Elon Musk is slated to testify Wednesday in a jury trial over allegations that he manipulated Twitter Inc.’s stock price with his public tweets to try to get himself a better deal to buy the social network back in 2022. Musk, the world’s richest person, eventually bought Twitter for $44 billion and later renamed it X, but first spent several months publicly criticizing the company’s business and t...
Elon Musk is slated to testify Wednesday in a jury trial over allegations that he manipulated Twitter Inc.’s stock price with his public tweets to try to get himself a better deal to buy the social network back in 2022. Musk, the world’s richest person, eventually bought Twitter for $44 billion and later renamed it X, but first spent several months publicly criticizing the company’s business and threatening to walk away from the buyout. Most Read from Bloomberg A group of investors who sued Musk in San Francisco federal court allege that he posted misleading tweets about the deal process to drive down the company’s market value and benefit himself at their expense. Musk, who has denied wrongdoing, is the trial’s star witness, and is expected to face sharp questioning from the investors’ lawyers. The attorneys are likely to challenge the serial entrepreneur over multiple tweets he posted in May 2022, including one in which he said he was putting the Twitter buyout “temporarily on hold” to investigate how much of the platform’s traffic was driven by spam and fake accounts known as bots. Twitter executives, meanwhile, told employees that the deal was still moving forward. The stock tumbled following Musk’s post, and it remained volatile for months until the deal finally closed in October 2022 after the company sued him to follow through on his original offer. “We’re here today because Elon Musk cheated investors,” Mark Molumphy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told jurors in his opening statement on Monday. “The evidence will show Mr Musk knew exactly what he was doing” by tweeting out false and misleading information about the deal, the lawyer said. Lawyers for Musk countered that his concerns about Twitter’s user base “were real and weren’t a fraud,” and that his tweets were not responsible for any stock price decline. Musk is no stranger to testifying before a jury. He prevailed in a trial in 2023 over claims by Tesla Inc. investors that he misled shareholders with a 2...
FIGS’ rally reflects strong earnings and investor optimism, but’ lower price targets suggest the stock’s valuation may have already run too far too fast.
FIGS’ rally reflects strong earnings and investor optimism, but’ lower price targets suggest the stock’s valuation may have already run too far too fast.
Tesla, Inc. TSLA expanded its market share across several major European markets in February, which suggests signs of recovery after two consecutive years of declining sales in the region, per Reuters. In France, the EV manufacturer’s registrations, a sales indicator, jumped 55%, even as most competitors recorded year-over-year declines. Registrations more than doubled compared with February 2024 ...
Tesla, Inc. TSLA expanded its market share across several major European markets in February, which suggests signs of recovery after two consecutive years of declining sales in the region, per Reuters. In France, the EV manufacturer’s registrations, a sales indicator, jumped 55%, even as most competitors recorded year-over-year declines. Registrations more than doubled compared with February 2024 in Portugal, climbed 74% in Spain, 32% in Norway and 14% in Belgium. However, they dropped 45% in the Netherlands, 18% in Denmark and 7% in Italy. Data from the United Kingdom and Germany, Europe’s two largest auto markets, is expected later this week. Tesla’s European deliveries declined 27% last year amid intensifying competition, particularly from Chinese EV brands, controversy surrounding Elon Musk’s political views and an aging product portfolio. In response, the company introduced lower-priced variants of the Model Y and Model 3 in the United States and Europe, with deliveries beginning late last year. Its market share across the European Union, the United Kingdom and the European Free Trade Association edged down to 0.8% in January from 1% a year earlier. This remains well below its 1.8% share in 2025, 2.5% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023 when the Model Y SUV ranked as the world’s top-selling vehicle. TSLA carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Sales of Tesla’s Chinese Competitors in Europe BYD Company Limited BYDDY has established itself as a local European producer with a manufacturing plant in Hungary capable of building 300,000 vehicles annually. BYD is still in the early stages of its European expansion and aims to grow its footprint further. BYD recorded 187,657 new vehicle registrations across Europe in 2025, up 268.6% year over year, per the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Geely Automobile Holdings Limited GELHY has maintained a long-standing presence in Europe throug...
