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Have you ever been in the mood to drive an electric bus, and then thought to yourself, “the only thing that could make this better is if the bus was shaped like a marsupial”? Yea, me neither. At least not until I stumbled upon this precious specimen of a koala bus.

It’s not the first animal-shaped electric bus that has headlined the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column. But it just might be the cutest.

And to be fair, I did think it was a mouse until our graphics guy corrected me. But that’s kind of the beauty of a nondescript animal bus – it can be whatever you want it to be!

In this case, what it is is a 14-seater electric bus, including the driver. There’s even a full seat next to the driver, perfect for that one kid on the bus. You know the one.

Granted, the interior doesn’t look quite as magical as the exterior, but sometimes that’s just life.

And in fact, there are a few head-scratchers spread around the interior. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how the seat belt system works here. Is it a buddy system? Are those crotch straps? is it decorative? If you’ve got both a plastic grab handle AND a chrome face-smashing bar AND velvet ropes instead of walls, do you really need the loop-de-loop belts, anyway?

The world needs answers.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of hard answers for you on the design decisions. What I can tell you though is what is happening regarding the technical side.

Based on the spec sheet, it looks like we’re working with a 5-meter (16-foot) bus carrying a curb weight of a mere 1,250 kg (2,755 lb). Frankly, that’s suspiciously lightweight. I’m kind of wondering what was cut out (besides the walls) to achieve that svelte physique.

It seems the powertrain might be part of the answer. Instead of a burly workhorse of a motor, we’ve got a paltry 5.5 kW spinner powering that rear axle. And the 9.6 kWh battery isn’t exactly huge either, though the lead acid battery design means it’s probably contributing to around a quarter of the entire vehicle’s weight.

But hey, when I said “koala bus”, I don’t think anyone came running over expecting something that was going to lay down respectable times at the local drag strip. You’re all here for a bus with a koala on it, and by god, that’s what you’ll get. I’ll stake my reputation on this right now – there’s no other bus out there that’s got more koala than this one, and that’s a promise you can take to the bank.

Just don’t try and make an international wire transfer while you’re there. Just because this koala bus is priced at around $8,500 doesn’t mean you should try to get one into your driveway. Ignoring the whole host of issues such as street legality and safety, don’t forget that you’d have a super desirable vehicle on your hands and no locking doors. Good luck waking up and still having a koala bus in your driveway. That puppy is going, going, gone as soon as thieves realize what a prize you’ve found. I don’t know the resale value of an electric animal bus on the black market, but it’s got to be up there.

So add this to the list of fun, funny, or just plain weird Alibaba electric vehicles that I’d love to try but I’m not going to risk my paycheck on trying to own.

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U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government ‘golden share’

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U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government 'golden share'

U.S. President Donald Trump walks as workers react at U.S. Steel Corporation–Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 30, 2025.

Leah Millis | Reuters

U.S. Steel shares jumped on Monday after President Donald Trump approved its controversial merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel.

U.S. Steel shares were last up about 5% in premarket trading.

Trump issued an executive order on Friday that allowed U.S. Steel and Nippon to finalize their merger so long as they signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government. The companies said they signed the agreement with the government, completing the final hurdle for the deal.

U.S. Steel said the national security agreement includes a golden share for the U.S .government, without specifying what powers the government would wield with its share. Trump said on Thursday that the golden share gives the U.S. president “total control.”

Typically, golden shares allow the holder veto power over important decisions the company makes. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick told CNBC in May that the golden share will give the U.S. government control of several board seats and ensure production levels aren’t cut.

Trump has avoided calling the transaction a merger, describing the deal instead as a “partnership.” U.S. Steel confirmed in a regulatory filing Monday that the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel North America.

“All regulatory approvals required for the completion of the Transaction have been received,” U.S. Steel said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. “The Transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed promptly.”

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Israel vows Iran will ‘pay the price’ as attacks continue for a fourth day

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Israel vows Iran will 'pay the price' as attacks continue for a fourth day

Trails of Iranian ballistic missiles light up the night sky as seen from Gaza City during renewed missile strikes launched by Iran in retaliation against Israel on June 15, 2025.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Tehran will “pay the price” for its fresh missile onslaught against Israel, the Jewish state’s defense minister warned Monday, as markets braced for a fourth day of ramped-up conflict between the regional powers.

