Doctors and relatives warn that six British hunger strikers affiliated with the Palestine Action protest movement are at risk of dying in prison. Some of the activists have refused food for nearly seven weeks and are currently in pre-trial detention for attacks on military and defense sites.
Published On 19 Dec 2025
San Francisco, United States – Earlier this month, President Trump made an announcement to lower car fuel efficiency standards, he said would give Americans more freedom to choose large cars and make them more affordable.
Even though the idea that it would save US drivers money is “highly speculative,” experts claim, the proposed policy change also leaves the years and billions in investments in cleaner cars, including electric vehicles (EVs).
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The proposed new standards will make it possible for cars to run at 34.5 miles per gallon (14.7 km per litre) instead of the previous administration’s 50.4 miles per gallon (19 km per litre) set by President Joe Biden.
Trump referred to it as the “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” proposal, claiming that US manufacturing would benefit from lower fuel efficiency standards for new cars up to $1, 000.
However, Haas School of Business, a faculty member at the University of California at Berkeley, claims that American car manufacturers have already made investments in line with outdated standards. It is highly speculative to assume that this will save consumers a lot of money.
Ford Motors announced a $ 19.50 billion hit as it cut back plans to produce EVs, along with the US consumers’ continued preference for SUVs and other petrol guzzlers. General Motors also warned that there could be more hits as a $1.6 billion impact is related to its EV pullback in its quarterly results from October. Additionally, it announced 3,400 layoffs at its EV locations.
Federal budget cuts will stifle the already slow transition to electric vehicles in the US, where they account for less than 10% of the market and are significantly behind the global EV sales, which accounted for 25% of all car sales this year.
Andrew Hoffman, a Ross School of Business professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan, believes that the government can support markets in this transition.
Because of the lengthy distances that can cause electric car drivers to be anxious, Hoffman describes the US as a “unique market” for SUVs and pick-up trucks. It emphasizes the necessity of a charging station network, which is another area where the Trump administration has made business plans-related cuts. 16 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday for omitting billions from funding EV charging stations.
The US’s largest EV manufacturer, Tesla, is anticipated to suffer the most from these changes. As the $7,500 tax credit expired, it saw a 23% decline in US sales in November compared to the same period last year.
Waymo, a Google-backed electric-powered autonomous vehicle, has a fleet of just a few thousand cars, and overall experts predict that the market share of EVs will decline even further.
A reduced charging network may encourage consumers to buy petrol-guzzling cars in addition to the elimination of EV tax credits, which could increase fuel bills for the household.
According to Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Transport Campaign, “consumers will spend more money on gas-guzzling cars.”
The proposed new standards may not have much impact on fuel consumption in the next year or two, but “if the rules hold, they will significantly impact fuel consumption in the 2030s,” says Mathew Tarduno, assistant professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The most recent addition to a slew of measures announced this year that could reduce fuel efficiency for US cars.
The penalties for cars breaking fuel efficiency standards were reduced to zero in July when the tax and spending bill was passed. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to overrule the Endangerment Finding, EPA’s long-standing, science-based finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare, and roll back standards to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks. Additionally, tailpipe emissions were relaxed.
Environmental groups claim that the EPA will soon be reversing its decision to reject the Endangerment Finding and that they are preparing to file legal lawsuits against the reversal if that is the case.
A public hearing period is open until the end of the month regarding the fuel standards. According to Becker, the Center for Biological Diversity, “We intend to share our position with the administration and then, with colleagues, sue them” if the proposal is accepted.
How the Department of Transportation treats EVs when establishing new standards might be the subject of future lawsuits. According to Nikki Reisch, director of the Center for International Environmental Law’s (CIEL) climate and energy program, the department is required to adhere to the highest practicable standards.
In terms of fuel efficiency, gas-powered vehicles can’t compete with EVs and hybrids. She continued, “These cleaner, more effective technologies exist and cannot be ignored.”
According to the EPA, vehicular emissions contribute to carcinogens in the air and can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.
According to the American Lung Association, the transportation industry is in fact the main contributor to US air pollution.
According to William Barrett, assistant vice president of nationwide policy at the American Lung Association, the easing of fuel standards “turns the clock back on public health standards.”
According to Barrett, children could be particularly affected by increased air pollution from possibly higher vehicle emissions.
Because their lungs are still developing, children are more vulnerable. They might be impacted by increased pollution more quickly and permanently, such as putting them on the soccer field field or putting them in more ER visits.
In order to halt the new standards, the Lung Association intends to make its comments during the public hearing process.
However, according to Karl Brauer, an auto analyst and writer for iSeecars.com, car emissions have decreased since the Clean Air Act’s passage in 1970 and also as a result of alterations to regulations that were introduced to lower emissions.
According to Brauer, “Cars got cleaner a long time ago.” The effects of continuing to implement such regulation are negligible.
With the elimination of tax credits for EVs, gasoline and electric vehicles will now compete for consumers’ preferences on an equal footing, according to Brauer, and lower costs and higher profit margins for auto companies and lower prices for consumers.
