The New Toyota RAV4 Goes Hybrid-Only. Here's Why That's A Big Deal
Toyota has been saying for years that the best way to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles is to stuff small batteries in them. Some disagree, but the Japanese auto giant is now putting its money where its mouth is by making the all-new, sixth-generation RAV4 crossover hybrid-only.
That’s a big deal because the RAV4 has been the best-selling SUV in America for eight straight years, with nearly half a million units going to new owners last year. Eliminating the gas-only version is the biggest move yet in Toyota’s hybrid strategy, and everyone will reap the benefits.
Toyota’s hybrid system is known for its efficiency, so all owners should see their fuel bills go down. Less burnt fuel means fewer emissions. Stuffing hundreds of thousands of cars with batteries is sure to bring down the cost of batteries for everybody.
While the benefits of an all-electric car are undeniable, the reality is that plenty of people don’t have access to convenient charging (apartment dwellers, for instance), so going down the hybrid route is a great way to get accustomed to how an electrified car works, so that the next vehicle purchase has a higher chance of being an EV.
To make that happen, the 2026 Toyota RAV4 will be available as a conventional hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. The PHEV is the first Toyota plug-in to come with a CCS1 charging port for DC fast chargers. Those are the fast chargers that can quickly refill your battery, which most current PHEVs do not support.
Toyota didn’t say how big the high-voltage batteries are, but it did mention that the PHEV can cover up to 50 miles on battery power, up from the previous generation’s 42 miles.
Compared to the outgoing model, the new electrified crossover also offers more power and more electric-only range on the PHEV versions. All models come with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine under the hood, coupled with a front-wheel-drive setup or an all-wheel-drive setup.
The FWD variants are only available as regular hybrids with a maximum output of 226 horsepower and a towing capacity of 1,750 pounds. Meanwhile, AWD is available on the regular hybrid with an output of 236 hp, as well as on the plug-in hybrid, which can deliver up to 320 hp.
For the RAV4 AWD, maximum towing capacity is 3,500 lbs.
Based on Toyota’s New Generation Architecture-K (TNGA-K), the electrified crossover’s body has more structural rigidity than its predecessor and features a high-damping adhesive that’s designed to reduce micro-vibrations and road noise. In other words, the cabin should be more refined and quieter than before.
Speaking of the interior, the 2026 Toyota RAV4 comes standard with a 10.5-inch touchscreen (12.9-inch optional) that acts as an interface for the automaker’s latest software development platform, Arene.
This brings standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, and dual Bluetooth phone connectivity. There’s also a built-in voice assistant and the first implementation of Toyota’s Safety Sense (TSS) 4.0 system, as well as a standard 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a six-speaker audio system.
Three design lines will be available, each with several trim levels. The Core line includes the LE, XLE, and Limited trims that come with a hybrid powertrain and either FWD or AWD. The Rugged line is represented by just one trim called Woodland, which comes with AWD and either hybrid or plug-in hybrid power. It gets all-terrain tires and an adventure-ready look. Then, there’s the Sport line with SE, XSE, and GR-Sport trims.
We’ll know more about the 2026 Toyota RAV4, including pricing, when it goes on sale in the United States later this year.
Source: MSN
PRESS STATEMENT: on the Recent Grant of 49 Turks and Caicos Islander Status by Her Excellency Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 9th June 2025 – My Government wishes to address public concerns and provide clarity on the matter of the 49 grants of Turks and Caicos Islander Status, which were the subject of a judicial review before the Supreme Court.
Let me state categorically at the outset that my ministerial colleagues and I adamantly opposed the grant of Turks and Caicos Islands Status to many of those persons recently approved by the Governor for reasons communicated to her. The Governor was informed of our position over three weeks ago.
We do not believe that it is the spirit of the law to indiscriminately grant Turks and Caicos Islander Status on the most basic grounds of residency, not currently serving a custodial sentence, and not a bankrupt. However, the legal circumstances that existed when the applications were considered gave the Governor almost unfettered authority to grant Status.
However, these applications were submitted initially between 2016 and 2018. They were reviewed by the then Turks and Caicos Islander Status Commission in 2021, resulting in that Commission’s recommendations not to grant the applicants Islander Status. Some of the applicants then challenged the Commission’s authority in the Courts.
