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TESLA: Mexican States In Hot Competition Over Possible Tesla Plant

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MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s states are vying with each other to get a possible Tesla factory. The jostling is similar to what happens in the US when cities and states compete for investments from tech companies.

Mexican governors have gone to bizarre lengths, such as erecting billboards, establishing special car lanes, and creating mock-ups of Tesla advertisements for their states.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee that Tesla will build a full-fledged factory. Nothing has been announced, and the excitement stems primarily from Mexican officials stating that Tesla CEO Elon Musk will speak with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador shortly.

Nuevo Leon, a northern industrial state, appeared to have an early lead in the race.

Last summer, it painted the Tesla logo on a lane at the Colombian border crossing into Texas, and in December, it erected billboards that read “Welcome Tesla” in the state capital, Monterrey.

Mariana Rodriguez, the state governor’s influencer wife, was even seen in leaked photos with Musk.

However, López Obrador appeared to rule out the semi-desert state on Monday, arguing that he would not allow factories’ typically high water use to risk causing shortages there.

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there is no guarantee that Tesla will build a full-fledged factory

This sparked a feeding frenzy among other Mexican states, akin to piranha tank feeding time. The governors’ proposals ranged from clever to nearly comical.

“Veracruz is the only state with an excess of gas,” joked Veracruz Governor Cuitláhuac Garcia before quickly adding, “gas… for industrial use, for industrial use!”

Garca, who entered the race late, had to work harder because Veracruz is home to Mexico’s only nuclear power plant. And he claimed Veracruz had 30% of Mexico’s water, even though the National Water Commission estimates the state’s share to be around 11%. It turns out that water is thicker than blood.

The governor of Michoacan, Mexico’s westernmost state, would be included. Gov. Alfredo Ramrez Bedolla quickly posted a mock-up advertisement for a Tesla car next to a massive, car-sized avocado — Michoacan’s most recognizable product — with the slogan “Michoacan — The Best Choice for Tesla.”

“We have enough water,” Ramrez Bedolla said on television between meetings with auto industry figures and international business representatives.

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Amazon talked about building its headquarters.

Michoacan is also beleaguered by drug cartel violence. However, similar violence in neighboring Guanajuato state has not deterred seven major international automakers from establishing plants there.

Gov. of Nuevo Leon. Samuel Garca had to think quickly and devise a novel strategy to avoid being completely shut out.

Garca reached out to the governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, a member of the same small Citizen’s Movement party. Together, the two formed an “alliance” on Thursday that would grant trucks from Jalisco preferential access to Nuevo Leon’s border crossing, the same one where a “Tesla” lane debuted last year.

Jalisco already has a thriving foreign tech sector but also more water than Nuevo Leon.

The two appeared to be trying to be nice. “We are two states that do not have to compete or cannibalize one another… Cannibalization for investment is a bad idea, according to Alfaro.

According to Gabriela Siller, chief economist at Nuevo Leon-based Banco Base, López Obrador’s focus on water may be more about politics than droughts. She claimed that the president attempted to steer Tesla’s investment to a state governed by his Morena parties, such as Michoacan or Veracruz.

That could be a risky game, according to Siller.

“Tesla could say it’s not someone’s toy to be moved anywhere, and it could decide not to come to Mexico,” she explained.

According to Sam Abuelsamid, a principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights in the United States, pitting one state against another is common practice.

“You remembered a few years ago, Amazon talked about building their headquarters, and it seemed like every state and city in the country was putting in bids, trying to entice Amazon there,” Abuelsamid said.

Some wonder if whatever Musk announces will be an auto assembly plant. According to Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, it will not be a plant but an “ecosystem” of suppliers.

Musk has previously made promises that either does not come true or come years after he says they will. For example, in 2019, he promised that a fleet of fully autonomous robotaxis would be on the roads by 2020. Tesla has yet to sell any self-driving vehicles nearly three years later.

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Musk has mentioned building a $25,000 electric vehicle that would cost about $20,000 less

While there has been little talk of subsidies in Mexico thus far, many automakers have received significant incentives to build plants in Mexico. Such a race can be costly.

“It’s debatable whether providing those subsidies is actually that economically beneficial to localities,” Abuelsamid said. “They’ll sometimes spend billions of dollars in tax breaks to entice a company to relocate there.”

Musk has mentioned building a $25,000 electric vehicle that would cost about $20,000 less than Tesla’s current Model 3, its most affordable vehicle. Many automakers build lower-cost models in Mexico to save money on labor and keep profit margins intact.

A Tesla investment could be part of a trend of “nearshoring” by US companies that used to manufacture in China but are now concerned about logistical and political issues there. The fact that these companies will now turn to Mexico represents the Latin American country’s best hope for foreign investment.

“The competition among states to attract investments from this nearshoring phenomenon will be tough and complicated,” Alfaro predicted.

Ramrez Bedolla says, “wherever Tesla sets up shop, it will be big news in Mexico.”

