Waymos Wobble But They Don't Drive Well During Power Outage
Videos captured Waymos stalling in intersections and causing traffic jams during a massive power outage in San Francisco this past weekend.
Due to the outage, many stoplights weren’t functioning, so the autonomous vehicles seemed to be at a loss regarding how to proceed. Observers also theorized that Waymo's ability to assist the vehicles remotely could have been impeded by poor cell service.
Waymo eventually paused service on Saturday evening during the height of the outage and resumed it on Sunday.
“Yesterday's power outage was a widespread event that caused gridlock across San Francisco, with non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions,” a Waymo spokesperson told ABC7. “While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events.”
Read more at ABC 7:
A 33-Year-Old Aerospace Engineer Becomes The First Person Who Uses A Wheelchair To Go To Space
This past weekend, Michaela "Michi" Benthaus, a 33-year-old German aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, became the first person who uses a wheelchair to go to space.
Benthaus damaged her spinal cord during a mountain biking accident in 2018 and didn't know if it would be possible for her to make the journey after her injury.
On Saturday, she and five other crewmates participated in a roughly 10-minute suborbital flight operated by the company Blue Origin.
"I am excited to show the world that also wheelchair users can go on a suborbital flight, and I’m really happy that Blue Origin is supporting this," Benthaus told ABC News.
Read more at ABC News:
PBS, ProPublica Released CECOT Feature Days Before CBS News Pulled Theirs
Just nine days before CBS News abruptly pulled a segment about an infamous prison in El Salvador from "60 Minutes" on Sunday, PBS’ "Frontline" and ProPublica released a short documentary on the same topic.
The 11-minute documentary, “Surviving CECOT,” highlighted the stories of three immigrants from Venezuela who the Trump administration sent to the maximum security prison after labeling them as members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Watch here.
NFL Star Takes Swing At Fan During Pittsburgh Steelers-Detroit Lions Game
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf took a swing at a Lions fan during the first half of his team’s 29-24 win in Detroit.
The fan, wearing a blue wig, can be seen leaning over the edge of the railing, apparently exchanging words with the NFL star. Metcalf then takes a swing at the fan, who the Detroit Free Press identified as Ryan Kennedy from Pinckney, Mich.
“What, my full name isn’t is DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf," the fan told the Detroit Free Press. "He doesn’t like his government name. I called him that and then he grabbed me and ripped my shirt. I’m a little shocked. Like everyone’s talking to me. I’m a little rattled, but I just want the Lions to win, baby."
Referees did not see the altercation so Metcalf wasn't ejected and continued playing.
“There was no flag on the field, so New York cannot weigh in with regard to a potential disqualification,” the NFL said in a statement.
Metcalf did not speak to reporters following the game, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic.
80% Of Americans Say Trump's Policies Have Not Helped Them Financially
Fifty percent of respondents in a CBS News/YouGov survey said that President Donald Trump’s policies had not benefited them financially. An additional 32% said their finances were about the same. Only 18% said they had benefited from his policies.
In looking to the future, 27% of survey participants said they believed they’ll be financially better off in 2026, while 45% percent said they expect to be worse off. And 28% said they believe they’ll be in about the same financial situation.
The poll data came from 2,300 U.S. adults between December 17 and 19.
Nicki Minaj Praises Trump, Vance At Turning Point USA Event
Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance at a Turning Point USA event Sunday afternoon in Arizona, and told the crowd she had the "utmost respect and admiration" for President Donald Trump.
Minaj was joined on stage by Erika Kirk, the president of Turning Point USA and the widow of its founder, Charlie Kirk. The two spoke about Minaj's conservatism, her relationship with God and her advice to young girls and boys, which was: "Boys: be boys. It's OK. There's nothing wrong with being a boy."
Minaj also called Trump a "handsome, dashing" role model and Vice President JD Vance an "assassin."
Erika Kirk praised Minaj, describing her as an "amazing" woman with a "soul and a heart for the Lord."
Deputy Attorney General Explains Why A Photo Of Trump Was Removed From Epstein Files
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the 16 files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case that disappeared from the Justice Department's website Saturday have "nothing to do" with President Donald Trump.
"There is nothing that [Trump] has to hide in the Epstein files,” Blanche said Sunday on "Meet The Press." "There never was. And even though there’s repeated attempts by Democrats to paint him as being part of the Epstein saga, it’s failing over and over again."
At least 16 Epstein files have disappeared from the Justice Department’s website after they were uploaded the day before. One of the files was a photo of a drawer filled with photos that included a photo of Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Epstein, and Epstein's longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Blanche said some files were removed because a victim or victims' rights group asked for them to removed. Blanche said the missing files will be uploaded again, but he didn't specify when.