On July 5th, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the Commission had acted unlawfully by applying discretionary criteria that were outside their remit and instead cited section 132 (2) of the Constitution, which mandates that the conditions for the grant of Islander Status to be prescribed, no conditions had ever been prescribed, had they been the Commission and the Governor would have been obliged to use the prescribed conditions as part of the criteria for granting Turks and Caicos Islander Status.
Accordingly, the result of the Court’s ruling was that the ONLY conditions that the Commission could lawfully consider for that group of applicants are those contained in section 4(2) of the TCI Status Ordinance, which relates to possession of BOTC and PRC or and who are neither serving a custodial sentence over one year. The Court, therefore, ordered that the applications be reconsidered in line with the law that existed when the applications were first assessed.
The Court’s ruling significantly curtailed the role of the Commission, confirming that in the absence of a formal selection framework, the Commission’s function was limited to checking whether applicants met basic eligibility requirements — such as residency duration and clean legal standing. The Court held that discretionary assessments, such as the applicant’s contribution to the community or potential value to the Islands, could only be made by the Governor.
The TCI Islander Status legislation was enacted in 2015. It came into force in 2016, following extensive consultation with the public, to curb the abuse of the arbitrary grant of Status by politicians to the well-connected, some of whom had never lived in the Islands or contributed to its growth and development.
In 2021, based on the Constitution and the principles of natural justice and the threat of legal action, it became necessary to appoint the Turks and Caicos Islander Status Commission to examine a list of up to 150 applications – most of whom were written to by the Commission refusing the grant contrary to the law. The law gives the Commission the responsibility for vetting applications and making recommendations to the Governor, who has discretion in the matter.
Forty-nine individuals have now been approved under this process. In the absence of the prescription required by the Constitution to ensure that applicants are assessed objectively, the grant of Islander status has been approved for some undeserving persons. Notwithstanding, the rule of law must be upheld.
During our first term in office, my Government acted to update and clarify the legislation. Since 2023, the Act was amended to implement a clear and transparent points-based system, empowering the Commission, appointed jointly by the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition and the Chair by agreement with the Governor, the Leader of the Opposition and the Premier, to consider the merits of each applicant before making recommendations to the Governor.
Further review will take place immediately, which may result in the removal of the Governor from the process and the empowerment of the Commission going forward, subject to consultation to ensure that the loop-hold which permitted persons of dubious loyalty to the Turks and Caicos Islands to obtain Islander Status never happen again.
Let us be clear: the grant of Turks and Caicos Islander Status is a privilege, not a right. It should only be extended to those individuals who have truly integrated into our society and made meaningful contributions to the social, cultural, environmental and economic life of these Islands and their people.
While we respect the ruling of the Court, it is the solemn duty of the elected Government to ensure that our laws reflect the will, values, and aspirations of the people of these Islands. That is why this Administration, supported by both sides of the House, has taken decisive action to protect the integrity of the process and to safeguard what it means to be a Turks and Caicos Islander, rooted in fairness, transparency, and pride in our national identity.
Regarding this matter, my Government is considering the options that may be available to it.
‘Lilo & Stitch’ cruises to No. 1 again; John Wick spinoff ‘Ballerina’ dances to 2nd place
In the box office showdown between a deadly assassin and a chaotic CG alien, “Lilo & Stitch” still had the edge. The Disney juggernaut celebrated a third weekend at the top of the charts, while the John Wick spinoff “Ballerina” did not jeté as high as expected.
According to studio estimates Sunday, “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” earned $25 million from 3,409 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Several weeks ago it was tracking to open in the $35 to $40 million range, but that was adjusted down several times. Ultimately, it still came in lower than forecasts. The movie, directed by Len Wiseman, makes a sideline character out of Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and focuses on Ana de Armas. It takes place during the events of “John Wick 3.”
The box office performance is a bit perplexing result considering that “Ballerina” got good critic reviews and audience exit polls. Conventional wisdom would say that word of mouth might have given it a boost over the weekend. But, recently, opening weekend isn’t the end all that it used to be. “Ballerina” could be in the game for the long haul.
