Day: September 7, 2022

Elon Musk will be able to include new evidence from a Twitter whistleblower as he fights to get out of his $44 billion deal to buy the social media company, but Musk won’t be able to delay a high-stakes October trial over the dispute, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the head judge of Delaware’s Court of Chancery, denied Musk’s request to delay the trial by four weeks. But she allowed the billionaire Tesla CEO to add evidence related to whistleblower allegations by former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko, who is scheduled to testify to Congress next week about the company’s poor cybersecurity practices.

Twitter has sued Musk, asking the Delaware court to force him to go through with the deal he made in April to buy the company. Musk has countersued and a trial is set to start the week of October 17.

Musk’s legal team has argued that the allegations made by Zatko to U.S. officials may help bolster Musk’s claims that Twitter misled him and the public about the company’s problem with fake and “spam” accounts. Zatko, a well-known cybersecurity expert known by his hacker handle ” Mudge,” said he was fired in January after raising flags about Twitter’s negligence in protecting the security and privacy of its users.

The judge’s ruling followed an hourslong hearing Tuesday at which attorneys for Musk and Twitter argued with each other about the merits of Zatko’s claims and the pace at which both sides are producing evidence ahead of the trial.

Twitter’s attorneys sought to downplay the relevance of Zatko’s allegations to the merger dispute, arguing that an initial 27-page complaint he sent to Twitter and a later retaliation claim made no mention of the “spam bot” issues that Musk has given as a reason to terminate the deal. Zatko “never said a word about spam or bots” until his July whistleblower complaint, said Twitter attorney William Savitt.

Twitter has argued for weeks that Musk’s stated reasons for backing out were just a cover for buyer’s remorse after agreeing to pay 38% above Twitter’s stock price shortly before the stock market stumbled and shares of the electric-car maker Tesla, where most of Musk’s personal wealth resides, lost more than $100 billion of their value.

McCormick, the judge, said Wednesday the newly published whistleblower complaint gave Musk’s team grounds to amend its countersuit but she declined to weigh in on the details.

“I am reticent to say more concerning the merits of the counterclaims at this posture before they have been fully litigated,” she wrote. “The world will have to wait for the post-trial decision.”

McCormick, however, sided with Twitter’s concerns that delaying the trial would make it harder for the company to get back to business.

“I am convinced that even four weeks’ delay would risk further harm to Twitter too great to justify,” she wrote.

In afternoon trading, Twitter shares added 5.5% to $40.77.

Source: Voice of America

Apple on Wednesday avoided price hikes of its best-selling iPhones during its biggest product launch of the year, focusing on safety upgrades rather than flashy new technical specs, with the exception of a new adventure-focused watch.

The iPhone maker leaned into safety technologies, like the ability to detect a car accident and summon a rescue from a remote mountaintop, to add allure to its devices. Apple positioned itself as the brand to allow users to pursue excitement and adventure — with a safety net.

Such intangible features “are the things that make you not just want the products for yourself, but also for loved ones,” said Ben Bajarin, head of consumer technologies at Creative Strategies. “Ultimately, the increased emphasis on safety — safety as a service — is super interesting as a value proposition.”

The iPhone lineup that generates half of Apple’s sales got tweaks to cameras and battery life, though only the iPhone Pro lineup got an upgrade to a completely new processor chip.

Prices of the high-end iPhone 14s are the same as last year’s iPhone 13 models. But Apple dropped its cheapest option, the iPhone Mini, meaning its lowest-priced model now costs $100 more than last year.

The iPhone 14 will start at $799 and the iPhone 14 Plus at $899 and be available for preorder starting Friday. The iPhone Pro will cost $999 and the iPhone Pro Max $1,099 and be available September 16.

“They decided to essentially maintain pricing despite inflationary pressure,” said D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte.

Nintendo and T-Mobile have also said they will hold off on price increases.

Satellite SOS feature

Apple said its satellite SOS feature will work with emergency responders. It also said that users will be able to use its FindMy app to share their location via satellite when they have no other connectivity.

The service will be free for two years with the iPhone 14. Apple did not say what would happen after that period.

Shares in Globalstar jumped 20% on Wednesday after the satellite services firm announced it would be the satellite operator for Apple’s emergency SOS service.

The Cupertino, California-based company also showed a trio of new Apple Watches, including a new Watch Ultra model aimed at extreme sports and diving and designed to challenge sports watch specialists such as Garmin and Polar.

On the watch front, the $799 Ultra has a bigger battery to last through events like triathlons and better waterproofing and temperature resistance to operate in outdoor environments, as well as better GPS tracking for sports.

All of the watches, which include a Series 8 priced the same as last year and an updated, cheaper SE model, and new iPhones will have the ability to detect when a user has been in a serious car crash and call emergency services.

Ovulation detection

The new Series 8 watch has a temperature sensor that will retroactively detect ovulation. The company emphasized the privacy approach of its cycle tracking. Privacy and reproductive health data have become a focus for tech companies in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended a constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

But while accessories like the Apple Watch have driven incremental sales from Apple’s existing user base, the iPhone remains the bedrock of its business with 52.4% of sales in its most recent fiscal year, and investors continue to wonder what, if anything, will be the company’s next major product category.

