Category: News

Jury finds that two tweets posted in May 2022 by Musk contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.

A federal jury in California has found that tech tycoon Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders, driving down the company’s share price as he was poised to buy it in a $44bn deal.

The verdict delivered on Friday in the class action securities lawsuit means the world’s richest person could be ordered to pay billions of dollars, according to damages calculated by jurors.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

After a three-week trial in a San Francisco federal court – which included in-person testimony from Musk – the jury found that two tweets posted in May 2022 by the Tesla and SpaceX CEO contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.

Investor Giuseppe Pampena had filed the suit on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May and early October 2022.

Jurors agreed that Musk violated a securities rule that bars false and misleading statements that sink a stock price, in this case that of Twitter, the verdict form showed. A lawyer for the plaintiffs estimated the damages at about $2.6bn.

But the nine-person jury absolved Musk of some fraud allegations, finding that he did not “scheme” to mislead investors.

Minutes after the judgement was announced, lawyers for Musk, who acquired the social media platform in late October 2022 and later renamed it X, said their client will appeal the decision, characterising it as a “setback”.

Musk, who has a near-constant presence on X, did not immediately react to the verdict, which marks a rare legal defeat for the billionaire often dubbed “Teflon Elon” for his ability to emerge unscathed from lawsuits he is expected to lose.

In 2023, a jury in the same San Francisco federal court cleared him within hours of similar charges brought by Tesla shareholders, following his 2018 tweets claiming he had the funding to take the automaker private.

Musk abandoned his effort to get out of buying Twitter in late 2022 after the company took him to court to uphold the contract. He has since merged the social media platform with his artificial intelligence startup xAI and his private space exploration firm SpaceX.

Forbes magazine earlier this month estimated Elon Musk’s net worth at $839bn, a figure based primarily on his stakes in his portfolio of companies including Tesla and SpaceX.

No leakage of radioactive materials reported in the area in central Iran, Tehran’s atomic energy organisation says.

The United States and Israel have struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, according to its atomic energy organisation.

“Following the criminal attacks by the United States and the usurping Zionist regime against our country, the … Natanz enrichment complex was targeted this morning,” the organisation said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

It added that there was “no leakage of radioactive materials reported” at the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan enrichment facility in Natanz in central Iran, one of the country’s most important uranium enrichment sites, about 220km (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.

No radioactive material was released, Tasnim reported, quoting Iranian officials. There is no danger to the population living near the facility, according to the report.

The Natanz nuclear facility was also targeted by Israel in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said the Iranian nuclear organisation’s statement did not say how Saturday’s attack happened and what types of bombs were used in it.

“We know that Natanz is one of the key nuclear sites in Iran, towards the middle of the country, along with the Isfahan nuclear facilities,” he said.

“And we know a major goal of this war by the Americans and Israelis was about the nuclear programme of Iran, how to destroy it and prevent Iran from producing a nuclear bomb.”

Call for restraint

In a post on X, the International Atomic Energy ⁠Agency (IAEA) said Iran has ⁠informed it about the US-Israeli attack on the ⁠Natanz site.

No increase ⁠in off-site radiation ⁠levels was reported, the United ⁠Nations nuclear ⁠watchdog said, adding that it was looking into ‌the report.

IAEA head Rafael Grossi repeated his “call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident” during the war on Iran.

The White House has said a key objective of the war it launched alongside Israel on February 28 is to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons.

The Natanz site was previously hit in the first week of the 22-day war, and several buildings were damaged, according to satellite images at the time.

The UN nuclear watchdog said on March 3 that the nuclear site suffered “recent damage”, a day after Iran said the underground uranium enrichment plant was attacked.

Russia has condemned the latest attack ⁠on the Natanz facility, calling it “a blatant ‌violation of international law,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the US and Israel would intensify their strikes on Iran in the week starting Sunday.

“This week, the intensity of the strikes to be carried out by the IDF [Israeli army] and the US military against the Iranian terror regime and the infrastructure on which it relies will rise significantly,” Katz said in a statement on Saturday.

