s Meteorological Agency, AEMET. These warnings called for the potential of 200 mm (8 inches) of rain in less than 12 hours.

In some locations, the rainfall estimates were exceeded in even shorter periods of time. Chiva, which is east of Valencia, received 320 mm of rain in just over four hours, according to the European Severe Weather Database. The Valencia area averages 77 mm (3 inches) for the entire month of October.

However, many people were caught off guard, leaving it too late for them to seek safety. Some took to social media to vent their frustrations, claiming that they received the emergency alert in the midst of the storm.

Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the UK’s University of Reading, said the high death toll suggests Spain’s regional emergency alerts system failed.

“This suggests the system for alerting people to the dangers of floods in Valencia has failed, with fatal consequences. It is clear that people just don’t know what to do when faced with a flood, or when they hear warnings.”

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered support, pledging his government would do all it could to help flood victims, as he urged people to remain vigilant.

Sanchez visited Valencia on Thursday, where he instructed people to “please, stay home, don’t leave,” adding that “the damage continues” and the priority is to save as many lives as possible.

The Spanish government has also decreed three days of official mourning, starting on Thursday.

Thousands in Valencia’s suburbs were still without power and running water on Thursday, as search operations and debris clearing continued.

The Spanish Securities and Emergencies department has issued weather warnings for many regions. Orange and yellow alerts remained in place in isolated parts of Valencia, while rain continues in Castellon, a province to the north.

Extreme weather warnings continue for portions of eastern and southern Spain, according to AEMET, with more rain expected.

What caused the disaster?

The torrential rain was likely caused by what Spanish meteorologists call a “gota fría,” or cold drop, which refers to a pool of cooler air high in the atmosphere that can separate from the jet stream, causing it to move slowly and often lead to high-impact rainfall. This phenomenon is most common in autumn.

Figuring out the precise role climate change played in Spain’s devastating floods will require further analysis, but scientists are clear that global warming, driven by fossil fuel pollution, makes these types of extreme rainfall events more likely and more intense.

Hotter oceans fuel stronger storms and the Mediterranean hit its highest temperature on record in August. Warmer air is also able to hold more moisture, soaking it up like a sponge to wring out in the form of torrential rain.

“We can’t say anything on the fly,” said Ernesto Rodríguez Camino, senior state meteorologist and a member of the Spanish Meteorological Association. He added though that “in the context of climate change, these types of intense and exceptional rare rainfall events are going to become more frequent and more intense and, therefore, destructive.”

How does this compare?

This week’s floods are the most deadly Spain has suffered in decades.

In 1959, 144 people were killed by a flood in the Spanish town of Ribadelago. However, that disaster was caused by the failure of a dam, releasing water from the Vega de Tera reservoir, rather than a natural event.

The last comparable natural disaster was in 1996, when floods killed 87 people near the town of Biescas in the Pyrenees mountains.

While Spain has experienced significant autumn storms in recent years, nothing comes close to the devastation wrought over the past few days.

The disaster is on a similar level to flooding seen in Germany and Belgium in 2021, which killed more than 230 people.

An electric motorcycle, made by Swedish-Kenyan manufacturer Roam completed a 6,000-kilometer (3,700-mile) journey from Nairobi, Kenya, to Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 17 days, using only solar power.

While the world record for the longest electric motorcycle journey is 25,000 kilometers (11,300 miles), undertaken over 42 days in the US, Roam hopes that its stunt helps to prove the viability of renewable energy for long-distance travel even in remote areas with poor charging infrastructure.

The batteries were charged en route through a solar panel charging system carried in a support vehicle, which would drive ahead each day, stopping to charge up the batteries, so that when the bike caught up it could swap the dead battery for a fresh one. During the journey, the motorcycle model, the Roam Air, achieved its new single battery record range of 113 kilometers (70 miles), and on the trip’s last day, it traveled 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in less than 18 hours.

