Tesla Launches Restyled Model 3 in North America

In this a photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is seen in east China's Shanghai on Sept. 26, 2023. (Liu Ying/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this a photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is seen in east China's Shanghai on Sept. 26, 2023. (Liu Ying/Xinhua via AP, File)
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Tesla Launches Restyled Model 3 in North America

In this a photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is seen in east China's Shanghai on Sept. 26, 2023. (Liu Ying/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this a photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is seen in east China's Shanghai on Sept. 26, 2023. (Liu Ying/Xinhua via AP, File)

Tesla on Wednesday launched the restyled version of its Model 3 sedan in North America and kept the prices unchanged, according to the company's website and a post on X.
The electric car maker has removed the most expensive version of the Model 3, the "performance" variant, from its North American websites, and now only lists the rear-wheel drive and the long-range variants. The Model 3's rear-wheel drive variant is currently priced at $38,990, while its long-range variant costs $45,990. Tesla has updated the range of its long-range variant to 341 miles, up from the earlier 333 miles.
The restyled version of both variants includes new features such as a rear display for backseat passengers, two new colors - "Stealth Grey and Ultra Red" - and newly styled wheels, according to Tesla's website.
Tesla first unveiled the restyled Model 3 in China in September last year at a higher price. The upgraded car went on sale in Europe a month later.
The Model 3 rear-wheel drive and long-range vehicles became ineligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit at the end last year, based on new guidance under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, beating market estimates and meeting its 2023 target, but lost its spot as the top EV maker by sales to China's BYD.



US Judge Finds Israel's NSO Group Liable for Hacking in WhatsApp Lawsuit

Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
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US Judge Finds Israel's NSO Group Liable for Hacking in WhatsApp Lawsuit

Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo

A US judge ruled on Friday in favor of Meta Platforms' WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorized surveillance.

US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted a motion by WhatsApp and found NSO liable for hacking and breach of contract.

The case will now proceed to a trial only on the issue of damages, Hamilton said. NSO Group did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, according to Reuters.

Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said the ruling is a win for privacy.

"We spent five years presenting our case because we firmly believe that spyware companies could not hide behind immunity or avoid accountability for their unlawful actions," Cathcart said in a social media post.

"Surveillance companies should be on notice that illegal spying will not be tolerated."

Cybersecurity experts welcomed the judgment.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Canadian internet watchdog Citizen Lab — which first brought to light NSO’s Pegasus spyware in 2016 — called the judgment a landmark ruling with “huge implications for the spyware industry.”

“The entire industry has hidden behind the claim that whatever their customers do with their hacking tools, it's not their responsibility,” he said in an instant message. “Today's ruling makes it clear that NSO Group is in fact responsible for breaking numerous laws.”

WhatsApp in 2019 sued NSO seeking an injunction and damages, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install the Pegasus software on victims' mobile devices. The lawsuit alleged the intrusion allowed the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.

NSO had argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, pedophiles and hardened criminals.

NSO appealed a trial judge's 2020 refusal to award it "conduct-based immunity," a common law doctrine protecting foreign officials acting in their official capacity.

Upholding that ruling in 2021, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals called it an "easy case" because NSO's mere licensing of Pegasus and offering technical support did not shield it from liability under a federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which took precedence over common law.

The US Supreme Court last year turned away NSO's appeal of the lower court's decision, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.