Tech entrepreneur trapped in circling self-driving car on way to airport: ‘I feel like I’m in the movies’

 A Los Angeles tech entrepreneur became trapped in an unhinged self-driving vehicle so long that he nearly missed his flight, according to a report.

Mike Johns was heading to the airport in a self-operating “Waymo” taxi on his way home from Scottsdale, Ariz., last month when the rogue vehicle began driving in circles, causing him to make a panicked call for help, according to a CBS report.

“I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle? I’m getting dizzy,” Johns said to a Waymo customer-service representative from the backseat of the spinning vehicle, according to a video the unlucky traveler posted on Linkedin.

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Mike Johns’ rogue rented Waymo car made eight circles before a company rep was able to get it under control.Mike Johns/Linkedin

“It’s circling around a parking lot. I got my seat belt on. I can’t get out of the car. Has this been hacked? What’s going on? I feel like I’m in the movies. Is somebody playing a joke on me?” he asked the rep.

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The representative told Johns to open his Waymo app so she could remotely pull the car over but appeared to struggle with immediately getting it under control, according to the video.

The rep was eventually able to get control of the vehicle after a few minutes, with just enough time for Johns to get on his flight home to LA, according to CBS.

The vehicle made “eight circles,” according to Johns’ LinkedIn post. “It felt like a scene in a sci-fi thriller.”

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“Has this been hacked? What’s going on?” a panicked Johns told a company rep by phone as the car continued to spin.Mike Johns/Linkedin

Johns said Waymo has not followed up with him after the incident.

“You’d think by now Waymo would email, text, or call for a follow-up. Nope, customer service is automated and ran by AI,” he wrote on Linkedin.

A representative for Waymo told CBS that the mishap occurred in mid-December and delayed Johns for 5 minutes before successfully driving him to his flight. Johns was not charged for the trip, according to the representative.

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Waymo says it has since attempted to reach Johns and has not charged him for the ride.Mike Johns/Linkedin

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Waymo employs fully autonomous self-driving cars that use sensors and software to operate.REUTERS

Waymo said it has attempted to reach Johns, according to the outlet.

The company produces fully autonomous self-driving vehicles that use sensors and software to navigate, according to their website. Waymo started as part of the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009 and operates in Metro Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Johns, who ironically works in AI initiatives according to his LinkedIn profile, says he hopes companies such as Waymo will succeed, but has no plans of hopping in another self-driving vehicle any time soon.

“Where’s the empathy? Where’s the human connection to this?” Johns told CBS News.

“It’s just, again, a case of today’s digital world. A half-baked product and nobody meeting the customer, the consumers, in the middle,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/06/us-news/techie-mike-johns-gets-trapped-in-circling-self-driving-car-on-way-to-airport/

'Jan. 6 election certification live updates: National Guard deploys 500 troops to US Capitol'

 Congress will take the last step to formalize President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris on Monday when it assembles in joint session to count the Electoral College votes.

The constitutionally mandated procedure is not expected to have any of the drama of four years ago, when supporters of the 45th president rioted over his defeat by then-candidate Joe Biden.

In an ironic twist, Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the count confirming her own defeat by Trump in the Nov. 5 election.

Biden says America 'should not forget' threat to democracy on Jan. 6, claims police 'died as a result' of riot

President Biden has declared that Americans "should not forget" the "assault" on democracy that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, claiming that some Capitol police officers "died as a result."

"We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault. And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year," Biden, 82, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Monday.

"But we should not forget. We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it. We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago," the president added.

Biden went on to describe how thousands of rioters halted the Electoral College count by breaching the Capitol building and battling with police officers.

"Law enforcement officials were beaten, dragged, knocked unconscious and stomped upon. Some police officers ultimately died as a result," he claimed.

No officers died during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, riot, but Capitol cop Brian Sicknick died of a stroke the day after the melee.

Other officers from the Metropolitan Police Department -- including Jeffrey Smith and Kyle DeFreytag -- committed suicide in the following days and months.