One police officer killed in strike by ‘outlaw groups’ on headquarters of Iraqi National Intelligence Service.

One police officer has been killed in a drone strike by “outlaw groups” on the headquarters of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in the heart of capital Baghdad.

“A drone targeted the headquarters of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in the Mansour district” at about 10am local time (07:00 GMT), General Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi government’s security media unit, said in a brief statement on Saturday.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency that the drone targeted a “communications building”, adding that the building houses an Iraqi security agency that works with United States’ advisers in Iraq on security matters.

Another drone, filming the operation, crashed into a private members ‘ sports club popular with the Iraqi elite and foreign diplomats, according to the same source.

The drone attack on the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service came hours after another attack on the US military complex.

Overnight from Friday to Saturday, at least three drone attacks targeted a US diplomatic and logistics hub that houses US military personnel at Baghdad International Airport, according to two security officials.

One of the officials said a fire broke out near the base following the third attack.

Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on neighbouring Iran on February 28, with its territory being struck frequently since then.

The US-Israeli strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed near-daily attacks on US interests, mostly in Iraq but also across the wider region.

A fighter from the Hashed al-Shaabi former paramilitary coalition was killed late on Friday in an attack on a military airfield in northern Iraq. The group blamed the attack on the US and Israel.

On Thursday, the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that combat helicopters had carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the latest conflict.

United States President Donald Trump says he is considering “winding down” the military operations in Iran even as his administration deploys 2,500 additional marines to the region and asks Congress for more money to fund the war.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump said the US was “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East”.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The mixed messages from Trump came after another climb in oil prices plunged the US stock markets. His administration also announced that it was lifting sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling the soaring fuel prices.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a post on X shortly after Trump’s message, said “the President and the Pentagon predicted it would take approximately 4-6 weeks to achieve this mission.

“Tomorrow [Saturday] marks week 3 – and the US Armed Forces are doing an exceptional job,” Leavitt wrote. “Day by day, the Iranian Regime is being crippled, and their ability to threaten the United States and our allies is being significantly weakened.”

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, said four to six weeks is “the new number coming from the Trump administration about when Operation Epic Fury could possibly end”.

“The White House has never been clear since the war began on February 28 about just how long the war was going to take, how many different platforms it would be fought on, and what would be the final metric for the US deciding to declare victory,” she said.

But the three-week-old war has shown no signs of abating, with the US-Israeli forces attacking the Iranian capital, Tehran, and nearby areas as the country welcomed the first day of the Persian new year, Nowruz. At least two people were killed by shelling on a residential area in the village of Dastak in northern Iran’s Kiashahr, Gilan province’s governor said.

Meanwhile, Iran fired ⁠two ⁠ballistic missiles at the Diego Garcia military base in the ⁠Indian Ocean, run jointly by the US and the United Kingdom, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.

Israel said Iranian forces continued to fire missiles at it early on Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region – home to major oil installations.

US near completion of goals: Trump

The US and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war at different times, from hoping to foment an uprising that topples Iran’s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programmes.

While Trump claimed the US is “very close” to meeting the war’s objectives, his administration is moving to bolster its firepower in the region and request another $200bn from Congress to fund the war.

Earlier this week, the US redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying 2,500 marines from the Pacific to the Middle East. The marines will join more than 50,000 US troops already in the region.

Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran, but has also asserted that he retains all options.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday said Iran has dealt “a dizzying blow” to its enemies and that the US-Israeli war on his country was a “gross miscalculation”.

In a written statement read on Iranian television to mark Nowruz, Khamenei praised the Iranians’ steadfastness in the face of war. Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became the supreme leader following the Israeli strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and reportedly wounded him.

More than 1,400 people have been killed in Iran during the war, according to the authorities, while Israeli bombing has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon. In Israel, at least 18 people have been killed by Iranian missiles, while at least 13 US soldiers have died so far, according to officials.

The NBA’s leading scorer recorded the second 60-point game of his career as the Lakers take down the Heat in Miami.