Kituyi split the riding with Stephan Lacock, a postgraduate student at Stellenbosch University who is working on a powertrain simulation project to boost the Roam Air’s efficiency. Accompanied by two support vehicles, they set off on 29 September, traveling through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana, before arriving in Stellenbosch on the morning of 16 October. The team drove along highways and dirt tracks, stopping off at Victoria Falls and Chobe River, where they camped under the stars and among hippos.

On average the team covered around 400 kilometers (250 miles) per day, with about 80 kilometers (50 miles) per battery.

Cloud cover

The biggest challenge the team faced during the journey was the weather. “You can’t force the sun to shine,” says Kituyi, and at some points they ended up adapting their route so that they could escape cloud cover and have an opportunity to recharge the batteries.

While Roam wanted to demonstrate the potential of solar energy as a solution for powering bikes in areas that lack charging infrastructure, Kituyi says that most of Roam’s customers charge their bikes at home with energy from the grid. However, he insists that this mammoth journey would still be possible for people without a solar support car.

“Anywhere you can charge your phone, you can charge the bike,” he says. “That means with enough planning and lodging in hotels that have electricity, you are able to do this journey yourself.”

However, he adds that he’s not expecting many of Roam’s customers to travel cross-continent – rather, riders might need the bike to travel between rural areas and cities. The feat was about “showing the flexibility works,” he says, and countering range anxiety.

Accelerating market

The journey was a collaborative effort between Roam and Stellenbosch University, which launched an Electric Mobility Lab this month, dedicated to advancing sustainable transport solutions.

Roam donated two motorcycles to the lab to support research and develop the bikes further. Kituyi hopes that through powertrain efficiency tests and “accelerated testing,” which involves charging and discharging the battery multiple times a day, the startup will gain a better understanding of the life cycles of the bike and the battery.

He adds that “accelerated testing” requires special facilities, and in the past Roam has carried out these tests outside Africa, including in China. The lab will give Roam the opportunity to keep the testing within the continent, which he says will make it more reliable as it’s undertaken in a similar climate, as well as helping to build Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) market.

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the African EV market is worth an estimated $16 billion, and it is projected to reach $25 billion by 2029. It claims this is driven by increased investment, rising EV sales, and government policies that encourage electrification. For example, Rwanda has eliminated import taxes on electric vehicles and is offering incentives for charging infrastructure development.

They added that African startups are dominating the space, since they have designed bikes to withstand local road conditions, do not rely on traditional charging infrastructure, and offer flexible payment options. Rwanda’s Ampersand currently has a fleet of almost 4,000 and expects this to surpass 40,000 by the end of 2026, whereas Spiro has over 18,000 e-bikes on the road across Kenya, Benin, Togo, Rwanda and Uganda, and has launched in Nigeria.

Roam, founded in 2017 and formerly known as Opibus, has seen this transition firsthand. It started by electrifying safari vehicles, before turning to buses and motorcycles. Today, motorcycles are its main focus and it produces around 40 bikes a day, according to Kituyi. Currently, the bikes are available to buy in greater Nairobi, and in early 2025, it will be expanding across the whole of Kenya, as well as entering Uganda and Rwanda.

“There is a big demand and constant growth of the market for motorcycles,” says Kituyi, adding that he has seen a gradual shift in people’s mindset. “They are getting more confident with the idea of stopping at a restaurant and asking them for electricity to charge their bike.”

He hopes that the recent expedition will help to build trust in EVs even further.

Heavy rains and high winds lashed Taiwan on Thursday as the largest storm to hit the island in nearly three decades made landfall along its southeast coast, killing at least one person and injuring dozens.

Typhoon Kong-rey packed winds approaching 200 kilometers per hour (125 mph), equivalent to a Category 3 Atlantic hurricane, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), as it made landfall in Taitung county on Thursday afternoon.

Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind – how far the strongest winds are from its center – measured 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) on Wednesday evening, meaning it is the largest storm to hit Taiwan since Typhoon Herb in 1996, said Chang Chun-yao, a forecaster with the island’s Central Weather Administration.