Reps for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

National Guard deploys 500 troops to US Capitol ahead of election certification

The National Guard deployed 500 troops to the US Capitol ahead of Monday’s election certification, according to the service.

The guardsmen will primarily handle traffic control, though federal offices are closed in Washington, DC due to snow.

Ahead of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the District of Columbia had called up just 340 National Guard troops to assist with the certification as a standard procedure.

As the protests turned violent, then-Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller summoned an additional 1,100 members of the National Guard to assist.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/06/us-news/jan-6-election-certification-for-trumps-victory-live-updates/

In €500M deal, Merck buys Ireland vaccines plant from CDMO WuXi Biologics

 With potential passage of the BIOSECURE Act looming and WuXi Biologics seeing its share price and profits decline, the Chinese biopharma contract manufacturing giant is responding with a sizable divestiture.

In Ireland, WuXi Biologics has sold a new vaccines plant to Merck & Co. for €500 million ($521 million). The New Jersey company was a natural buyer of the facility as it was the lone client WuXi Biologics served at the site in Dundalk, executing a 20-year contract to produce vaccines worth $150 million annually.

Ireland’s Foreign Direct Investment Agency (IDA) and Merck’s MSD Ireland unit revealed the sale Monday. The companies expect to complete the transaction in the first half of this year. The facility, which currently employs 200, will house an additional 150 workers by the end of this year, according to the IDA.

In 2019, WuXi Biologics announced that it was investing €200 million to build the plant, which handles both substance and product manufacturing.

The three-story vaccine facility covers 15,520 square meters (167,000 square feet) and becomes Merck’s eighth installation in Ireland, including five manufacturing sites. Merck has another vaccine plant in Carlow, Ireland, but the Dundalk facility will be the only one that can produce live virus vaccines.

The BIOSECURE Act, which was passed by a 306-81 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in September, seeks to block handful of Chinese firms—including WuXi Biologics—from obtaining federal contracts and working with biopharma firms that hold such contracts.

WuXi Biologics' plant sale comes after the Financial Times in October reported that the company and WuXi AppTec were weighing certain divestitures amid the BIOSECURE threat.

Last month, WuXi AppTec sold the U.S. and U.K. operations of its Advanced Therapies Unit to New York private investment firm Altaris.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/wuxi-continues-divest-sale-ireland-vaccines-plant-merck-eu500m

Trudeau says will resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader amid political turmoil

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday he intends to resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader amid growing opposition to his leadership.

"The fact is, despite best efforts to work through it, parliament has been paralyzed for months, after what has been the longest session of a minority parliament in Canadian history," Trudeau said in televised remarks outside of his home in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. "I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide competitive process."

Trudeau, a former high school teacher and son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, became prime minister in 2015 after his Liberal Party won a decisive parliamentary majority.

The Liberal Party won two more successive elections in 2019 and 2021, but lost the popular vote, requiring him to form a minority government with a left-wing opposition party, leaving his party dependent on allies to pass legislation.

Trudeau, in his press conference on Monday, called for a more unified political environment and suggested changes to Canada's election process that would allow voters to look "for things they have in common instead of polarizing and dividing Canadians against each other." He said failing to amend that process during his term is "one regret particularly" that he has leading up to the next election.

Why is Justin Trudeau resigning?

Trudeau's leadership has faced significant challenges in the wake of the COVID crisis, leading to a loss of confidence among Canadians from various backgrounds. Key issues such as housing affordability, the rising cost of living and high levels of immigration contributed to widespread disillusionment. This growing frustration led to Trudeau's own Liberal supporters to start calling for his resignation.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's abrupt resignation on Dec. 16 further complicated Trudeau's political landscape and threw his Liberal Party into disarray, reviving calls for him to step down.

In an explosive resignation letter posted online, Freeland said she and the prime minister had become "at odds about the best path forward for Canada." His housing minister had resigned a week earlier.

Asked to address Freeland's departure, which some saw as the catalyst to Trudeau's resignation announcement, the prime minister said he had hoped Freeland would agree to continue in his cabinet as deputy prime minister, "but she chose otherwise." Trudeau declined to share more details about their "private conversations."

