Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone. Reuters
Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone. Reuters
Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone. Reuters
Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone. Reuters

Elon Musk says Twitter whistleblower payment another reason to scrap deal


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Elon Musk has said that Twitter's decision to pay millions of dollars to a whistleblower it had fired gave him another justification for terminating his $44 billion agreement to buy the social media company.

In a letter to Twitter, lawyers for the world's richest person said Twitter's failure to seek his consent before paying $7.75 million to Peiter Zatko and his lawyers breached the merger agreement, which restricted when Twitter could make such payments.

The payment, which included $7m for Mr Zatko, "cannot be cured", and Mr Musk is, therefore, "not required" to complete the merger, the letter said. A copy was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It has said it was committed to completing the merger, which calls for Mr Musk to pay $54.20 per share for the San Francisco-based company. Twitter shares on Friday closed at $42.19.

Mr Zatko, known as "Mudge", had been Twitter's top security executive before being fired in January.

He later told regulators that Twitter misled them and the public about its security practices and how it fights hackers and spam.

Lawyers for Mr Musk said the severance payment was made under a June 28 separation agreement between Twitter and Mr Zatko.

Mr Musk, who also runs the electric car company, Tesla, declared the merger void 10 days later. He accused Twitter of misrepresenting the prevalence of spam or bot accounts on its platform.

Twitter rejected Mr Musk's claims and sued him to hold him to the merger, claiming he had had cold feet as geopolitical concerns and rising inflation rattled markets.

Mr Musk later countersued Twitter, and on Friday, amended his case to incorporate Mr Zatko's claims, court records show.

A trial in Delaware Chancery Court is scheduled to begin on October 17.

Results

United States beat UAE by three wickets

United States beat Scotland by 35 runs

UAE v Scotland – no result

United States beat UAE by 98 runs

Scotland beat United States by four wickets

Fixtures

Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland

Admission is free

Quick%20facts
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EStorstockholms%20Lokaltrafik%20(SL)%20offers%20free%20guided%20tours%20of%20art%20in%20the%20metro%20and%20at%20the%20stations%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20tours%20are%20free%20of%20charge%3B%20all%20you%20need%20is%20a%20valid%20SL%20ticket%2C%20for%20which%20a%20single%20journey%20(valid%20for%2075%20minutes)%20costs%2039%20Swedish%20krone%20(%243.75)%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ETravel%20cards%20for%20unlimited%20journeys%20are%20priced%20at%20165%20Swedish%20krone%20for%2024%20hours%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAvoid%20rush%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20between%209.30%20am%20and%204.30%20pm%20%E2%80%93%20to%20explore%20the%20artwork%20at%20leisure%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.

A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.

Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.

A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.

On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.

The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.

Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.

The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later. 

Updated: September 11, 2022, 8:38 AM