A 56-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree while traveling by car in central Nantou county, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC). At least 73 storm-related injuries have been reported across the island, it added.

Ahead of the powerful storm, local authorities ordered offices and schools to temporarily close, while Taiwan suspended trading on its stock market.

Taiwan generally has a strong track record of responding to major typhoons, though remote villages in more mountainous regions can be particularly vulnerable to landslides.

Taiwan’s military has put more than 34,000 soldiers on standby to assist with rescue efforts and over 8,600 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas on Wednesday, CEOC said.

More than 500 flights, including 300 international journeys, have been canceled, and all ferry services to Taiwan’s outlying islands have been suspended, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration. High-speed rail services are operating at limited capacity, according to the rail operator, while the Taipei metro said it had suspended services on open-air sections.

Images from Taiwan’s official Central News Agency and social media showed ferocious waves slamming into the coast of Taitung county, while parts of neighboring Hualien county were submerged in floodwaters. Toppled road signs and traffic lights were also seen across Taiwan, social media images showed.

Kong-rey rapidly intensified to reach super typhoon strength on Wednesday as it barreled toward Taiwan after bashing the Philippines. Though the storm weakened slightly ahead of making direct landfall over Taiwan, it is unleashing intense downpours, bringing flash flooding, storm surges and the risk of landslides.

The heaviest rainfall is expected across eastern Taiwan. Taiwan’s weather agency on Thursday issued an “extremely torrential” rainfall warning, its highest level, for parts of Yilan, Hualien, Taichung and Taitung counties along the east coast.

The rest of eastern Taiwan and parts of the island’s north, including Taipei, are under a “torrential” rainfall warning, the second-highest level. Additional rainfall of over a half of meter (20 inches) is still possible across parts of eastern Taiwan, which could lead to flash flooding and landslides, according to the CWA.

Warmer oceans from the human-caused climate crisis are leading storms to intensify more rapidly, according to scientists.

Kong-rey is the third typhoon to make landfall on Taiwan this year after Krathon and Gaemi.

Earlier this month, Typhoon Krathon killed four people as it brought particularly heavy rains to the south of the island.

In recent days, northern parts of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon have been lashed by the outer bands of Kong-rey, known locally as Leon, as authorities ordered evacuations and warned of its impacts after already seeing devastation last week from Tropical Storm Trami, known as Kristine, which killed at least 130 people.

After moving into the northern Taiwan Strait, the storm is forecast to head into the East China Sea and toward Japan.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Eight of 11 justices on Mexico’s Supreme Court have resigned and declined to participate in an election for the court scheduled for June, the court said on Wednesday.

According to a statement, the court’s president, Norma Pina, presented her resignation, as did Luis Maria Aguilar, Jorge Mario Pardo, Alfredo Gutierrez, Alberto Perez, Javier Laynez, Juan Luis Gonzalez and Margarita Rios.

Seven of the jurists’ resignations are effective August 31, 2025, while Aguilar will leave office on November 30.

The resignations are the result of a constitutional overhaul that was enacted last month that requires all judges be elected by popular vote.

The reform requires judges to resign ahead of the June election if they do not want to participate in the electoral process and wish to maintain their pension, or risk losing it, prompting an outcry among judicial workers.

The slate of resignations heightens tensions between Mexico’s Supreme Court and the ruling bloc, increasing the risk of a constitutional crisis as Congress and the presidency remain at odds with the judiciary over the reform.

“It is necessary to underscore that this resignation does not imply an implicit acceptance of the reform’s constitutionality,” said justice Gutierrez in a resignation letter on Tuesday.

In her letter to the Senate on Wednesday, Rios said her resignation “should not be seen as an implicit endorsement of a (reform) framework that remains controversial.”

The 11-member Supreme Court will see its number reduced to nine as part of the reform. Three current justices have publicly backed the reform.