“Even though its part of the John Wick franchise, it’s playing like a true original. And that’s not a bad thing,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This was not a movie that was ever going to open like a ‘Mission: Impossible’ or another huge franchise.”
The Lionsgate release, a Thunder Road Films and 87Eleven Entertainment production, had a hefty production price tag reported to be in the $90 million range. But much of that cost has already been offset by foreign pre-sales. Internationally, it earned $26 million from 82 countries, bringing its global opening to $51 million.
As the first spinoff, it’s the second lowest opening of the five-film franchise – above only the first film which opened just over $14 million in 2014, which does not account for inflation. The franchise overall has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
Dergarabedian added that the R-rated “Ballerina” could also be positioned for a strong second weekend, when it goes up against family-targeted “How to Train Your Dragon.”
First place once again went to “Lilo & Stitch,” which added another $32.5 million in North America, bringing its domestic total to $335.8 and global tally to $772.6 million. In just 17 days, it’s already made more domestically than the live-action “The Little Mermaid” did in its entire run ($298 million).
“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” slid to third place with $15 million, bringing its worldwide total to $450.4 million. “Karate Kid: Legends” earned $8.7 million to take fourth place. And “Final Destination: Bloodlines” rounded out the top five with $6.5 million.
The new Wes Anderson movie “The Phoenician Scheme” expanded beyond New York and Los Angeles to 1,678 theaters nationwide. The Focus Features release starring Benicio del Toro made an estimated $6.3 million and landed in sixth place.
The R-rated anime “Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye” also made the top 10 in its first weekend. The GKIDS release made $3.1 million from 1,080 theaters.
Overall, the box office is up over 26% from this point in 2024.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- “Lilo & Stitch,” $32.5 million.
- “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” $25 million.
- “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” $15 million.
- “Karate Kid: Legends,” $8.7 million.
- “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” $6.5 million.
- “The Phoenician Scheme,” $6.3 million.
- “Bring Her Back,” $3.5 million.
- “Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye,” $3.1 million.
- “Sinners,” $2.9 million.
- “Thunderbolts,” $2.5 million.
A Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists has been diverted to Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a social media post. “The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.”
It said the humanitarian aid aboard the ship would be transferred to Gaza through established channels. It later circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing orange life vests.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and protest Israel’s blockade and wartime conduct, said the activists had been “kidnapped by Israeli forces” and released pre-recorded messages from them.
Thunberg, a climate campaigner, was among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it had stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by the Libyan coast guard.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
After a 2½-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.
There’s a ‘ghost hurricane’ in the forecast. It could help predict a real one
A scary-looking weather forecast showing a hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast in the second half of June swirled around social media this week—but don’t panic.
It’s the season’s first “ghost hurricane.”
Similar hype plays out every hurricane season, especially at the beginning: A cherry-picked, worst-case-scenario model run goes viral, but more often than not, will never come to fruition.
Unofficially dubbed “ghost storms” or “ghost hurricanes,” these tropical systems regularly appear in weather models — computer simulations that help meteorologists forecast future conditions — but never seem to manifest in real life.
The model responsible this week was the Global Forecast System, also known as the GFS or American model, run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s one of many used by forecasters around the world.
All models have known biases or “quirks” where they tend to overpredict or underpredict certain things. The GFS is known to overpredict tropical storms and hurricanes in longer-term forecasts that look more than a week into the future, which leads to these false alarms. The GFS isn’t alone in this — all models struggle to accurately predict tropical activity that far in advance — but it is notorious for doing so.
For example, the GFS could spit out a prediction for a US hurricane landfall about 10 days from now, only to have that chance completely disappear as the forecast date draws closer. This can occur at any time of the year, but is most frequent during hurricane season — June through November.
It’s exactly what’s been happening over the past week as forecasters keep an eye out for the first storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
Why so many ghosts?
No weather forecast model is designed in the exact same way as another, and that’s why each can generate different results with similar data.
The reason the GFS has more false alarms when looking more than a week out than similar models – like Europe’s ECMWF, Canada’s CMC or the United Kingdom’s UKM – is because that’s exactly what it’s programmed to do, according to Alicia Bentley, the global verification project lead of NOAA’s Environmental Modeling Center.