Analysts expect that category to be a mixed reality headset that could come to market as soon as next year, but Apple gave no hints at those potential products on Wednesday.

Source: Voice of America

Ondjiva – The bishop of the Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola (IELA) this Wednesday encouraged the President-elect João Lourenço to work for the preservation of peace and the sustainable growth of the country.

Speaking to ANGOP, regarding the expectations around the formation of the new government, Bishop Tomás Ndawanapo also defended greater commitment to the social sector, with a focus on education, health, higher education and roads.

He considered it necessary more incentives for family farming, the fight against poverty and illiteracy to be fundamental, as well as the creation of more jobs for young people and the increase in the programme to strengthen the system for the protection of vulnerable people.

The prelate also stated that it was necessary to correct what he considered “distortions of moral, social and economic reality”.

The MPLA won the general elections with 51.17% of the votes, followed by UNITA with 43.95%, according to data from the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

With these results, the MPLA won 124 deputies in the National Assembly and UNITA 90, while the FNLA, PRS and PHA each elected two deputies

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, on Wednesday congratulated his Angolan counterpart, Joao Lourenço, on his re-election in the general elections held on August 24.

In the message that has reached ANGOP, the Dominican statesman said he wishes that João Lourenço continue to make important contributions for the strengthening of freedom, peacekeeping and solidarity of the Angolan people.

“We trust in the continuity of the excellent diplomatic, commercial and cultural relations that exist between our nations and a renewed impulse of bilateral exchanges between our countries”, reads the message.

According to the definitive results published by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), the MPLA won the elections with 51.17% (3.209,429 votes), resulting in the re-election of its presidential candidate, João Lourenço, for the post of President of the Republic, and also gaining 124 parliamentary seats.

UNITA comes second with 43.95% (2.756.786 votes, winning 90 MPs), PRS 1,14% (71,351 votes, 2 MPs), FNLA 1,06% (66,337 votes, 2 MPs) and PHA with 1,02% (63,749 votes, 2 MPs).

CASA-CE with 0.76% (47,446 votes), APN with 0.48% (30,139 votes) and P-NJANGO with 0.42% (26,867 votes) did not get any MPs.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Constitutional Court (TC) dismissed CASA-CE´s electoral coalition appeal contesting the results of the general elections held on 24 August of the current year in Angola, due to the non-observance of legal procedures.

The Constitutiional Court, which also functions as Electoral Court, states that CASA-CE (Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition) filed its appeal refuting the national tabulation of the general elections, on 1st September.

The coalition led by Manuel Fernandes claimed that the definitive results published by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) do not match those of its parallel count.

The electoral coalition appeal mentioned non-compliances in the votes obtained in the provinces of Huambo, Cuanza Norte and Benguela, where the CNE count allegedly gave it fewer votes than it should have.

Due to that, CASA-CE requested the court to order a recount of the votes based on the pre-existing minutes to ensure the election of CASA-CE MP´s to the National Assembly.

In its conclusions, the TC explained that it dismissed the appeal because CASA-CE had not filed a complaint with the CNE.

The court clarifies that under the combined provisions of the Constitution, the electoral law and the Law of Constitutional Procedure, a prior complaint to the CNE, as the entity in charge of organizing and conducting the electoral process at national level, is required for electoral litigation to take place.

The court also said it had found that even if CASA-CE had complied with this legal requirement, its claim would be unfounded because it only submitted evidence for Cuanza Norte, where 849 votes had been counted, according to the compliant summary reports.

According to official results from the CNE, CASA-CE obtained 0.76% of the votes (47,446) not enough to elect a deputy (Mp), losing to the Social Renewal Party (PRS) its position as the country´s third largest political force, which it had won in the 2012 elections.

Meanwhile, Adalberto Costa Júnior, the president of UNITA party also appealed to the Constitutional Court for disagreeing with the results announced by the CNE, which gave victory to the MPLA and its presidential candidate, João Lourenço, with 51.17% of the votes.

The Court has promised to present its conclusions this Thursday on the appeal lodged by UNITA, in order to close the phase of complaints about the election results.

CNE data show that the MPLA obtained about 3.209,000 votes corresponding to 124 parliamentary seats against 2.786,000 votes of UNITA for 90 seats which got 43.95%.

In third position, Benedito Daniel´s of PRS won 71,351 votes (1.14%) two deputies, followed by the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) led by Nimi a Nsimbi, and the newcomer Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) of Florbela Catarina Malaquias, with two parliamentary seats each.

The National Patriotic Alliance (APN) led by Quintino Moreira and the Nationalist Party for Justice in Angola (P-NJANGO) of Eduardo “Dinho” Chingunji were also left without seats.

The latter two are exposed to extinction by the Constitutional Court for having fallen below the 0.5% threshold imposed by law for the survival of political parties.

These were the fifth general elections, in Angola, and the first with the participation of the Angolan citizens in the diaspora, after those held in 1992, 2008, 2012 and 2017.

Meanwhile, all four previous editions were won by the MPLA.

Source: Angola Press News Agency