In the fuel standards rollback announcement on December 3rd, the Trump administration announced that major carmakers would save more than $35 billion in technology costs.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), fuel costs for drivers are expected to rise, and US drivers are expected to pay an additional $ 85 billion annually through 2050.
During his White House announcement, Ford and General Motors’ CEOs sat next to Trump.
Mary Barra, the company’s CEO, stated that the announcement would allow automakers to offer a wide range of gasoline and electric vehicles while maintaining consumer preferences and lowering costs. At the New York Times Deal Book summit, she remarked, “Regulatory requirements do not get ahead of the consumer.”
A fuel-based car would cost less than an EV, according to Brauer, given the recent drop in gas prices. Additionally, they may not be attractive due to the lack of enough charging stations.
However, the new standards could diverge US car manufacturers from global markets, which are moving toward more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles. The proposed standards may improve the appeal of SUVs and other gasoline-guzzlers in the US, but they may also make it harder to compete in global markets.
According to Tarduno of the University of Illinois at Chicago, “one question is whether US automakers will be required to follow various types of regulations in various locations.”
China is renowned for its electric vehicles, making up the majority of the world’s automotive industry. “GM and Ford will want to be global players.” According to Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity, EV manufacturers will shut them out if they don’t produce them.
Brauer, however, has a different perspective.
The top United States diplomat says progress has been made in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but more work is needed, as Ukrainian officials travelled to the US for a new round of negotiations.
Speaking during a year-end news conference in Washington, DC, on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is not trying to impose a deal on either side.
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“What we are trying to figure out here is what can Ukraine live with and what can Russia live with and … see if we can drive them towards each other and some sort of agreement”, he said.
“I think we’ve made progress, but we have a ways to go, and obviously, the hardest issues are always the last issues”.
Rubio’s remarks come as Ukrainian peace negotiators were set to start a new round of talks with US officials on Friday on proposals for ending the nearly four-year war with Russia.
The head of Kyiv’s delegation, Rustem Umerov, who is in the US for the talks,  , said on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine’s European partners would be involved.
“We are constructively minded. We have already held preliminary consultations with our European colleagues and are preparing for further discussions with the American side”, Umerov said.
“Ukraine’s security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term”, he added.
Since returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has launched a major diplomatic push to end the conflict, but negotiations have been tense over sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, held talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine and the US had agreed on several documents, including a 20-point peace framework, and security guarantees and a reconstruction plan for Ukraine.
But he said that no final proposals had been agreed, adding that territorial issues remained unresolved.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine cede all territory in four key regions his forces have captured and occupied, along with Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.
Putin also wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine that Russian forces have not yet taken in the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting remains attritional – conditions Kyiv has rejected outright.
On Friday, in his “Results of the year” speech in Moscow, Putin blamed Zelenskyy for refusing to discuss territorial concessions – a key requirement from the Kremlin to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader has stated in recent days that the country’s constitution also forbids giving up territory.
Zelenskyy has, however, indicated that Kyiv was willing to accept Western security guarantees in exchange for renunciating its long-held desire to join NATO.
The Kremlin applauded the decision, but fighting continues on the ground.
Rubio noted on Friday that wars typically end either when one side demands surrender or when both parties reach a negotiated settlement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded to rumors that Hamas might be willing to “threaten or attack Israel” by partially disarming, handing over heavy weapons, but retaining its small arms.
Published On 19 Dec 2025
India won the Twenty20 series against South Africa 3-1 after taking the last match of the series by 30 runs in Ahmedabad.
Second fifties in the five-match series by Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya powered India to 231-5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. South Africa’s chase collapsed from 120-1 to 201-8.
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Jasprit Bumrah triggered South Africa’s downfall when he caught and bowled Quinton de Kock on 65 off a yorker and finished with an outstanding 2-17 from four overs.
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy was plundered for 23 runs in one over by de Kock and Dewald Brevis but had the last laugh with 4-53.
Sanju Samson, covering for an injured Shubman Gill, used his first T20 since October to open with Abhishek Sharma and smash 63 runs inside six overs and 97 after nine.
Samson’s and Abhishek’s 11-runs-per-over launch was extended by Varma and Pandya, who combined for 105 in 7.2 overs until they both fell in the last over.
Varma hit a 30-ball fifty with his seventh boundary, and Pandya got to fifty in 16 balls thanks to his fifth six, over deep midwicket.
Qatar warns that US President Donald Trump’s proposed agreement is threatened every day by Israeli violations.
The Qatari prime minister, who assisted in the negotiation of the deal proposed by US President Donald Trump, believes that Israeli daily violations of the Gaza ceasefire threaten the peace process.
What’s wrong then, and what might the US president do to restore it?
Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault
Guests:
Tamer Qarmout, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies associate professor of public policy
Former Israeli negotiator and US/Middle East Project president Daniel Levy
Published On 19 Dec 2025