The GFS was built with a “weak parameterized cumulus convection scheme,” according to Bentley. In plain language, that means when the GFS thinks there could be thunderstorms developing in an area where tropical systems are possible – over the oceans – it’s more likely to jump to the conclusion that something tropical will develop than to ignore it.
Other models aren’t built to be quite as sensitive to this phenomenon, and so they don’t show a tropical system until they’re more confident the right conditions are in place, which usually happens when the forecast gets closer in time.
The western Caribbean Sea is one of the GFS’ favorite places to predict a ghost storm. That’s because of the Central American gyre: a large, disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms that rotates over the region and its surrounding water.
The combination of abundant moisture and spin in the atmosphere makes it a prime breeding ground for storms, especially early in and during the peak of hurricane season. Given the model’s sensitivity, it’s quick to pounce on these possible storms.
But this sensitivity has an advantage: By highlighting almost anything that could become tropical, the GFS misses very few actual storms.
Its tendency to cry wolf isn’t ideal, but the GFS team found it was worth giving the model a higher chance at catching every storm and better predicting each one’s intensity than to prioritize fewer false alarms, Bentley explained.
“It was critical to improve the probability of detection of tropical cyclone formation and tropical cyclone intensity forecasts… and we did achieve that,” Bentley said.
During the 2024 hurricane season, the GFS had the least error when forecasting the intensity of tropical cyclones – tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes – of any other global forecast models in its class: the ECMWF, the CMC and the UKM. However, the ECMWF and UKM outperformed the GFS in tropical track forecasts out more than five days in the future.
Ghosts still help predict real threats
Despite how often the GFS conjures ghost systems in its longer term forecasts, it can’t be discounted.
“The crucial role of the forecaster is to understand a model’s known biases and use that knowledge to their advantage to produce a better forecast,” Bentley said.
Knowing the GFS latches onto anything that could even vaguely become tropical well in advance helps forecasters keep an eye on areas where conditions may ultimately come together to create the next hurricane.
The more reliable solution for predicting tropical behavior more than a few days in advance is to take advantage of ensemble forecasting, according to Bentley.
“A deterministic model like the GFS produces one forecast at a time; it gives one answer,” Bentley explained. “An ensemble forecast can show you a variety of possible outcomes, as well as which forecast looks like a possible outlier.”
Unlike social media clickbait, no well thought out forecast is made from a single model run. Forecasters use everything at their disposal – deterministic and ensemble models, observations, climatology and more – to predict weather as accurately as possible to give people the time and information they need to stay safe.
The National Hurricane Center, for example, typically uses a blend of different types of models to make their forecasts. That strategy, combined with extensive expertise, led to their most accurate track forecasts on record for the Atlantic last season.
This win is for Americans who look like me, says French Open champion Gauff
PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) - Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
"It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there's a lot going on in our country right now with things -- like, everything, yeah. I'm sure you guys know," she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
"But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people."
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump's first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
"I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) 'just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for'.
"So that's what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
"Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I'm definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I'm proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support."
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
Trump deploys National Guard as Los Angeles protests against immigration agents continue
LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration said it would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops on Saturday as federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert."
Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including "ICE out of L.A.!"
Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester," the White House said in a statement. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory." He posted on X that Trump was deploying the National Guard "not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle," adding: "Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully."
Newsom said it was "deranged behavior" for Hegseth to be "threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens."
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!"
The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term.
'VIOLENT INSURRECTION'
"Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers, while one half of America's political leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil," Vice President JD Vance posted on X late on Saturday.
Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, described the protests as a "violent insurrection."
The administration has not invoked the Insurrection Act, two U.S. officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity. One said that National Guard troops can deploy quickly, within 24 hours in some cases, and that the military was working to source the 2,000 troops.
The 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to enforce the law and suppress events like civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor.
Video footage of the Paramount protest showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks at the Paramount protest, lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. Authorities began detaining some protesters, according to Reuters witnesses.
Los Angeles police posted on X that "multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued." It did not give further details.
There was no official information of any arrests.
"Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people - they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44.
A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that there were about "1,000 rioters" at the protests on Friday.
