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Australia’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) began on January 1, 2025, setting CO₂ emission targets for light-duty vehicles through 2029. While the NVES targets are based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), Australia is also adopting Euro 6d-equivalent exhaust emissions standards that require vehicles to be tested using either the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) or the U.S. 2-cycle tests.  

To avoid requiring the auto industry to test vehicles under multiple protocols, the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts engaged ICCT in December 2024 to develop conversion methods that translate the WLTP and U.S. 2-cycle CO₂ values into NEDC-equivalent values for compliance determination with NVES.   

ICCT developed detailed conversion algorithms covering the various Australian fleets, including petrol and diesel passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and plug-in hybrids. This test cycle conversion protocol was adopted into Australia’s legislation as an option for the auto industry to use for type approval CO₂ conversions instead of physical testing on multiple test cycles, if preferred. 

The report can be viewed and downloaded from the Australian government website. 

Several products are being recalled due to potential safety risks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Companies like Sanven Technology are voluntarily pulling certain items off the shelves because they might be dangerous.

Here’s what you need to know to keep your family safe:

Sanven – VEVOR

Around 2,840 VEVOR garment steamers are being pulled because they may leak or spray hot water, posing a serious burn hazard.

The CPSC said the water tank lid can also come loose, exposing users to hot water.

Six incidents have occurred, resulting in three burn injuries. One caused a permanent scar, the CPSC said.

These were sold online through Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com and Vevor.com from December 2023 to September 2025.

You can get a full refund by emailing Sanven Technology with contact information and a photo of the steamer as directed.

You can find the recall information here.

Around 11,650 VEVOR ice crushers are also being recalled because they may experience a thermal event and catch fire.

Two thermal events have been reported, with one resulting in a fire, the CPSC said. No injuries were reported.

The CPSC said these were sold online through Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Wayfair.com, Lowes.com and others from July 2021 to July 2025.

If you have one, you can email recalling@vevor.com with pictures of the affected product for a full refund.

You can find the recall information here.

YCXXKJ

Around 8,960 of the company’s baby bath seats are being pulled because they may be unstable and tip over, posing a drowning hazard.

No incidents or injuries have been reported, according to the CPSC.

These were sold on Amazon.com from May 2024 to October 2025.

You can email bentalkhere@outlook.com for a full refund. Make sure to follow the company’s directions when sending photos.

You can find the recall information here.

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In early December, the US state of New Hampshire announced what it called the “world’s first bitcoin-backed municipal bond”. Munis — bond issues from American states and cities — are a $4.3tn market. They’re a minor part of a $47.8tn market for bonds in the US, dominated by Treasuries and corporate issues, but munis confer a special blessing. Any interest earned from a muni is exempt from federal income taxes, and some munis even allow the lender to escape state income taxes.

This tax break, $183bn in total over the next four years and long contested in US politics, allows local governments to borrow at lower rates. If a corporation can convince a local government to borrow on its behalf it can enjoy those lower rates, too, sheltered in what’s essentially a federal subsidy for private business.

These “private activity bonds” are a common strategy to encourage companies to invest in infrastructure like hospitals or utilities. States also often have an even broader understanding of what infrastructure is, though — and which companies could use cheaper loans.

The New Hampshire bitcoin muni has cracked open the door to a new idea: companies that hold bitcoin can do something for local economic development. This could lure bitcoin treasury companies or more bitcoin miners up north, at a time when the state legislature is considering a ban on any local restrictions on server farms.

The new muni from New Hampshire stretches the definition of what economic development is. Digital assets are interesting. It’s not clear how they create growth.

Sovereigns have always wanted to spend money they don’t yet have, and have had an interest in creating markets for their debt. In the early American republic, states chartered commercial banks as an economic development strategy. In return for a literal licence to print dollars, the bank would be obliged to dig a canal, for example. That approach fell out of favour with the widespread failure of chartered banks in 1837, and states increasingly turned to the federal practice of issuing bonds.

Congress reconsidered the tax exemption on state bonds several times in the 20th century, particularly when raising revenue for the first and second world wars, but the principle that states could raise money unmolested by Washington endured.