SOURCE – (AP)

 

 

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Facebook Securities Fraud Case Dropped By US Supreme Court

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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(VOR News) – On Friday, the United States Supreme Court refrained from issuing a rule on Facebook’s permissibility of shareholders advancing a securities fraud claim.

The litigation alleges that Facebook, a subsidiary of Meta, misled investors about the improper utilization of user data from the social media site.

The justices denied Facebook’s appeal against a lower court’s ruling that allowed a class action lawsuit initiated by Amalgamated Bank in 2018 to proceed, at their hearing on November 6.

The Supreme Court concluded that the issue should not have been addressed, therefore opting not to resolve the fundamental legal question at hand. The intervention ensures that the lower court’s verdict remains in force.

The court issued a one-line order for dismissal without providing a rationale. This month, the Supreme Court addressed two cases concerning the ability of private litigants to hold companies accountable for purported securities fraud. One such instance was the dispute involving Facebook.

The alternative case, pertaining to chip manufacturer NVIDIA, renowned for its specialization in artificial intelligence, was discussed on November 13th. The Supreme Court has not yet rendered a verdict in the NVIDIA case.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Facebook claimed that the company had inappropriately withheld information from investors concerning a data breach that transpired in 2015, involving the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

The incident impacted over 30 million Facebook users.

Facebook faced allegations of misleading investors, constituting a violation of the Securities Exchange Act, a federal statute established in 1934 that requires publicly traded companies to disclose the risks they encounter.

In 2018, media claims indicated that Cambridge Analytica had improperly utilized Facebook user data during Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign, resulting in a fall in Facebook’s stock market price. To partially offset the value of the stock they previously possessed, the investors have submitted a claim for unspecified monetary damages.

The inquiry at hand was whether had contravened the law by declining to disclose details regarding the prior data breach in later business-risk disclosures, while characterizing such scenarios as merely hypothetical.

Andy Stone, a representative, expressed his discontent with the Supreme Court’s decision to refrain from providing clarification on this specific legislative provision.

Stone asserted, “The plaintiff’s allegations are unfounded, and we will persist in our defense as the district court reviews this case.”

Facebook asserted that it was not obligated to disclose that the risk it had previously cautioned about had already materialized, as “a reasonable investor” would interpret risk disclosures as forward-looking statements.

In this instance, President Joe Biden’s administration expressed its support for shareholders.

The action, initially dismissed by United States District Judge Edward Davila, was reinstated by the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The decision compelled Facebook to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Subsequent to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of appeal, the plaintiffs are anticipated to pursue discovery, a process entailing the sharing of information between the litigating parties, as stated by Alan Morrison, a law professor at George Washington University.

Morrison also indicated that Facebook “may refile their motion to dismiss under a slightly altered standard, partially to achieve delay.”

Subsequent to the data breach at Cambridge Analytica, the United States government commenced inquiries into privacy protocols, alongside other lawsuits and a congressional inquiry. In 2019, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated enforcement action against Facebook about the issue.

The company ultimately resolved the complaint for a total of one hundred million dollars. Consequently, Facebook was obligated to remit a distinct penalty of $5 billion to the Federal Trade Commission of the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency overseeing fraudulent activities in the securities sector, has had its authority curtailed by prior Supreme Court rulings.

SOURCE: USN

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Pam Bondi Is Appointed US Attorney General Following Gaetz’s Resignation.

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Pam Bondi
Photo via Reuters

(VOR News) – President-elect Donald Trump selected Pam Bondi, a former Florida Attorney General and ally, to succeed Matt Gaetz on Thursday after the latter withdrew from consideration.

Gaetz’s drug use and sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl were the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. He denies any wrongdoing.

During Trump’s first administration, Pam Bondi, 59, served on the Opioids and Drug Abuse Commission. He served as police chief of the third-most populous state from 2011 to 2019.

She was also a member of Trump’s defense team at his first impeachment hearing, where he was charged with use military assistance to get Ukraine to look into the wrongdoing of his opponent, now President Joe Biden. The Senate cleared Trump on all charges.

The right-wing America First Policy Institute, which has collaborated with Trump’s campaign to create government concepts, most recently had Pam Bondi as its leader of the legal branch.

Unlike Pam Bondi, Gaetz lacks the experience necessary to serve as attorney general and is likely to encounter resistance from Senate Democrats and some Republicans.

According to Jones Walker defense attorney David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Florida, “She is unequivocally qualified for the position on paper.” Throughout her life, she battled in court. She stood out from the previous nominee because to her resume.

In a tweet announcing his intention to nominate Bondi, Trump praised her skills as a prosecutor and her firm stance against crime as Florida’s first female attorney general. Trump said that even though Bondi was elected on November 5th, while numerous state and federal criminal investigations were underway, he pledged to keep federal prosecutions from being politicized.

According to Trump, “The biased Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans for an excessive duration.” Not true anymore.

Discussion about Pam Bondi and Trump’s history before 2016.

