China's lithium batteries aren't always "made in China." Companies like BYD and CATL are building factories on nearly every continent. THE symbolism was clear last June when Emmanuel Macron, surrounded by factory workers, held up a sleek lithium battery in his right hand and a mining lamp in his left. He was in Douai, a northern French city with a coal mining history dating back to the 1700s. The city is now also the site of a battery factory, which would allow France to produce all parts of electric vehicles domestically. This factory, Macron declared, represented an "economic and ecological revolution."

What is in the 28-point US plan for Ukraine? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' Can the US get all sides to end the war? Why is Europe opposing Trump's peace plan? Zelenskyy says US peace plan'looks better' with new revisions Here's where things stand on Tuesday, December 2: Russian forces launched a ballistic missile on Ukraine's Dnipro, killing four people and wounding 40 others, according to Ukrainian authorities. Russia claimed the capture of the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, the logistics hub that has been under attack for months by Moscow's forces.

Is the fall of Pokrovsk inevitable? Is Trump losing patience with Putin? Here's where things stand on Monday, November 24. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Geneva that "a tremendous amount of progress" was made during talks in the Swiss city on Sunday and that he was "very optimistic" that an agreement could be reached in "a very reasonable period of time, very soon". Rubio also said that specific areas still being worked on from a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, championed by US President Donald Trump, included the role of NATO and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Is the fall of Pokrovsk inevitable? Is Trump losing patience with Putin? A Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia killed three people and wounded 10, including three children, a regional military official in the Kharkiv region said on Telegram on Monday. At least two people were killed and three were injured in Russian shelling of the Nikopol district in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, wrote on Facebook. Russian troops captured three villages across three Ukrainian regions, the RIA news agency cited the Russian Ministry of Defence as saying on Monday.

Captain of tanker linked to Russian'shadow fleet' charged in France The captain of an oil tanker believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet of vessels used to evade sanctions has been charged by French authorities. The Chinese national was handed one count of refusing to follow instructions from the French navy and told to attend a court hearing in the northern coastal city of Brest next February. The Boracay left Russia last month and was off the coast of Denmark when unidentified drones forced the temporary closure of several airports last week. The tanker was earlier boarded by French soldiers because it was on a list of vessels subject to EU sanctions for carrying Russian oil exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin called France's actions piracy.

French troops board oil tanker linked to Russian'shadow fleet' French soldiers have boarded an oil tanker believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet, used to evade sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine. The Boracay left Russia last month and was off the coast of Denmark when unidentified drones forced the temporary closure of several airports last week. It has been anchored off western France for a few days. French President Emmanuel Macron said at an EU leaders' summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday that the crew had committed serious offences, but did not elaborate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no knowledge of the vessel.

Can Ukraine restore its pre-war borders? Why are Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine a'red line' for Russia? Is Russia testing NATO with aerial incursions in Europe? Macron, Meloni argue for caution in responding to Russian'provocations' Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called on Europe to arm itself to respond to Russia's hybrid warfare, but other major continental leaders have argued for caution against getting trapped in a tit-for-tat cycle of escalation with Moscow. "I hope that everybody recognises now that there is a hybrid war and one day it's Poland, the other day it's Denmark, and next week it will probably be somewhere else that we see sabotage or we see drones flying," Frederiksen told reporters on Wednesday.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones seized on a May 9 video of a train car meeting among three European leaders to claim they had used drugs and were trying to hide it. The video showed French President Emmanuel Macron sitting at a table with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer. On the table before them were two blue folders, two drinking glasses and a small white object. The three men smiled for photographers who had gathered. Just as the shutter clicks started, Macron removed the crumpled white object from the tabletop and held it in his fist.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned global leaders and tech CEOs at a Paris summit on artificial intelligence on Tuesday that "excessive regulation" would kill the rapidly growing AI industry. In his first foreign trip as vice president, Vance also said the Trump administration will "ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias," and that the United States would "never restrict our citizens' right to free speech." "Now, at this moment, we face the extraordinary prospect of a new industrial revolution, one on par with the invention of the steam engine,'' Vance said. ''But it will never come to pass. If overregulation deters innovators from taking the risks necessary to advance the ball.''

France's Macron and India's Modi have teamed up to co-host an AI summit, hoping to prevent the US and China from dominating the technology.