Top DOJ Official Defends Failure To Fully Release Epstein Files
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet The Press" and defended the Justice Department's failure to release all the files mandated by The Epstein Files Transparency Act regarding the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
When host Kristen Welker pressed Blanche on why "just a fraction" of the files were released by Friday's deadline, Blanche insisted the "very simple and very clear" reason was that the DOJ was working "to protect victims." He went on to state that the department was "going through a very methodical process with hundreds of lawyers looking at every single document and making sure that victims names and any of the information from victims is protected and redacted, which is exactly what the transparency act expects."
Welker also asked Blanche why the release of "internal DOJ communications" regarding charging and investigatory decisions wasn't prioritized in the initial release of documents. Blanche insisted that "it was," but that many of the documents in question "talk about victims and their stories, and that has to be redacted."
On Friday, Democrats accused President Donald Trump and the DOJ of "violating federal law" and "covering up the facts and the evidence" about Epstein.
In response to Democrats and others criticizing the department for withholding documents, Blanche fired back: "If they have an issue with me protecting victims, they know how to get a hold of me, but we're not gonna stop doing it."
Watch the full interview at NBC News.
UPDATE: San Francisco Outages Leaves 130,000 Without Power
A massive outage knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said.
The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon and growing in size.
PG&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause of the blackouts. The outage represents roughly one-third of the utility company’s customers in the city.
Read more:
Turning Point USA Has An Erika Kirk Problem
A week after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Turning Point USA’s chief operating officer made a prediction.
“Charlie Kirk came and converted the young men. Erika Kirk is coming to convert the young women,” Tyler Bowyer wrote on X. It raked in nearly 100,000 likes and has been reposted close to 9,000 times.
That forecast accompanied the news that Erika Kirk would assume her late husband’s role as CEO and chair of his conservative nonprofit, a force on college campuses credited with luring so many Gen Z men to far-right politics in an election that sent President Donald Trump back to the White House.
Read more:
Widespread Power Outage In San Francisco Leaves More Than 65,000 PG&E Customers In The Dark
A massive Pacific Gas & Electric outage in San Francisco left more than 65,000 customers in the dark on Saturday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The widespread outage darkened traffic signals, causing traffic jams across the city. Officials with San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management advised residents to treat downed traffic lights as four-way stops and recommended turning off major appliances in their homes to prevent surges.
For more information about the PG&E outage, visit: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outage-tools/outage-map/
At Least 16 Files Have Disappeared From DOJ’s Jeffrey Epstein Documents Webpage
NEW YORK (AP) — At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.
The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more:
Rest In Pence: Mourners Hold Funeral For The Penny In Washington
R.I.P. the penny, we hardly knew ye.
Washingtonians gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to mourn the death of the penny, which the U.S. Mint stopped producing after over 230 years.
About 200 people attended the event, hosted by the expense management platform Ramp. Cosplayers of President Abraham Lincoln, first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson offered remarks. Attendees were also encouraged to bring their own pennies to the affair.
Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to cease production of the penny as the cost of making the coin had risen to nearly 4 cents. Although penny production ended in November, billions of pennies remain in circulation and are still legal tender.
Suspect In Brown University Shooting, MIT Professor Killing Was Likely Dead For Days Before His Body Was Found
Investigators believe the man suspected of perpetrating a mass shooting at Brown University and killing a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had been dead for two days before his body was discovered in a New Hampshire storage locker, according to an autopsy reported cited by The Guardian.
Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown student, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, medical examiners found.
Neves Valente allegedly opened fire on Dec. 13 in a classroom in a Brown University engineering building where students were studying for an exam, killing two and injuring nine. He then allegedly traveled from Rhode Island to Brookline, Massachusetts, where he shot and killed professor Nuno Loureiro at his home.
The suspect studied physics at Brown as a graduate student in the early 2000s but ultimately withdrew from the program. In the 90's, he studied physics at Portugal's Instituto Superior Técnico at the same time as Loureiro.
Trump Gives 'Kudos' To Hospitalized Jake Paul Following Brutal Boxing Loss
President Donald Trump weighed in on the defeat of his supporter, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, against Anthony Joshua at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, in a Friday heavyweight match that was streamed live on Netflix.
"On the plane I just got to watch the Jake Paul Fight, and he did really well, especially as a display of GREAT Courage against a very talented and large Anthony Joshua," Trump wrote early Saturday on Truth Social.
"Fantastic Entertainment, but Kudos to Jake for his Stamina, and frankly, Ability, against a much bigger man!," he added.
Paul, 28, was knocked down four times during the fight and suffered a devastating blow in the sixth round. He revealed on Instagram he sustained a broken jaw following the match.
A Damning Photo Of Trump Has Disappeared From The Latest Epstein Files
A damning image from a batch of new files released Friday by the Justice Department on the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein shows a desk drawer with photos inside that include images of President Donald Trump.
