Weekend's Update: US-China, Tesla recall, Big Tech Earnings, Kubota, and Donald Trump

Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taiwan as U.S.-China talks resume

China sent dozens of military aircrafts and naval ships toward Taiwan, some of which crossed over the Taiwan Strait.
The military move came the same day as a low-profile meeting between U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The U.S. has repeatedly held its position on maintaining Taiwan’s status quo of self-governance despite Beijing’s rebukes and its stated aim of reunifying the island with mainland China.

Tesla is recalling nearly 200,000 cars due to a “software instability” that prevented the rearview camera image from displaying, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.
Certain Model S, X, and Y vehicles equipped with full self-driving 4.0, Tesla’s driverless software system, were affected by the software bug, the NHTSA said.
Tesla’s latest recall follows a record 2-million-car recall last month over a defective system designed to ensure drivers were paying attention while using Autopilot.

Alphabet shares closed at $151.87, surpassing their prior record high set in 2021.
Microsoft and Meta also reached fresh highs this month.
They all report quarterly results next week.

The FTC assessed the largest civil penalty in U.S. history against Kubota North America Corporation for falsely labeling “Made in the USA” on some products.
The FTC assessed a civil penalty of $2 million against Kubota.
The FTC issued a prior fine against the company in 1999 for falsely claiming that a line of lawn tractors was made in the U.S.

A federal jury said Donald Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages for defaming her in statements he made as president after the writer said he had raped her in the 1990s.
The massive verdict came less than three hours after the nine-member jury began deliberating in U.S. District Court in Manhattan following closing arguments in the trial.
Trump earlier this week defeated former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire. Last week, he won the Iowa GOP caucuses.