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Tesla reported a hefty drop in profits Wednesday, citing a drag from tariffs and other expenses that more than offset a lift from increased auto sales.Elon Musk’s electric car company reported profits of $1.4 billion in the third quarter, down 37 percent from the year-ago period. Besides tariffs, which executives said were more than $400 million in the quarter, the company’s earnings press release cited higher restructuring expenses and lower revenues from regulatory credits as factors in the profits, which lagged behind analyst expectations.Revenues rose 12 percent to $28.1 billion, while operating expenses jumped 50 percent to $3.4 billion, due in part to heftier outlays on research and development.While Tesla faces “near-term uncertainty from shifting trade, tariff and fiscal policy,” the company is making investments that will lead to “incredible value for Tesla and the world across transport, energy and robotics,” the company said.US sales of electric vehicles manufactured by Tesla and other companies got a boost in the third quarter with the September 30 expiration of a federal tax credit, which prompted buyers to move up purchases of the vehicles.Tesla followed up those better-than-expected sales with the release of two “standard” vehicles in early October at somewhat lower price points. Analysts gave the offerings mixed reviews, with some expressing skepticism that the vehicles would lead to a sustained resurgence in consumer demand.Some leading auto analysts have said they do not expect a significant uptick in Tesla sales until it launches a new vehicle.”We believe that for Tesla to return to growth on a sustainable basis requires an expansion of the company’s lineup,” said an October 3 note from JPMorgan that targeted the first quarter of 2026 as the date of an expected new vehicle launch. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives also pointed to early next year as a timeframe for new models, while highlighting Musk’s progress on autonomous, robotic and artificial intelligence as a key focus for investors.”We continue to strongly believe the most important chapter in Tesla’s growth story is now beginning with the AI era now here,” said Ives, who projects autonomous technologies will lift Tesla’s market valuation by $1 trillion.Also ahead is a November 6 annual meeting at which shareholders will consider a compensation package for Musk that could top $1 trillion and lift his overall stake in the company to more than 25 percent of total shares if the controversial CEO meets key performance and market capitalization targets.Musk said he wants the bigger stake to have more influence as the company chases ambitious ventures in robotics and beyond.”It’s not like I’m gonna go spend the money,” Musk said on a conference call. “That’s what it comes down to. I don’t feel comfortable building that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”- Leaving Washington -Shares of Tesla have recovered in recent weeks after deep declines in the spring when Musk faced heavy criticism over his work in President Donald Trump’s administration and loud blowback over his embrace of other far-right politicians.Sales of Tesla vehicles have languished especially hard in Europe and the United States amid boycotts and instances of auto vandalism. While US sales were boosted in the last quarter by the end of the $7,500 tax credit, a drop-off in the fourth quarter is expected.But the stock has soared since Musk left the White House in May. Shares fell 3.2 percent Wednesday in after-hours trading following the release of the results.Although Musk has not spoken out as frequently on political topics since that time, he sparred with Trump’s acting NASA Administrator earlier this week after the space agency chief invited other companies to compete with the billionaire’s SpaceX for the mission to return humans to the moon. “Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!” Musk said in a post on X, referring to Sean Duffy, who also serves as US transportation secretary.But Duffy told Fox News that while he “loves” SpaceX the company is “behind” schedule.”They pushed their timelines out and we’re in a race against China,” Duffy said on Fox News.