But by Saturday, the image -- file EFTA0000468 -- had disappeared from the Justice Department's release of the files. HuffPost reviewed the files again Saturday, only to see that the files went from "467" to "469."
"This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release," House Oversight Democrats posted on social media Saturday. "AG Bondi, is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public."
The photo clearly shows an open desk drawer with at least two images of Trump. One of the images appears to show Trump hanging out with Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and another shows Trump surrounded by young female models.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment from HuffPost about the removal.
While the latest batch of documents from the Justice Department show the horrors of Epstein's crimes, along with the many powerful friends he had, Trump is noticeably absent. There are also more than 100 pages fully redacted.
House Oversight Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) blasted what he said was just "10%" of the trove of documents the Justice Department has on the late sex predator.
"In our initial estimation—It could be that we're only getting about 10% of what the DOJ has," Garcia told CNN Friday "And of that 10%, 5% of that has already been released. And the other 5% is highly redacted. So we're getting very little so far."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Friday he and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are considering impeachment charges against Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the documents.
“Thomas Massie and I talked about it,” Khanna told “The Source” host Kaitlan Collins. “He’s working, as am I, on drafting articles of impeachment and inherent contempt. We haven’t decided whether to move it forward yet, but we’re in the process of doing it.”
Epstein Survivor Says She Feels 'Vindicated' After Her 1996 Complaint Appears In DOJ Files
Maria Farmer, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse who worked for him in the '90s, said she felt "vindicated" Friday after her 1996 report on his "child pornography" interest was included in the Justice Department's partial dump of its files tied to the late convicted sex offender.
“I’ve waited 30 years,” Farmer told The New York Times. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
The FBI reportedly never publicly acknowledged the existence of the report, which was made years before charges were brought against Epstein. Farmer and her sister, Annie, have said that the complaint was one of the first to be filed against him.
Farmer, a professional artist, and her sister later told Vanity Fair in 2002 about sexual misconduct they experienced from Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Then-editor Graydon Carter ultimately nixed mentions of them prior to publication after pressure from Epstein.
The 1996 report, which Farmer's lawyer confirmed was made by her client, described an artist who took photographs of her 12 and 16-year-old sisters for her own personal artwork, CNN noted.
Epstein stole the photos and negatives, the report notes, and he "is believed to have sold" them to potential buyers. The complaint further describes how Epstein once asked the artist to snap photos of "young girls at swimming pools" and threatened to burn her house down if she told anyone about the photos.
Farmer, who "broke down in tears" upon the Times contacting her about the report's inclusion in the files, told the paper that she's heartbroken that the FBI didn't take measures to stop Epstein's abuse until years later.
“They should be ashamed,” she said.
“They harmed all of these little girls. That part devastates me.”
Read more in the Times:
U.S. Launches Strikes In Syria In Retaliation Over Deadly Ambush
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago.
A U.S. official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.
“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
We Are Living Through The Worst Measles Outbreak In 30 Years — But RFK Jr. Won't Tell You That
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is reportedly planning on making significant changes to recommendations for childhood vaccines, even as the country’s worst measles outbreak in 30 years continues to fester.
According to the Washington Post and The New York Times, HHS plans to stop recommending most childhood vaccines as Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, seeks to align the U.S. immunization schedule with Denmark’s. Danish public health officials, however, say the two countries can’t be compared because of different health needs and the fact that Denmark has universal health care.
It’s unclear which vaccines could potentially be affected.
The proposed changes come as measles — a disease for which there is a very effective vaccine and which was eradicated from the U.S. in 2000 — spreads, with a particular uptick in South Carolina.
Read more:
Bill Clinton's Team Releases Statement About His Appearance In Epstein Files
Bill Clinton's deputy chief of staff released a statement Friday dismissing speculation about why the former president was featured prominently in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files.
"The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton," Clinton staffer Angel Ureña said. "This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be."
There are several clear images of Clinton in the files, including one showing him in a hot tub and one of him in a swimming in a pool with Epstein's co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ureña continued: "Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton. There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We're in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats."
Rep. Garcia Says New Epstein Docs Are Just '10% Of What The DOJ Has'
House Oversight Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) blasted what he said was just "10%" of the trove of documents the Justice Department has on the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
"In our initial estimation—It could be that we're only getting about 10% of what the DOJ has," Garcia told CNN Friday following the release of some new documents. "And of that 10%, 5% of that has already been released. And the other 5% is highly redacted. So we're getting very little so far."
More than 100 pages in the new batch of documents have been blacked out without explanation. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said the Justice Department’s release does “not comply” with his and Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) Epstein Transparency Act.
“They released one document from a New York grand jury of 119 pages totally blacked out,” Khanna said in a video message Friday. “This, despite a federal judge ordering them to release that document, and our law requires them to explain redactions. There’s not a single explanation for why that entire document was redacted.”