Alex Honnold, the rock climber who scaled El Capitan without a rope in the Oscar-winning film “Free Solo,” will swap his usual stone slab for steel and glass this week. Untethered, he will crawl up Taipei 101, a 101-story skyscraper in Taiwan, wearing custom climbing shoes to gain better traction...
The Aviation System Is Preparing for Storm-Driven Chaos
Airlines and airports on Friday were preparing for widespread disruptions this weekend as a powerful storm threatened to blanket large parts of the country in ice and snow. The storm was expected to hit much of the Southern United States on Friday, prompting some targeted flight cancellations. Delta Air Lines...
Delta Air Lines Urges Travelers to Rebook as Winter Storm Fern Threatens Weekend Flights
Delta Air Lines on Friday urged passengers travelling this weekend to reschedule their flights as Winter Storm Fern threatens to disrupt operations and force widespread cancellations. — (Reporting by Apratim Sarkar; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
Grok Goes Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
Grok experienced a possible outage Friday, with thousands of users reporting issues, according to Downdetector.com. More than 2,000 users had reported problems with the platform as of 11:23 a.m. PST, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collecting status reports from multiple sources. Most users reporting issues say they’re experiencing...
Oil Rises 3% as US Sends ‘Armada’ to Iran, Slaps New Sanctions
Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a week on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure against Iran through more sanctions on vessels that transport its oil, and announced an "armada" was heading towards the Middle Eastern nation. Brent crude futures rose $1.93, or 3%,...
Modesto Police Seek Help Locating At-Risk Adult
The Modesto Police Department is asking the public’s help in locating an at-risk adult, Gilberto Ortega. Ortega was last seen on foot leaving the 200 block of El Paso Avenue in Modesto on Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, brown pants, and a black-and-white beanie,...
Historic Tulare County Town of Allensworth Celebrates New Water System
Starting nearly 118 years ago, arsenic-laced groundwater and dry wells all but killed the hopes of California’s only town founded and governed by Blacks, many of them formerly enslaved. On Tuesday, residents of Allensworth celebrated a new well that will finally bring clean, abundant water to the Tulare County community...
Kern County Issues Evacuation Orders After Methane Gas Release
Update at 1:34 p.m, Authorities have lifted the evacuation orders. Original Story Authorities have issued an evacuation order Friday for areas north of Wasco after a methane gas release created a serious health threat. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office warned that methane gas can displace oxygen and cause dizziness, fatigue,...
California Suing Trump Administration Over Sable Oil Pipeline Restart
California's attorney general on Friday said the state was suing the Trump administration for asserting federal authority over two state pipelines and permitting Sable Offshore to restart pumping oil through them. The lawsuit is the latest turn in a dispute between Sable and California state officials over a drilling project...
UN Rights Body Censures Iran’s ‘Brutal Repression’ of Protests
The U.N. rights body condemned Iran on Friday for rights abuses and mandated an investigation into a recent crackdown on anti-government protests that killed thousands of people. "I call on the Iranian authorities to reconsider, to pull back, and to end their brutal repression," High Commissioner Volker Turk told an...