US President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that the White House’s iconic East Wing is being torn down in its entirety to make way for a huge $300-million ballroom — a far more extensive demolition than previously announced.Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that he had decided after consulting architects that “really knocking it down” was preferable to a partial demolition. The president was asked about the work at an event alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after a mechanical excavator was photographed ripping through the East Wing’s facade, leaving a tangle of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires.The East Wing is where US first ladies have traditionally had their offices. The president works in the West Wing and the couple live in the Executive Mansion.Trump says the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity of 1,000 people is needed to host large state dinners and other events that currently have to be held in a tent.Trump’s comments on Wednesday put the cost of the demolition at $300 million, raising the cost from the $250 million quoted by the White House days ago.While the US president said that the East Wing is “completely separate from the White House itself,” it is in fact physically joined to the main mansion by a covered colonnade.The facelift has raised questions about what critics have decried as a lack of transparency, and has led to complaints that there was no advance notice or consultation.”We are deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself — (which) is 55,000 square feet — and may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation said in a letter to the Trump administration on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has slapped major sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies after concluding that Vladimir Putin was not being “honest and forthright” in Ukraine talks, the US treasury chief said Wednesday.The sanctions came a day after a planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was shelved, with Washington expressing its disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow.”Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil.He warned that Treasury was prepared “to take further action if necessary” to support President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war. Speaking to Fox Business ahead of the official announcement, Bessent said the move was “one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation.” Trump has held off on new sanctions for months, saying he hoped to persuade Russian President Putin to make peace despite growing frustration with the Kremlin leader.But the 79-year-old Republican’s patience apparently ran out in the space of the six days since he spoke to Putin by telephone last Thursday.”President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped,” Bessent told Fox Business.Bessent said that when the two leaders met in Alaska in August, “President Trump walked away when he realized that things were not moving forward.” “There have been behind-the-scenes talks, but I believe that the president is disappointed at where we are in these talks,” he added.The European Union said Wednesday it was also imposing new sanctions on Russia.They include a ban on importing liquefied natural gas from Russia by 2027, the blacklisting of oil tankers used by Moscow and travel curbs on Russian diplomats.Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly dangled the threat of sanctions against Russia without pulling the trigger as he seeks an elusive end to Russia’s three-and-a-half-year war.Trump had held out hope of a ceasefire deal last week after speaking to Putin, saying that the two leaders had agreed to meet in Budapest within two weeks.Repeating a pattern of pivoting between Moscow and Kyiv, the US president at the same time stepped up the pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump pushed Zelensky to give up territory, a Kyiv official told AFP, and turned down his plea for long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike deep into Russia.But Trump shifted once again on Tuesday, saying that he did not want to have a “wasted meeting,” ending the immediate prospect of a Putin summit.News of the sanctions drove oil prices higher in after-hours trading, with the benchmark WTI and Brent both gaining more than one percent. 

A new US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat killed two people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, announcing Washington’s first such attack on a vessel in the Pacific Ocean.The strike — which Hegseth announced in a post on X alongside a video of a boat being engulfed in flames — brings the total number to at least eight, with at least 34 people dead.”There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no US forces were harmed in this strike,” Hegseth said of Tuesday’s action in the eastern Pacific.”Just as Al-Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice,” he wrote.President Donald Trump’s administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.”The president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,” said the notice from the Pentagon, which also described suspected smugglers as “unlawful combatants.”But Washington has not released evidence to support its assertion that the targets of its strikes are drug smugglers, and experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.- Regional tensions -There were survivors of a US strike for the first time last week, but Washington chose to repatriate them rather than put them on trial for their alleged crimes.Ecuador released one after finding no evidence that he had committed a crime, while authorities in Colombia said the other — who “arrived with brain trauma, sedated, drugged, breathing with a ventilator” — would face prosecution.The US military campaign — which has seen Washington deploy stealth warplanes and Navy ships as part of what it says are counter-narcotics efforts — has fueled tensions with countries in the region.This is especially the case with Venezuela, where the buildup of US forces has sparked fears that the ultimate goal is the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington accuses of heading a drug cartel.The United States has not specified the origin of the vessels it has targeted — seven boats and one semi-submersible — but has said that some were destroyed off the coast of Venezuela in international waters.Meanwhile, a public feud between Trump and Colombia’s leftist leader Gustavo Petro intensified in recent weeks over the Republican president’s deadly anti-drug campaign.Trump on Sunday vowed to end all aid to the South American nation — a historically close US partner and the world’s leading cocaine producer — and branded Petro, who has accused the US president of murder, as an “illegal drug dealer.”Colombia on Monday recalled its ambassador to the United States, but Petro met with the top US diplomat in his country the following day to discuss counter-narcotics efforts, with Bogota’s foreign ministry saying the two sides “reaffirmed the commitment of both parties to improve drug fighting strategies.”

The US military carried out small-scale survival and jungle combat drills on Panama’s Caribbean coast Wednesday, as Washington amassed a vast naval presence off Venezuela.Under a scorching sun, about a dozen US Marines armed with assault rifles simulated storming a bunker at the former US Fort Sherman base near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. The facilities now serve as a training ground for US Marines and Panamanian police under a cooperation program launched in August.Panama said about 50 US Marines would train from October 9 to 29 in its jungle to improve their skills “in one of the most demanding environments.””This training is purely aimed at our defense and protection” to fight “organized crime and drug trafficking,” Panamanian Major Didier Santamaria told AFP.A similar course in August “focused only on survival; this one adds some tactics and jungle tracking,” said US Colonel Ada Cotto.The mission is to “create knowledge and mutual relationships” that can be shared “for both countries,” she said.The drills come amid tension between the United States and Venezuela, whose president Nicolas Maduro accuses Washington of plotting to overthrow him.Washington has sent several warships and thousands of troops to Caribbean region.But Cotto denied any link between the US exercises and plans to intervene in Venezuela.”We are not preparing for anything,” she said when asked if the training was related to the Venezuelan crisis.“Everything is transparent and by invitation of the Panamanian government,” she added.The agreement was signed amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to take control of the Panama Canal, refusing to rule out the use of force.