Fire exchanges have continued since Israel’s Friday attack against Iran, with Iranian media reporting Tehran’s latest strikes hit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, home to a major refinery. CNBC has reached out to operator Bazan for comment on the state of operations at the Haifa plant, amid reports of damage to Israel’s energy infrastructure.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said overnight it deployed “innovative methods” that “disrupted the enemy’s multi-layered defense systems, to the point that the Zionist air defense systems engaged in targeting each other,” according to a statement obtained by NBC News.

Israel has widely depended on its highly efficient Iron Dome missile defense system to fend off attacks throughout regional conflicts — but even it can be overwhelmed if a large number of projectiles are fired.

Tankers depicted in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategically important waterway which separates Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Why Iran won’t block the Hormuz Strait oil artery even as war with Israel looms

The fresh hostilities are front-of-mind for investors, who have been weighing the odds of further escalation in the conflict and spillover into the broader oil-rich Middle East, amid concerns over crude supplies and the key shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Oil prices retained the gains of recent days and at 09:19 a.m. London time, Ice Brent futures with August delivery were trading at $73.81 per barrel, down 0.57% from the previous trading session. The Nymex WTI contract with July expiry was at $72.7 per barrel, 0.38% lower.

Elsewhere, however, markets showed initial signs of shrugging off the latest hostilities early on Monday.

Spot prices for key safe-haven asset gold retreated early morning, down 0.42% to $3,417.83 per ounce after nearly notching a two-year-high earlier in the session, with U.S. gold futures also down 0.65% to $ 3,430.5

Tel Aviv share indices pointed higher, with the blue-chip TA-35 up 0.99% and the wider TA-125 up 1.33%.

European stock markets opened higher Monday, meanwhile, and U.S. stock futures were also in the green.

Luis Costa, global head of EM sovereign credit at Citigroup Global Markets, signaled the muted reaction could be, in part, attributed to hopes of a brisk resolution to the conflict.

“So markets are obviously, you know, bearing in mind all potential scenarios. There are obviously potentially very bad scenarios in this story,” he told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Monday. “But there is still a way out in terms of, you know, a faster resolution and bringing Iran to the table, or a short continuation here, of a very surgical and intense strike by the Israeli army.”

U.S. response in focus

As of Monday morning, Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom reported four dead and 87 injured following rocket strikes at four sites in “central Israel,” reporting collapsed buildings, fire and people trapped under debris.

Accusing Tehran of targeting civilians in Israel to prevent the Israel Defense Forces from “continuing the attack that is collapsing its capabilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, a close longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a Google-translated social media update that “the residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.”

The IDF on Sunday said it had in turn “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes on numerous weapon production sites belonging to the Quds Force, the IRGC and the Iranian military, in Tehran.”

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

The U.S.’ response is now in focus, given its close support and arms provision to Israel, the unexpected cancellation of Washington’s latest nuclear deal talks with Iran, and President Donald Trump’s historically hard-hitting stance against Tehran during his first term.

Trump, who has been pushing Iran for a deal over its nuclear program, has weighed in on the conflict, opposing an Israeli proposal to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to NBC News.

Discussions about the conflict are expected to take place during the ongoing meeting of the G7, encapsulating Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., along with the European Union.

CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.

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Tesla on ‘self-driving’ gets stuck on train track and hit by train

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Tesla on 'self-driving' gets stuck on train track and hit by train

A Tesla Model 3 got stuck on a train track and was hit, albeit slightly, by a train in Sinking Spring, PA. The driver claimed it was in “self-driving mode.”

According to the fire alerts in Berks County, a Tesla Model 3 drove around a train track barrier near South Hull Street and Columbia Avenue and got stuck in the tracks.

The driver was able to exit the vehicle, but a train hit the car, reportedly snapping off the side mirror.

The fire commissioner ordered to stop all train traffic as the emergency services worked to get the Model 3 off the tracks using a crane.

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Spitlers Garage & Towing, performed the recovery and shared a few pictures on Facebook:

The Tesla driver reportedly claimed that the vehicle was in “self-driving mode” leading up to getting stuck on the train tracks.

Tesla claims that all its vehicles built since 2016 will be capable of unsupervised self-driving with software updates; however, this has yet to occur.

Instead, Tesla has been selling a “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) package for up to $15,000 that requires the driver to constantly supervise the vehicle, with the driver remaining responsible for the car at all times.

Electrek’s Take

There have been instances of Tesla drivers engaging in reckless behavior and then attributing it to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.

I’m not saying it’s the case here, but it’s a possibility.

On the other side, I’ve seen FSD try to navigate around construction barriers. It’s possible that it tried to do that in this case, here and then got caught on the tracks.

We would need more data.

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