Reuters could not verify DHS's account. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants' rights organization Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying."
TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or whether there had been any immigration raids on Saturday.
Television news footage on Friday showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.
Raids occurred around Home Depot stores, where street vendors and day laborers were picked up, as well as at a garment factory and a warehouse, Salas of Chirla said.
Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, condemned the immigration raids.
"I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Bass said in a statement. "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this."
Musk could lose billions of dollars depending on how spat with Trump unfolds
NEW YORK (AP) — The world’s richest man could lose billions in his fight with world’s most powerful politician.
The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump could mean Tesla’s plans for self-driving cars hit a roadblock, SpaceX flies fewer missions for NASA, Starlink gets fewer overseas satellite contracts and the social media platform X loses advertisers.
Maybe, that is. It all depends on Trump’s appetite for revenge and how the dispute unfolds.
Joked Telemetry Insight auto analyst Sam Abuelsamid, “Since Trump has no history of retaliating against perceived adversaries, he’ll probably just let this pass.”
Turning serious, he sees trouble ahead for Musk.
“For someone that rants so much about government pork, all of Elon’s businesses are extremely dependent on government largesse, which makes him vulnerable.”
Trump and the federal government also stand to lose from a long-running dispute, but not as much as Musk.
Tesla robotaxis
The dispute comes just a week before a planned test of Tesla’s driverless taxis in Austin, Texas, a major event for the company because sales of its EVs are lagging in many markets, and Musk needs a win.
Trump can mess things up for Tesla by encouraging federal safety regulators to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis.
Even before the war of words broke out on Thursday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration requested data on how Musk’s driverless, autonomous taxis will perform in low-visibility conditions. That request follows an investigation last year into 2.4 million Teslas equipped with full self-driving software after several accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian.
A spokesman for NHTSA said the probe was ongoing and that the agency “will take any necessary actions to protect road safety.”
The Department of Justice has also probed the safety of Tesla cars, but the status of that investigation is unclear. The DOJ did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The promise of a self-driving future led by Tesla inspired shareholders to boost the stock by 50% in the weeks after Musk confirmed the Austin rollout. But on Thursday, the stock plunged more than 14% amid the Trump-Musk standoff. On Friday, it recovered a bit, bouncing back nearly 4%.
“Tesla’s recent rise was almost entirely driven by robotaxi enthusiasm,” said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein. “Elon’s feud with Trump could be a negative.”
Carbon credits business
One often-overlooked but important part of Tesla’s business that could take a hit is its sales of carbon credits.
As Musk and Trump were slugging it out Thursday, Republican senators inserted new language into Trump’s budget bill that would eliminate fines for gas-powered cars that fall short of fuel economy standards. Tesla has a thriving side business selling “regulatory credits” to other automakers to make up for their shortfalls.
Musk has downplayed the importance of the credits business, but the changes would hurt Tesla as it reels from boycotts of its cars tied to Musk’s time working for Trump.
Credit sales jumped by a third to $595 million in the first three months of the year even as total revenue slumped.
Reviving sales
Musk’s foray into right-wing politics cost Tesla sales among the environmentally minded consumers who embraced electric cars and led to boycotts of Tesla showrooms.
If Musk has indeed ended his close association with Trump, those buyers could come back, but that’s far from certain.
Meanwhile, one analyst speculated earlier this year that Trump voters in so-called red counties could buy Teslas “in a meaningful way.” But he’s now less hopeful.
“There are more questions than answers following Thursday developments,” TD Cowen’s Itay Michaeli wrote in his latest report, “and it’s still too early to determine any lasting impacts.”
Michaeli’s stock target for Tesla earlier this year was $388. He has since lowered it to $330. Tesla was trading Friday at $300.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Moonshot mess
Trump said Thursday that he could cut government contracts to Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, a massive threat to a company that has received billions of federal dollars.
The privately held company that is reportedly worth $350 billion provides launches, sends astronauts into space for NASA and has a contract to send a team from the space agency to the moon next year.
But if Musk has a lot to lose, so does the U.S.
SpaceX is the only U.S. company capable of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules. The other alternative is politically dicey: depending wholly on Russia’s Soyuz capsules.