American pop star Lizzo is being sued in a California court over a snippet of an unreleased song that went viral because of a reference to Sydney Sweeney.The post blew up in August after a reference to the US actress whose appearance in a jeans advertisement had already set the internet ablaze.The social media post in question for the track “I’m goin’ in till October” has the four-time Grammy winner wearing not very much as she washes a car and says “I got good jeans like I’m Sydney.”But lawyers for a firm called GRC Trust say the clip of the track — which has never been sold — uses a sample of “Win or Lose (We Tried),” a ’70s soul ballad by American band Windy City, without permission.The firm, which owns the copyright for the track, wants Lizzo to compensate them because she “obtained profits they would not have realized but for their infringement” of the rights of the song.Lawyers say they tried to come to an informal agreement with Lizzo’s team, “but reached an impasse, necessitating the filing of this case.”The suit seeks an injunction to prevent the Lizzo song being distributed and money equal to the “defendants’ profits, plus all GRC’s losses.”A representative for Lizzo told AFP: “We are surprised that the GRC Trust filed this lawsuit.” “To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release of the song.”The American Eagle ad starring the blonde-haired, blue-eyed star of “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria” sparked accusations it was a white supremacist dog whistle because of its word play in the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”While the outrage was confined to a small number of activists, senior Republicans like Ted Cruz lashed out at the “crazy Left” which the Texas senator said had “come out against beautiful women.” 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday downplayed concerns about tensions between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, while reiterating his belief that “only” the US president could achieve peace between Moscow and Kyiv.Rutte, visiting Washington just days after Trump hosted Zelensky for tense talks, met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill before his own White House sit-down later in the day.Asked if his visit to Washington was a sign that the Trump-Zelensky talks last week were a “disaster,” Rutte said no, describing it as “a successful meeting.”Rather, his trip was planned beforehand and came about after he texted the US president seeking “to discuss how we now can deliver his vision on peace in Ukraine,” the NATO chief told reporters after meeting with senators.”I have total confidence in President Trump, and he’s the only one who can get this done,” Rutte said when asked if President Vladimir Putin had persuaded Trump to soften his stance on Russia.Trump’s “leadership here is crucial. He is clearly providing it and he has to dialogue with all the leaders. He has to dialogue with Putin, he has to dialogue with Zelensky,” he added.Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who spoke to reporters alongside Rutte, said discussions are still ongoing about the provision of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine — a weapon that Kyiv has sought to carry out precision strikes inside Russia.Providing the missiles “would be significant, if for no other reason than we all know what their capabilities are and what their reach are,” Tillis told AFP after the news conference.”There may be a strategic advantage that perhaps even goes beyond the tactical,” he said.Trump met Zelensky last Friday at the White House, but the meeting — which a senior Ukrainian official described as “tense” — ended without an announcement on providing Tomahawks to Kyiv.The talks were “not easy,” the Ukrainian official said, adding that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being “dragged out” and “going in circles.”Trump was meanwhile due to meet with Putin in Budapest within weeks but shelved those plans on Tuesday, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.A White House official said that there were now “no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”Trump has counted on personal chemistry with Putin to reach a Ukraine peace deal, but has found himself frustrated time and again by the Russian leader.

Talks are under way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at an upcoming regional summit in Malaysia, officials from both countries told AFP on Wednesday.The two leaders have begun to patch up their differences after months of bad blood over the trial and conviction of Trump’s ally, the far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.Republican Trump and leftist Lula are both due to travel to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia that starts on Sunday.”President Trump has expressed his interest in meeting President Lula following their friendly call” earlier this month, a senior Trump administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity.”There are discussions about facilitating such a meeting while President Trump is in Malaysia.”A Brazilian presidential source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “There are discussions with the Americans about a possible bilateral meeting.”Trump has instituted a 50-percent tariff on many Brazilian products and imposed sanctions on several top officials, including a top Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.In September, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.But relations between Trump and Lula began to thaw when the two 79-year-old leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.They then spoke by phone on October 6 and first raised the possibility of meeting at the ASEAN summit.During that meeting, Lula asked Trump to lift the tariffs and sanctions.