During the Great Depression, states had started offering this shelter as “industrial development bonds,” issues on behalf of local champions. This practice boomed in the middle of the century, growing from $6mn in 1956 to over $500mn just a decade later. In 1968 and again in 1986, Congress finally curbed this practice, more clearly defining what a private activity bond is and limiting issues by state.

In 2022, the latest year for which the IRS offers data, states issued $119bn in private activity bonds. Most of these went to build airports, low-income housing and hospitals, and to support non-profits. New Hampshire’s Business Finance Authority, which issues the state’s private activity bonds, still has about $85mn in capacity under these limits, which means it has room to be creative, just as states feel the pressure to find more creative ways to borrow.

“It’s not getting any easier to be a state anytime soon,” says Matt Fabian of Municipal Market Analytics, a research firm. States are more frequently running deficits and muni issues are growing, he explains, as states take on more obligations such as losses from climate change. This leaves less capacity for economic development.

Normally, private activity bonds are guaranteed by future revenues — from the company and ultimately the state. In New Hampshire’s bond, a company would post its bitcoin as collateral, to be held in trust. The state issues the bonds, essentially converting the private company’s bitcoin into a cash loan.

Bitcoin has lost 14 per cent of its value over the past six months; the head of the state’s business finance authority has said that the private company would have to put up bitcoin worth 150 per cent of the bond issue.

“It seems interesting,” says Daniel Garrett, assistant professor of finance at Wharton, “but it doesn’t make any immediate sense to me as to why it would be necessary.” Garrett, whose research looks into the development returns from municipal bonds, says he can’t figure out the economic or public value the state gets out of it.

New Hampshire, like Arizona and Texas, has approved a crypto reserve fund, which would allow it to hold bitcoin in the state’s rainy day fund, a vehicle some US states maintain for unexpected expenses. Together with the plan for a new bond issue, the reserve fund positions the state as friendly to crypto.

Here again, it’s hard to understand what the state is getting in return for making an alternative currency liquid. It could just as easily hold euro-denominated assets in its rainy day fund or convert euro holdings to cash through a muni issue. Munis can be a creative way to get private companies to do things, but until we can figure out what the private companies will be doing, the question for New Hampshire’s new bond issue is the same as for most innovations around crypto: “Cool. But why?”

Pakistan on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global crypto exchange Binance to explore tokenisation of sovereign and real-world assets of up to $2 billion, marking one of the country’s most significant steps toward adopting blockchain-based financial infrastructure, PTI reported.The MoU was signed at the Finance Division by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Binance CEO Richard Teng, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. The agreement aims to assess the feasibility of digitising Pakistan’s assets — including government bonds, treasury bills, commodity reserves and other federally owned holdings — through blockchain platforms.According to the ministry, the proposed collaboration seeks to “enhance liquidity, transparency and international market accessibility,” with any move subject to Pakistani laws, policies and regulatory approvals. The MoU is non-binding, sets no exclusivity, and does not amount to a procurement commitment. Definitive agreements, if pursued, will be negotiated within six months.Officials said the arrangement could allow Binance and its affiliates to provide technical expertise, advisory support, training and capacity building to help Pakistan evaluate compliant blockchain infrastructure that can attract global investors while ensuring full sovereign control.Calling the MoU a major signal of the government’s reform direction, Aurangzeb said, “This is a very strong message — not only for Pakistan, but for the entire world. What we have signed today reflects a long-term partnership… The next step for us is execution, and we are fully committed to delivering results with speed and quality.”Advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council Changpeng Zhao, who was present at the signing, termed the development “a landmark” for Pakistan’s financial future. “This is a great signal for the global blockchain industry and for Pakistan… now we can move towards full deployment and execution,” he said, expressing confidence that the collaboration would have “positive and lasting outcomes for the economy.”The ministry added that the initiative marks a key milestone in aligning Pakistan’s financial ecosystem with global best practices at a time when tokenisation is gaining traction worldwide.Separately, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) said it has issued No Objection Certificates to Binance and HTX, launching a phased, FATF-aligned route toward full licensing. “Strong governance, AML and CFT compliance remain central as Pakistan builds a trusted digital asset ecosystem,” PVARA said on X.The authority said Pakistan has taken a “decisive step” toward a regulated digital-asset framework by entering formal arrangements with Binance and HTX.