Trudeau made a last-ditch effort to shuffle his cabinet, hoping to add some stability to his government, but that failed as well.

The Toronto Star's editorial board said in an op-ed published Dec. 16 that Trudeau is "seemingly more concerned with his own survival than with the national interest," urging him to walk away "for his legacy, his party and his country."

The Toronto Police Association also said in a post on social media Dec. 17 that it had lost faith in Trudeau's government, saying it's "time to resign and leave these critically important public safety issues to someone else."

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party and once an ally of Trudeau, threatened to bring down the Liberals' minority government through a non-confidence vote in the next sitting if he didn't resign.

"Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful," Singh said in an online statement.
Trump tariff threat

Calls for Trudeau's resignation gained momentum after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's announcement of a potential blanket 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico if they don't take stronger action against illegal immigration and drug trafficking concerns. Trump has targeted Trudeau and Canada in recent days, with the president-elect appearing to joke about Canada becoming the 51st state with Trudeau as governor.

Some of Trudeau's critics have suggested he is unable to stand against Trump's economic pressure and bullying.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for an early election, while the Bloc Quebecois, leader, Yves-François Blanchet, warned that it would be "absolutely irresponsible" to remain in such an unstable situation under Trudeau's leadership.

Polls show Trudeau's Liberal Party trailing 20 points behind the Conservatives, with upcoming elections in October.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justin-trudeau-resigns-canada-prime-minister-liberal-party-leader/

'US hoping for Gaza ceasefire agreement in next 2 weeks: Blinken'

The Biden administration says it is still hoping to secure a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas in its final two weeks in the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. 

Blinken, on diplomatic travel in South Korea, said that the last couple of weeks have seen a “re-intensified engagement, including by Hamas,” but there is not yet agreement on final terms.

“What I can tell you is this: we very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time that we have remaining. And we will work every minute of every day of those two weeks to try to get that to happen,” he said.

President-elect Trump has warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023, are not released by his inauguration on Jan 20. 

Hamas holds an estimated 100 people it kidnapped from southern Israel during its terrorist attack, although a majority of those people are believed dead. Among those not yet released are seven Americans. In late November, Hamas released a proof-of-life video of 21-year-old Israeli-American Edan Alexander. 

Israel has subsequently laid waste to the Gaza Strip in its war against Hamas over the past 15 months, with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed, and the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of war crimes. 

The U.S. has pushed for a ceasefire as the best way to scale up humanitarian aid deliveries to Palestinians in the strip and pause fighting to provide relief to those under siege. But it has also continued supplying Israel with billions of dollars worth of weapons to prosecute its war.

In an interview with the New York Times published on Friday, Blinken said Hamas was the major obstacle to achieving a deal. 

“What we’ve seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded.” 

Netanyahu has also been accused of shifting the terms of a potential deal and has faced intense pressure at home over his failure to secure the release of hostages.

Israeli officials are reportedly in Doha, Qatar for indirect talks on a deal, with an Israeli official telling the Times of Israel that a major obstacle remains for Hamas to provide the number and names of hostages to be released in a first round.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5068812-cease-fire-hostage-release-blinken/

I-Mab prioritizes claudin for research

 

• Givastomig: a Claudin 18.2 ("CLDN18.2") x 4-1BB bispecific antibody, will be the lead clinical program following the Company's portfolio prioritization
• The Company has completed enrollment of a dose escalation study of givastomig in combination with nivolumab plus chemotherapy, and data is expected in the early second half of 2025; a 40-patient dose expansion study is now underway with data expected in early 2026
• Cash balance of $184.4 million (as of September 30, 2024), expected to support operations into 2027, complemented by a strengthened U.S.-based leadership team and streamlined operating model

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/i-mab-announces-portfolio-prioritization-of-givastomig-cldn18-2-x-4-1bb-bispecific-antibody-as-lead-clinical-program-302342671.html