In 2013, the Trump Foundation may have broken federal law by giving $25,000 to a political action committee that supported Pam Bondi. Bondi thought about looking into the for-profit Trump University.

Pam Bondi disputed that her decision to end her legal actions against Trump University following the 2016 disclosure of Trump’s $25,000 gift had anything to do with her decision to withdraw from those actions. According to her, all pertinent material was made public by her office.

The erroneous money disclosure was attributed by the Trump team to a “series of unfortunate coincidences and errors.” New York state fraud investigations resulted in the dissolution of both Trump University and the Trump Foundation.

After misleading Trump University students, he settled for $25 million and was fined $2 million for misusing charitable funds.

Following Special Counsel Jack Smith’s acquisition of two indictments against him for his interference in the 2020 election and his possession of secret materials after leaving office, Trump has voiced his displeasure with the present leadership of the Justice Department and pledged retaliation.

AFPI’s Pam Bondi remains loyal to Trump.

She and a number of other lawyers claimed that Smith’s appointment was illegal in an amicus brief they prepared in support of Trump in the secret information litigation. The Justice Department filed an appeal after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, rejected the case.

According to a long-standing rule against charging a sitting president, Smith and other top Justice Department officials are examining how both of the Trump criminal cases were resolved.

During his first administration, Trump was incensed with the Justice Department’s obstructionism. Bill Barr specifically refuted Trump’s baseless claims that he lost the 2020 election due to fraud, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions permitted an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump’s overarching objectives for the Justice Department have been delineated through his public remarks, interviews with former department lawyers, and Mark Paoletta, a conservative lawyer who develops the department’s policy.

Federal prosecutors may give illegal immigration cases priority.

To obtain a portion of the department’s $291 million justice assistance award, cities might have to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

It is probable that the Civil Rights Division will refocus its attention from legal challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the public and commercial sectors to police accountability to religious freedom.

SOURCE: EAT

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PayPal’s Technical Challenges Are Affecting Thousands Of Customers Globally.

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PayPal

(VOR News) – PayPal is a software program that enables the sending and receiving of monetary orders and transactions.

According to the corporation, which has taken responsibility for the incident that was mentioned before, PayPal is apparently experiencing problems in every region of the world in which it conducts business. This information was provided by the company.

In addition, PayPal noted on its service status website that it was experiencing “a system issue” which may affect a variety of PayPal Products, such as the ability to withdraw money from an account and the ability to complete an express checkout. This issue may even hurt the ability to complete an express checkout.

This problem may also affect other PayPal products.

In light of the fact that this vulnerability is present, there are further PayPal products that have the potential to be affected by it.

One of the remarks that was made was that “Our technical teams are actively working towards resolving the issue,” which was stated in the email that was distributed. This was one of the comments that individuals made. A number of assertions were made, and this was one of them all.

Several customers from various regions of the world have stated that they are unable to access their accounts or that they are having difficulty when it comes to making payments. These customers have also mentioned that they are encountering difficulties making payments.

These clients have informed us that they are experiencing difficulties obtaining their orders by communicating their concerns. As an additional point of interest, a number of customers have reported that they are currently having trouble processing payments. This is something that should be taken into consideration.

Up to the moment that the clock struck twelve twelve Central European Time (GMT), the platform outage monitor known as Downdetector had already received more than seven thousand alerts from users. When the clock reached twelve o’clock, this was the situation that existed.

As indicated by a dashboard that provides an overview of the current state of the services that are being offered by the organization, the crisis started at roughly 10:53 UTC.

PayPal gathered this information via the dashboard.

Among the services that were impacted by the outage, the business asserts that its bitcoin services and the peer-to-peer payment platform Venmo were among those that were affected. Venmo is a form of cryptocurrency that enables users to send and receive payments from one another.

This information suggests that these services were among those that were impacted by the circumstances. This information has been provided.

There are consumers who have voiced their frustration on social media over the fact that they are unable to access their accounts, and some of these customers have expressed their frustration over this issue. A number of users have stated their frustration about this issue.

The discontentment that users are experiencing has been communicated through posts that have been published on various social media platforms as of late.

Users of X, which was once known as Twitter, have submitted screenshots of a notification that flashed when they attempted to log into the platform.

The notification appeared after logging in.

The message was flashed on the screen whenever they attempted to log in by entering their credentials. For those individuals who were fortunate enough to receive the notification, it was strongly recommended that they “please check your entries and try again.”

Since its beginning in 1998, PayPal has developed into a global financial institution that is associated with a significance level that is significant enough to be considered noteworthy. The occurrence of this evolution took place virtually immediately following the establishment of PayPal.

Investors were informed that the total number of active accounts across all of the company’s companies had increased to $432 million for the month that ended on September 30th.

This information was provided to investors. Following the conclusion of the month, this information was made available to the public.

During the course of the month of October, investors were provided with this information for the purpose of their consideration. For those individuals who were interested in investing, the material in question was made available to them.

SOURCE: BBC

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