Luka Doncic scored 60 points – the most ‌ever recorded against the Heat – as the Los Angeles Lakers won their eighth straight game, defeating ⁠the Miami Heat 134-126 ⁠away on Thursday night.

James Harden had the previous record against Miami with 58 points. He reached that mark while a member of the Houston Rockets on February 28, ⁠2019.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The Lakers (45-25) also got a triple-double from LeBron James, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. It was just the second triple-double of the season for James, who no ⁠doubt has fond memories of his time in Miami, leading the Heat to four straight NBA Finals (2011-2014) and two NBA titles.

It is possible that this was the final game in Miami ever for James, 41, who has not yet announced his future playing plans.

Doncic, who entered the day leading ‌the NBA with a 32.9 scoring average, made 18 of 30 shots from the floor, nine of 17 on three-pointers and 15 of 19 at the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Over the past two nights, Doncic has scored 100 points.

Bam Adebayo led Miami (38-32) with 28 points and 10 rebounds. He appeared fully healthy after having missed Miami’s previous game due to tightness in his right calf.

However, the ⁠Heat are just 1-3 since Adebayo scored 83 points against Washington on ⁠March 10, the second-greatest scoring game in NBA history.

Tyler Herro added 21 points for Miami, and Norman Powell tallied 20.

The Heat were without two key injured players, Jaime Jaquez Jr (left-hip tightness) and Andrew Wiggins (left big toe). Those ⁠two players combine to average 30.9 points.

Miami led 42-29 at the end of the first quarter, during which the Heat shot 63.0 percent from the ⁠floor and had a 26-12 edge in paint points. ⁠Los Angeles, despite 12 points from Doncic, shot just 40.9 percent.

Los Angeles hit 12 of 20 shots from the floor in the second quarter and cut its deficit to 65-59 at halftime. Miami shot just 40.9 percent.

The Lakers took their first lead ‌of the game at 72-71 with 9:05 left in the third as Doncic hit his third straight three-pointer. By the end of the period, the Lakers led, 97-88.

Doncic scored 19 points in ‌the ‌third. Miami misfired on 10 of 12 attempts from behind the arc in the quarter.

The Lakers closed out the game without much trouble in the fourth quarter, beating Miami for the third straight time.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s pay boost revealed in latest accounts that target $14bn in revenue for 2027-30.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino received a 33 percent increase in his annual bonus last year as part of a $6m pay package detailed by football’s world body.

Infantino’s basic annual salary was unchanged at 2.6 million Swiss francs ($3.3m) and his bonus rose by 550,000 Swiss francs ($695,000) to 2.2 million Swiss francs ($2.78m) in 2025, when FIFA organised its first monthlong men’s Club World Cup in the United States.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

In each of the prior two years, Infantino’s annual bonus had been 1.65 million Swiss francs ($2m).

It was unclear if the FIFA leader is entitled to further payments, including for keeping homes in his native Switzerland and Florida, where FIFA has a base in Coral Gables, organising the 2026 World Cup across North America.

The Club World Cup heavily backed by Saudi Arabian money added about $2bn to FIFA’s revenue, which is set to be at least $13bn for the four-year period through this year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA on Thursday published annual accounts with a budget target for 2027-30 of $14bn in estimated revenue.

That four-year commercial cycle includes the second edition of the men’s Club World Cup – in a host nation yet to be decided – and a men’s and women’s World Cup.

The Women’s World Cup will be in Brazil in 2027 and the men’s 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, plus single games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

FIFA said it aims to allocate $2.7bn of its $14bn revenue in development money to its 211-member federations, plus continental and regional football bodies. That would be a 20 percent increase on the current four-year period.

Infantino is due for re-election next year for a fourth mandate that would extend his presidency to 15 years through 2031. That is the maximum allowed by FIFA statutes, which currently allow his successor just three terms of four years each.

FIFA has published salary details for top executives and senior elected officials as part of transparency reforms passed on the day Infantino was elected in 2016. Payments are decided by a FIFA-appointed compensation panel.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hints war funding may change, leaving timeline decisions to President Trump.

