CHINA: Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD logged a record 777.1 billion yuan (£82.5 billion) in revenue last year as its sales of battery electric and hybrid vehicles jumped 40 per cent.

The report late on Monday coincided with BYD’s launch earlier this week of its Qin L EV sedan, a mid-sized model similar to Tesla’s Model 3 but at just over half the price. Tesla’s 2024 revenue was nearly $97.7bn (£75.4bn).

SOUTH AFRICA: President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the claim that white people are being persecuted in his country is a “completely false narrative.” 

Responding to allegations made by United States President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, President Ramaphosa said “we should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution.”

CONGO: The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo said on Monday that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace will not stop the fighting. 

“We will fight like people who have nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country,” said Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.

SYRIA: An Israeli strike in south-west Syria today killed at least six people as Israeli troops occupying the area clashed with local residents, Syria’s Foreign Ministry and a war monitor reported.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said troops fired back at gunmen who attacked them, before launching a drone attack.

The Syrian ministry said the six killed were civilians.