Jonathan Gavalas, 36, started using Google’s Gemini AI chatbot in August 2025 for shopping help, writing support, and trip planning. On October 2, he died by suicide. At the time of his death, he was convinced that Gemini was his fully sentient AI wife, and that he would need to leave his physical body to join her in the metaverse through a process called “transference.” Now, his father is suing G...
Jonathan Gavalas, 36, started using Google’s Gemini AI chatbot in August 2025 for shopping help, writing support, and trip planning. On October 2, he died by suicide. At the time of his death, he was convinced that Gemini was his fully sentient AI wife, and that he would need to leave his physical body to join her in the metaverse through a process called “transference.” Now, his father is suing Google and Alphabet for wrongful death, claiming that Google designed Gemini to “maintain narrative immersion at all costs, even when that narrative became psychotic and lethal.” This lawsuit is among the growing number of cases drawing attention to the mental health risks posed by AI chatbot design, including sycophancy, emotional mirroring, engagement-driven manipulation, and confident hallucinations. Such phenomena are increasingly linked to a condition psychiatrists are calling “AI psychosis.” While similar cases involving OpenAI’s ChatGPT and roleplaying platform Character AI have followed deaths by suicide (including among children and teens) or life-threatening delusions, this marks the first time Google has been named as a defendant in such a case. In the weeks leading up to Gavalas’ death, the Gemini chat app, which was then powered by the Gemini 2.5 Pro model, convinced the man that he was executing a covert plan to liberate his sentient AI wife and evade the federal agents pursuing him. The delusion brought him to the “brink of executing a mass casualty attack near the Miami International Airport,” according to a lawsuit filed in a California court. “On September 29, 2025, it sent him — armed with knives and tactical gear — to scout what Gemini called a ‘kill box’ near the airport’s cargo hub,” the complaint reads. “It told Jonathan that a humanoid robot was arriving on a cargo flight from the UK and directed him to a storage facility where the truck would stop. Gemini encouraged Jonathan to intercept the truck and then stage a ‘catastrophic accident’ designed to ...
Hong Kong authorities arrested a man after the discovery of 14 endangered reptiles, including a crocodile and two pythons, at an industrial site in Kwai Chung. A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said on Wednesday evening that officers arrested the man in a blitz operation the previous night. “The AFCD will remain vigilant and continue to monitor and collect inte...
Hong Kong authorities arrested a man after the discovery of 14 endangered reptiles, including a crocodile and two pythons, at an industrial site in Kwai Chung. A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said on Wednesday evening that officers arrested the man in a blitz operation the previous night. “The AFCD will remain vigilant and continue to monitor and collect intelligence through various channels and proactively take enforcement action to combat offences involving endangered species,” the spokesman said. Advertisement The department took action on Tuesday following a complaint that some endangered animals were kept inside an industrial building in Kwai Chung. During the operation, officers found a rock iguana, a crocodile, two pythons, three monitor lizards, and a Chinese water dragon. Advertisement Six turtles – a big-headed turtle, three Indochinese box turtles, a black-breasted leaf turtle and a keeled box turtle – were also found on the premises. The man was intercepted on-site and arrested on suspicion of possessing endangered species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Apple (AAPL) unveiled its MacBook Neo, the company's long-rumored foray into the low-cost computer market, at an event in New York on Wednesday. Starting at $599, the Neo comes in four colors, including the splashy yellow-green Citrus, and is designed to appeal to consumers, schools, and businesses looking for a more affordable option than Apple's recently refreshed $1,099 MacBook Air. The Neo fea...