Musk knew all this when he shot back at Trump that SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft. But it is unclear how serious his threat was. Several hours later — in a reply to another X user — he said he wouldn’t do it.
Starlink impact?
A subsidiary of SpaceX, the satellite internet company Starlink, appears to also have benefited from Musk’s once-close relationship with the president.
Musk announced that Saudi Arabia had approved Starlink for some services during a trip with Trump in the Middle East last month. The company has also won a string of other recent deals in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere as Trump has threatened tariffs.
It’s not clear how much politics played a role, and how much is pure business.
On Friday, The Associated Press confirmed that India had approved a key license to Starlink. At least 40% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people have no access to the internet.
Ad revival interrupted?
Big advertisers that fled X after Musk welcomed all manner of conspiracy theories to the social media platform have started to trickle back in recent months, possibly out of fear of a conservative backlash.
Musk has called their decision to leave an “illegal boycott” and sued them, and the Trump administration recently weighed in with a Federal Trade Commission probe into possible coordination among them.
Now advertisers may have to worry about a different danger.
If Trump sours on X, “there’s a risk that it could again become politically radioactive for major brands,” said Sarah Kreps, a political scientist at Cornell University. She added, though, that an “exodus isn’t obvious, and it would depend heavily on how the conflict escalates, how long it lasts and how it ends.”
Chinese hackers and user lapses turn smartphones into a ‘mobile security crisis’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cybersecurity investigators noticed a highly unusual software crash — it was affecting a small number of smartphones belonging to people who worked in government, politics, tech and journalism.
The crashes, which began late last year and carried into 2025, were the tipoff to a sophisticated cyberattack that may have allowed hackers to infiltrate a phone without a single click from the user.
The attackers left no clues about their identities, but investigators at the cybersecurity firm iVerify noticed that the victims all had something in common: They worked in fields of interest to China’s government and had been targeted by Chinese hackers in the past.
Foreign hackers have increasingly identified smartphones, other mobile devices and the apps they use as a weak link in U.S. cyberdefenses. Groups linked to China’s military and intelligence service have targeted the smartphones of prominent Americans and burrowed deep into telecommunication networks, according to national security and tech experts.
It shows how vulnerable mobile devices and apps are and the risk that security failures could expose sensitive information or leave American interests open to cyberattack, those experts say.
“The world is in a mobile security crisis right now,” said Rocky Cole, a former cybersecurity expert at the National Security Agency and Google and now chief operations officer at iVerify. “No one is watching the phones.”
US zeroes in on China as a threat, and Beijing levels its own accusations
U.S. authorities warned in December of a sprawling Chinese hacking campaign designed to gain access to the texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.
“They were able to listen in on phone calls in real time and able to read text messages,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the senior Democrat on the Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, created to study the geopolitical threat from China.
Chinese hackers also sought access to phones used by Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance during the 2024 campaign.
The Chinese government has denied allegations of cyberespionage, and accused the U.S. of mounting its own cyberoperations. It says America cites national security as an excuse to issue sanctions against Chinese organizations and keep Chinese technology companies from the global market.
“The U.S. has long been using all kinds of despicable methods to steal other countries’ secrets,” Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a recent press conference in response to questions about a CIA push to recruit Chinese informants.
U.S. intelligence officials have said China poses a significant, persistent threat to U.S. economic and political interests, and it has harnessed the tools of digital conflict: online propaganda and disinformation, artificial intelligence and cyber surveillance and espionage designed to deliver a significant advantage in any military conflict.
Mobile networks are a top concern. The U.S. and many of its closest allies have banned Chinese telecom companies from their networks. Other countries, including Germany, are phasing out Chinese involvement because of security concerns. But Chinese tech firms remain a big part of the systems in many nations, giving state-controlled companies a global footprint they could exploit for cyberattacks, experts say.
Chinese telecom firms still maintain some routing and cloud storage systems in the U.S. — a growing concern to lawmakers.
“The American people deserve to know if Beijing is quietly using state-owned firms to infiltrate our critical infrastructure,” U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich. and chairman of the China committee, which in April issued subpoenas to Chinese telecom companies seeking information about their U.S. operations.