The Pentagon is seeking an additional $200bn from Congress to fund the United States-Israel war with Iran, a conflict Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warns has no “timeframe” for ending.

Asked about the figure on Thursday, Hegseth did not directly confirm the amount but said that it could change.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

“As far as $200bn, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said. “We’re going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future.”

The Associated Press and Washington Post reported that the US Department of Defense had requested the sum from the White House.

It’s an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of extra funding the Defense Department already received last year as part of President Donald Trump’s July tax-cuts bill. Such a request would need to be approved by Congress, and it is not at all clear that such spending would have political support.

Congress has been bracing for a new spending request, but it is not yet clear whether the White House has transmitted the proposal for a war that Hegseth declined to provide a timeline for ending.

“We wouldn’t want to set a definitive timeframe,” Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that Trump will be the one to decide when to stop.

“It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’”

Congress, however, has not authorised the war and is showing growing unease with the military operation’s scope and strategy.

Congress is controlled by the president’s Republican Party, but many of the more conservative lawmakers are also fiscal hawks, with little political appetite for big spending, on military operations or other matters. Most Democrats are likely to reject such a request and demand more detailed plans for military strategy and goals.

The requested amount would be a sizable boost to the Pentagon’s annual budget, which Congress approved at more than $800bn for the current fiscal year.

That is on top of some $150bn that Congress gave the Defense Department in last year’s tax-cuts bill, much of it for specific projects and overall upgrades to the Pentagon’s operations.

While some of the military’s biggest champions on Capitol Hill have welcomed new spending as a way to upgrade the US defence capabilities in the face of emerging threats, others will certainly point to healthcare and other domestic needs that they view as more important priorities.

Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, signalled he was prepared to support the proposal, though he told reporters on Thursday he had not reviewed the details of the funding request.

“I support what’s needed to ensure that the American people remain safe,” Johnson said.

Top US military officer General Dan Caine, who spoke alongside Hegseth, provided details on weapons being used against Iran and its allied forces in the region.

Caine said A-10 Warthogs – a type of aircraft designed for providing close air support – are “hunting and killing fast-attack watercraft” in the Strait of Hormuz waterway, a key trade artery which Iran effectively closed to maritime traffic following the start of the war.

He also said AH-64 Apaches are being used in Iraq to target Iran-aligned militia groups there, and that some US allies have begun using the attack helicopters to counter one-way drones launched by Tehran’s forces.

Doncic recorded his 11th 40-point game of the season as the Lakers beat the Rockets for the second time in three days.

Luka Doncic had 40 points and LeBron James added 30 as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 124-116 away win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

It’s the 10th win in 11 games for the Lakers, who also beat Houston 100-92 on Monday night.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The Lakers led by four with about 90 seconds remaining when Doncic found James for an alley-oop dunk. Kevin Durant had a turnover on the other end and Doncic made a 3-pointer to push the lead to 120-111 with less than a minute left.

Doncic had 10 assists and nine rebounds to finish one rebound shy of a triple-double. James was 13 of 14 from the floor – tying the best single-game shooting effort of his career – and had five rebounds to give him 12,002, making him the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 rebounds. James also shot 13 of 14 for Miami against Charlotte on February 4, 2013.

Alperen Sengun had 27 points and 10 assists for the Rockets in his return after missing two games with a back issue. Amen Thompson added 26 points and 11 rebounds as Houston lost for the third time in four games.

Durant had just two points in the first half and finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

The Lakers trailed by two before Rui Hachimura and Doncic made consecutive 3-pointers to take a 113-109 lead with about three minutes to go.

Thompson made a layup for the Rockets before a dunk by Hachimura left the Lakers up by 4 with less than two minutes left.

The game was tied early in the fourth quarter before James scored the first four points in a 6-0 run that gave the Lakers a 102-96 lead with less than nine minutes to go.

But the Rockets scored the next nine points, with a 3 from Durant, to take a 105-102 lead with about 6 and a half minutes remaining.

The Lakers are third in the Western Conference with a record of 44 wins and 25 losses. The Rockets dropped to 41-27 for the season.