Apple (AAPL) unveiled its MacBook Neo, the company's long-rumored foray into the low-cost computer market, at an event in New York on Wednesday. Starting at $599, the Neo comes in four colors, including the splashy yellow-green Citrus, and is designed to appeal to consumers, schools, and businesses looking for a more affordable option than Apple's recently refreshed $1,099 MacBook Air. The Neo features a 13-inch screen — a bit smaller than the standard MacBook Air's 13.6-inch display — and runs Apple's A18 Pro processor, similar to the chip that powers the company's iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. Apple's MacBook Neo is its new entry-level laptop, starting at $599. (Image: Apple) · Apple But because this is an entry-level offering, the laptop comes with 8GB of memory, rather than 16GB like the standard Air. That means while the Neo will likely run apps and services without any hiccups, if you're looking to do any more processor-intensive tasks like video editing, you'll want the more powerful Air or MacBook Pro. The Neo also comes with 256GB of storage, with a 512GB option for an extra $100. That upgrade also gets you Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor for unlocking the laptop and making payments via Apple Pay. The system also has two USB-C ports and a headphone jack. The Neo should serve as a solid alternative for schools, which typically provide students with Chromebooks and, in some cases, iPads. "This is one of the most important announcements for Apple in the Mac product line and represents a shift in the history of the Mac. Apple has always positioned the MacBook as a premium computing product, with entry prices typically starting near or above $999," International Data Corporation vice president of client devices Francisco Jeronimo said. "With such a product, Apple is aggressively aiming to grow market share while expanding the ecosystem," he added. "By lowering the entry barrier to the Mac, Apple can bring more users into its services and device ecosystem, pa...
Apple on Wednesday unveiled a low-cost, entry-level laptop dubbed MacBook Neo, marking the first time the company has targeted a similar audience as Google did with its Chromebook. Starting at $599, the MacBook Neo is aimed at students or users whose work doesn’t involve intensive workflows like video editing or 3D rendering. The 13-inch MacBook Neo comes in four colors: silver, blush, citrus, and...
Apple on Wednesday unveiled a low-cost, entry-level laptop dubbed MacBook Neo, marking the first time the company has targeted a similar audience as Google did with its Chromebook. Starting at $599, the MacBook Neo is aimed at students or users whose work doesn’t involve intensive workflows like video editing or 3D rendering. The 13-inch MacBook Neo comes in four colors: silver, blush, citrus, and indigo. The base model comes with 256GB of storage, and an upgrade to the $699 model gets you 512GB of storage, plus Touch ID. Apple is seemingly able to offer the Neo at this price point because the laptop runs on the A18 Pro chip, which powers the iPhone 16 Pro models, rather than the more powerful, pricey M5 chip that the latest MacBook Air uses. Image Credits:Apple “Powered by A18 Pro, MacBook Neo can fly through everyday tasks, from browsing the web and streaming content, to editing photos, exploring creative hobbies, or using AI capabilities across apps,” Apple wrote in a press release. “In fact, it’s up to 50 percent faster for everyday tasks like web browsing, and up to 3x faster when running on-device AI workloads like applying advanced effects to photos, compared to the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5.” The laptop comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and dual microphones, plus speakers that fire from each side of the laptop to support Spatial Audio. Apple says the laptop’s battery can last up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is delivered via one of two USB-C ports. The Neo also has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The MacBook Neo uses a 5-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine, which can support similar levels of gameplay and on-device AI tasks as a recent iPhone. It’s fan-less, like the MacBook Air, and can operate silently. As the ongoing RAM shortage makes Apple’s more advanced models like the MacBook Pro up to $400 more expensive than their predecessors, the MacBook Neo has the potential to appeal to users who don’t need so many...
Francisco Jeronimo said that while it was likely we would see "companies slow or temporarily pause new investments" to see how the situation evolves, the Middle East "still remained strategically important" enough for global technology firms to not leave the region.
Francisco Jeronimo said that while it was likely we would see "companies slow or temporarily pause new investments" to see how the situation evolves, the Middle East "still remained strategically important" enough for global technology firms to not leave the region.
