The Democratic Republic of Congo says Apple is sourcing minerals from armed groups committing atrocities. Belgium has launched a criminal probe into the DRC’s allegation. Donald Trump is sworn in as US president. Davos leaders reject climate banking group. And Toyota struggles to jumpstart hydrogen car sales.

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Apple and Google’s mobile platforms, just days after the government forced out its chair as part of a push to cut the regulatory burden on business.

Local smartphone makers Vivo and Huawei leapfrogged Apple to become the top two sellers in the Chinese market last year, dealing a blow to the iPhone maker as it struggles to introduce AI features on the mainland and fight competition from domestic rivals.

The case, which was first launched in 2022, accuses Apple of abusing its market position by charging commissions up to 30% on App Store purchases.

Belgium has started a criminal probe into allegations that Apple has knowingly sourced “blood minerals” from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in what lawyers for the central African country have called a “massive laundering and greenwashing operation”.

Today, analysts at Jefferies and Loop Capital each downgraded their ratings on Apple.

The European Commission is reevaluating its probes into companies including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (GOOG) unit Google, the Financial Times reported.

Jan 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission is reevaluating its probes into tech giants including Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, Meta (META.O), opens new tab and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Donald Trump unveils aggressive new policy measures at his inauguration. The Democratic Republic of Congo puts pressure on Apple over critical minerals. David Pilling Apple says it has undertaken all the steps that it can to ensure that the minerals do not come from these conflict mines. The allegation is that it can’t possibly know.

Meanwhile, Wedbush analysts have raised their price target on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares to $550, the highest on Wall Street, from $515. The upgrade reflects “growing confidence” in Tesla’s delivery demand outlook for 2025 and the anticipated acceleration of autonomous and AI initiatives under the Trump Administration.

Explore how the dominance of tech giants like Apple and Amazon could impact your offshore investment strategy and learn the importance of diversification.

India’s trade with the USA is on the upswing with robust growth being recorded in December in the bilateral exports of the two countries despite the disruption in shipping due to geopolitical tensions.