Mobile devices have become an intel treasure trove
Mobile devices can buy stocks, launch drones and run power plants. Their proliferation has often outpaced their security.
The phones of top government officials are especially valuable, containing sensitive government information, passwords and an insider’s glimpse into policy discussions and decision-making.
The White House said last week that someone impersonating Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, reached out to governors, senators and business leaders with texts and phone calls.
It’s unclear how the person obtained Wiles’ connections, but they apparently gained access to the contacts in her personal cellphone, The Wall Street Journal reported. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles’ number, the newspaper reported.
While most smartphones and tablets come with robust security, apps and connected devices often lack these protections or the regular software updates needed to stay ahead of new threats. That makes every fitness tracker, baby monitor or smart appliance another potential foothold for hackers looking to penetrate networks, retrieve information or infect systems with malware.
Federal officials launched a program this year creating a “cyber trust mark” for connected devices that meet federal security standards. But consumers and officials shouldn’t lower their guard, said Snehal Antani, former chief technology officer for the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command.
“They’re finding backdoors in Barbie dolls,” said Antani, now CEO of Horizon3.ai, a cybersecurity firm, referring to concerns from researchers who successfully hacked the microphone of a digitally connected version of the toy.
Risks emerge when smartphone users don’t take precautions
It doesn’t matter how secure a mobile device is if the user doesn’t follow basic security precautions, especially if their device contains classified or sensitive information, experts say.
Mike Waltz, who departed as Trump’s national security adviser, inadvertently added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief to a Signal chat used to discuss military plans with other top officials.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office so he could use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, the AP has reported.
Hegseth has rejected assertions that he shared classified information on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging app not approved for the use of communicating classified information.
China and other nations will try to take advantage of such lapses, and national security officials must take steps to prevent them from recurring, said Michael Williams, a national security expert at Syracuse University.
“They all have access to a variety of secure communications platforms,” Williams said. “We just can’t share things willy-nilly.”
Rihanna's Dad Ronald Fenty Dies at 70 Following a Brief Illness
Rihanna's dad, Ronald Fenty, has died, PEOPLE can confirm. He was 70.
According to Starcom Network, which was first to report the news, Fenty died in Los Angeles following "a brief illness." His official cause and date of death have yet to be revealed.
Sources told the outlet, which is based in Rihanna's home country of Barbados, that Fenty's family was with him around the time of his death.
In photos obtained by TMZ, Rihanna's brother, Rajad Fenty, could be seen arriving at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on May 28. The outlet reported that the singer was also in the vehicle.
Representatives for Rihanna did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Saturday, May 31.
Rihanna — who is currently pregnant and expecting her third baby — was born to Fenty and mother Monica Braithwaite in February 1988. (The star is already a mom to sons Rza, 2, and Riot, 1, with A$AP Rocky.)
Along with Rihanna and Rajad, Fenty and Braithwaite were also parents to Rorrey. Rihanna also has three half-siblings from her father’s previous relationships: sisters Samantha and Kandy, plus brother Jamie.
Fenty and Braithwaite raised their family in Bridgetown, Barbados, where Rihanna lived until she was 16 years old. They occupied a bungalow on a street that has since been renamed Rihanna Drive.
The pair separated when the "Love on the Brain" musician was young, and they officially divorced in 2002, when Rihanna was 14.
Rihanna's relationship with her father has had its ups and downs over the years.
After the star was assaulted by her then-boyfriend Chris Brown in 2009, Fenty reportedly spoke to the press about the incident without his daughter's consent. Rihanna addressed the matter years later in an interview with Vogue, in which she called the situation "really strange."
"You grow up with your father, you know him, you are a part of him, for goodness' sakes!" she said, per Billboard. "And then he does something so bizarre that I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it."
A year later, Rihanna revealed to Oprah that she "repaired" her relationship with Fenty, though they continued to be at odds, including in 2019, when Rihanna sued her father for allegedly exploiting her name for financial gain.
She claimed, among other complaints, that her father founded a talent development company in 2017 called Fenty Entertainment, posing as her manager to solicit new clients. However, three weeks before the case went to trial in 2021, Rihanna filed to dismiss the lawsuit, according to the BBC.
Source: People Magazine