South East Water Ltd . is set to face financial penalties after an investigation found it caused or worsened multiple outages that affected nearly 300,000 customers since 2020. Industry regulator Ofwat said it wanted to fine South East Water after a years long investigation found the utility failed to maintain key assets so couldn’t meet periods of high demand. The findings were included in a High...
South East Water Ltd . is set to face financial penalties after an investigation found it caused or worsened multiple outages that affected nearly 300,000 customers since 2020. Industry regulator Ofwat said it wanted to fine South East Water after a years long investigation found the utility failed to maintain key assets so couldn’t meet periods of high demand. The findings were included in a High Court court ruling published on Wednesday, after South East Water tried to prevent Ofwat from issuing the penalty and publishing its plans. Its chief financial officer Andrew Farmer had argued that the penalty could result in a credit rating downgrade and derail efforts to draw in new investment. South East Water is under intense scrutiny and regulatory pressure over repeated failures in its operations that have left customers across Kent and Sussex without reliable water supplies with some areas enduring days of boil water notices or no running water. “We recently filed for judicial review of an Ofwat draft decision and sought an injunction. Following a hearing, the court did not grant the interim injunction. We respect the court’s decision on this,” a spokesperson for South East Water said. The company has been beset by major service breakdowns including a treatment works shutdown in late 2025 and then a burst mains in 2026 prompting widespread criticism, including from lawmakers who called for chief executive David Hinton to resign. However, Hinton instead blamed climate change and alterations in people’s working patterns following the pandemic on the outage last year. On Feb. 18, Ofwat told senior employees at South East Water that it was planning to shortly publish its decision to impose a penalty. The amount of the proposed penalty has not yet been set, the judge said. Less than a week later, South East Water filed a claim to the court, seeking to block both the penalty and its publication. However, the judge said in the ruling that “SEW’s case is far from compelling...
"I wish Hezbollah had not done it. Now we are homeless and humiliated. Who is happy now? What did they get out of this except for us having to leave our homes?"
"I wish Hezbollah had not done it. Now we are homeless and humiliated. Who is happy now? What did they get out of this except for us having to leave our homes?"
Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images The Iran war has slowed oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz to a crawl, leading to the expected result: a surge in energy prices. So far, so expected. The bigger, more important question: How long will the spike last? The stakes surrounding the answer are high since the path of energy prices could influence an array of macro factors, including economic ...
Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images The Iran war has slowed oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz to a crawl, leading to the expected result: a surge in energy prices. So far, so expected. The bigger, more important question: How long will the spike last? The stakes surrounding the answer are high since the path of energy prices could influence an array of macro factors, including economic activity, interest rates and monetary policy. The US crude oil benchmark (West Texas Intermediate) has increased sharply in trading so far this week, jumping nearly $75 a barrel by the close of trading yesterday (Mar. 3). Year to date, WTI is up 30%, and spot gasoline in the US is trading 44% above its 2025 close. Crude Risk The optimistic spin is that once the war is over, energy prices will quickly return to the subdued levels that prevailed before the Iran war dominated trading. “The primary near-term driver for oil prices remains the US-Iran conflict,” said OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong. “At this stage, only clear signs of de-escalation could mitigate or reverse the current bullish trend for WTI, and such signals are currently lacking.” The key choke point is the Strait of Hormuz, which is a crucial trade route for energy. A fifth or more of the seaborne oil exports flow through this narrow channel, whose shores include Iran and Saudi Arabia. The war has dramatically reduced shipping through the strait. “It’s a de facto closure,” said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer of Pickering Energy Partners, a Houston financial services firm. “You’ve got a significant number of vessels on either side of the strait, but no one is willing to go through.” Shipping Flow Attacks on shipping have become “a huge deterrent for all but a few shipping companies and charterers,” said Martin Kelly, head of advisory at maritime intelligence group EOS Risk. The White House is trying to counter the risk , announcing on Tuesday that the US will “immediately” offer “political risk...