Author: Elon Mark

On Tuesday, US district judge Beryl Howell effectively allowed the transfer of the headquarters building of the United States Institute of Peace to the General Services Administration.In fact, the building—and all of the property inside it—had already been transferred on Saturday, according to Howell’s ruling. “The deal is no longer merely ‘proposed’ but done,” Howell wrote, “rendering plaintiffs’ requested relief moot as to that property.”The building, with an estimated value of $500 million, has become the latest focal point in a weeks-long standoff between former institute board and staff and members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. On…

As Israeli forces advanced on the southern Gaza city of Rafah before dawn last Sunday, an ambulance crew set out to evacuate civilians wounded by Israeli shelling. But the ambulance was hit on the way, and its crew injured.Several more ambulances and a fire truck headed to the scene, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, as did a U.N. vehicle, the United Nations said. Seventeen people were dispatched in total.Then they all went silent.It took five days for the United Nations and Red Crescent to negotiate with the Israeli military for safe passage to search for the missing people.…

China’s Xiaomi, a consumer electronics giant turned automaker, said it is cooperating with a police investigation into a fatal crash involving one of its electric vehicles while the driver was using the car’s autonomous driving features.A Xiaomi SU7 sedan drove into a concrete guardrail on an expressway in eastern China late on Saturday night at around 60 miles per hour, according to a post on Xiaomi’s official social media account. On Tuesday, local media published reports about the collision and ensuing fire, which killed three college students, along with pictures of the charred remains of the vehicle.Xiaomi said the driver…

Many business owners and product managers assume the customer experience begins and ends with purchase. In reality, it spans a much wider range of interactions. Every touchpoint—visiting your website, reading third-party reviews, engaging with ads or social media posts, receiving emails, contacting customer service, or using your product—defines the customer experience. Even product materials and packaging shape consumers’ perceptions. Successful businesses recognize the far-reaching impact of these interactions and actively shape them through a process known as customer experience management (CXM). This overview introduces CXM, its importance, and strategies you can implement to enhance your customer experience. Free E-Book: Your…

Libertarians often take these mechanisms for granted and refuse to consider where they come from. For example, you have electricity and drinking water in your home. When you go to the bathroom and flush the water, the sewage goes into a huge sewage system. That system is created and maintained by the state. But in the libertarian mindset, it is easy to take for granted that you just use the toilet and flush the water and no one needs to maintain it. But of course, someone needs to.There really is no such thing as a perfect free market. In addition…

Around sunset during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, something remarkable happens in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. The streets in this city of more than 10 million people, known for its hectic bustle and choking traffic, turn quiet and empty.But for political parties, which know well the persuasive powers of full bellies, sunset is their high time.Iftar parties, where the faithful break their fast, were closely watched through the end of Ramadan last week for what direction Bangladesh could take after the overthrow of its authoritarian leader last summer.Who was attending which party? Who was seated next to whom? In…

The question posed to Wen Han, founder of the electric truck maker Windrose Technology, was a simple one: Is it accurate to call the firm a Chinese company?After some rambling, Mr. Han settled on an answer: “I would describe it as Chinese origin.”There’s a reason it felt like a trick question: Windrose’s investors include an Australian property group, U.S. venture capital financiers and Chinese state-owned funds. It is now based in Belgium. But at its heart, Windrose packs China’s significant advantages in making electric vehicles.Mr. Han wants to use that edge to sell long-haul trucks globally. He is intent on…

Second, it wasn’t clear that the DOGE affiliates had the authority to either access these systems or do what they purportedly wanted to. An executive order signed by president Donald Trump gives the US DOGE Service broad authority to access unclassified systems. But while Holmes is detailed to DOI from USDS, Hassen and Trampe are DOI employees and are not, according to one source with knowledge, even part of a formal DOGE team. That means they have no authority or privileges past those of a normal DOI employee. Even Holmes, the acting chief HR officer, does not obviously have the…

The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.The order — which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday — heralded renewed hardship for Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, which has been battered by the war between Israel and Hamas, and has endured periods of being overwhelmed with displaced people and depopulated by evacuation orders. The war restarted two weeks ago after a monthslong cease-fire collapsed.In the past, the Israeli military has ordered evacuations ahead of both aerial attacks and ground maneuvers that…

Army food has been vexing and perplexing the soldiers who have to eat it for about as long as there’s been an Army. An age-old marching song describes a biscuit that “rolled off the table and killed a friend of mine.” Troops in World War II immortalized a much-reviled beef dish with the nickname S.O.S., an acronym that still can’t be translated in this newspaper.And at lunchtime on a recent Wednesday, a mess hall at Fort Jackson in South Carolina was serving up tacos filled with nondescript meat that glistened with grease. The brussels sprouts had the green boiled out…