Uber eyes drones for food delivery

Uber said Wednesday it plans to speed up restaurant meal delivery by using drones for its Uber Eats service, in the latest effort by the ride-hailing giant to disrupt the transport sector.

At its Uber Elevate Summit, the company said it had regulatory approval to begin tests of delivering food by drone in the region of San Diego, California.

"Our goal is to expand Uber Eats drone delivery so we can provide more options to more people at the tap of a button," said Luke Fischer, head of flight operations at Uber Elevate.

"We believe that Uber is uniquely positioned to take on this challenge as we're able to leverage the Uber Eats network of restaurant partners and delivery partners as well as the aviation experience and technology of Uber Elevate."

For logistical reasons, the drones will not deliver directly to customers, but to a safe drop-off location where an Uber Eats driver will complete the order.

In the future, Uber hopes to land the drones on parked vehicles located near each delivery location to allow the final delivery by hand.

Uber said it had developed a proprietary airspace management system called Elevate Cloud Systems that will guide the drones to their location.

While not the first food drone delivery service, Uber is aiming for a potentially large-scale service through its food service partners across the United States.

Initial testing in San Diego was done with McDonald's, and will be expanded to include additional Uber Eats restaurants later this year.

The drone service is part of Uber's move to the skies as it seeks to develop an aerial ride-sharing network tied in with its smartphone app to help people avoid traffic congestion on the ground.

Uber said the drone service will provide data that will help manage its air network, and eventually allow the aircraft to operate autonomously.

New autonomous car
Separately, Uber unveiled its newest self-driving vehicle produced by Volvo Cars.

The Volvo XC90 prototype will be "capable of fully driving itself," according to an Uber statement, with sensors atop and built into the vehicle to allow it to operate and maneuver in an urban environment.

"Working in close partnership with companies like Volvo is a key ingredient to effectively building a safe, scalable, self-driving fleet," said Eric Meyhofer, CEO of Uber Advanced Technologies Group.

Uber signed a deal in 2017 with Volvo, which is owned by China's Geely, to produce "tens of thousands" of self-driving cars for a fleet of autonomous taxis.

Volvo said it will use a similar autonomous base for the introduction of its first commercially available autonomous drive technology in the early 2020s.

This week, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he does not expect fully self-driving vehicles to be deployed for at least 15 years, but that autonomous features will be gradually introduced and that some "easy" trips may be made autonomously.

Uber also unveiled the latest versions of its electric bikes and scooters that round out its shared transportation system.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

World's tiniest surviving baby born in California

LOS ANGELES -- A California hospital on Wednesday disclosed the birth of the world's smallest baby ever to survive, weighing a mere 245 grams -- the same as a large apple -- when she was born.

The girl, nicknamed Saybie by hospital staff, was born 23 weeks and 3 days into her mother's pregnancy at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns in San Diego.

The father was told by doctors that he would have about an hour with his daughter before she passed away.

"But that hour turned into 2 hours which turned into a day, which turned into a week," the mother said in a video released by the hospital.

Doctors said Saybie was delivered via emergency cesarean section in December after severe pregnancy complications that put her mother's life at risk.

After nearly 5 months at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, she was discharged home earlier this month weighing a healthy five pounds and sporting a graduation cap.

"She is a miracle, that's for sure," said Kim Norby, one of the nurses who cared for Saybie as she fought to survive with a sign that read "tiny but mighty" posted by her crib.

Emma Wiest, another nurse, said Saybie was so tiny at birth that "you could barely see her on the bed."

At birth, she weighed as much as a child's juice box and could fit in the palm of the hands of her caretakers.

"I'd heard that we had such a tiny baby and it sounded unbelievable because I mean she's about half of the weight as a normal 23-weaker," Wiest said.

Saybie's ranking as the world's tiniest baby ever to survive is according to the Tiniest Babies Registry, maintained by the University of Iowa.

The previous record was held by a baby born in Germany in 2015 who weighed seven grams more than Saybie.

"Every life is a miracle -- those that defy the odds even more so," Edward Bell, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa who oversees the Registry, told AFP.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Charges filed in deadly California synagogue shooting

The 19-year-old accused gunman in a deadly California synagogue shooting is due in a San Diego court on Tuesday for arraignment in Saturday's attack, with officials adding a hate crime to his offenses.

John Earnest faces one count of murder, with a hate crime added as a special circumstance, as well as three counts of attempted murder and one count of arson, the San Diego District Attorney's Office said on Monday.

"We offer our condolences for the loss of a precious life and the violence that fell upon members of the Jewish congregation, gathered to celebrate the end of Passover," District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement.

Law enforcement officers are working around the clock on the case, she said.

Saturday's attack on Chabad of Poway synagogue in suburban San Diego happened six months to the day after 11 worshippers were shot to death at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the deadliest attack ever on American Jewry.

Earnest, who is being held without bail, appears to have written an online manifesto in which he also claimed responsibility for a pre-dawn arson attack at a nearby mosque last month and professed inspiration from the mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people in March.

Police and the FBI are still investigating a motive for the shooting that killed Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, a congregant, and wounded three others.

A funeral was held at the synagogue on Monday for Gilbert-Kaye, one of its founding members, and she was remembered as a deeply caring member of the community.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, one of three people who were wounded, losing his right index finger in the shooting, presided over the memorial service.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said Earnest has no prior criminal record. If convicted, Earnest faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty, the district attorney's office said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US synagogue attacked by gunman on final day of Passover

POWAY, United States - A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in California on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others including the rabbi as worshippers marked the final day of Passover, authorities said.

The shooting in the town of Poway, north of San Diego, came exactly six months after a white supremacist killed 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue -- the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US history.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told reporters that the 19-year-old gunman burst into the Chabad of Poway synagogue shortly after 11:20 a.m. local time and opened fire with an assault weapon before fleeing.

"During the shooting, four individuals were wounded and transported to Palimar hospital," Gore told a press conference. "One succumbed to their wounds. The other three are in stable condition." 

He said the injured were a female juvenile and two adult men, while an older woman died from her injuries.

Gore said an off-duty border patrol agent who was at the synagogue at the time of the shooting opened fire on the gunman as he was fleeing, striking his car but missing the suspect.

The man was eventually apprehended by a San Diego police officer who had been monitoring dispatch radio and raced to the scene, San Diego police chief David Nisleit said.

"He clearly saw the suspect's vehicle, the suspect jumped out with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody by the San Diego police department," Nisleit said.

"As the officer was placing this 19-year-old male into custody, he clearly saw a rifle on the front passenger seat of the suspect vehicle," he added.

HATE CRIME

Gore did not disclose the identity of the suspect or a motive, saying only that he was from San Diego and that authorities were examining his social media activity and establishing the legitimacy of an anti-Semitic open letter published online.

"We have copies of his social media posts and his open letter and we'll be reviewing those to determine the legitimacy of it and how it plays in to the investigation," he said.

He added that police were interviewing about 100 people who were at the scene of the shooting.

Speaking outside the White House, President Donald Trump said the shooting appears to be a "hate crime" and offered his support to the victims.

"My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected," he said. "We're doing some very heavy research ... at this moment it looks like a hate crime."

California's Governor Gavin Newsom also denounced the tragedy and offered his support to the victims and their families.

"While we continue to learn more about what transpired, we can't ignore the circumstances around this horrific incident," he said. 

"No one should have to fear going to their place of worship, and no one should be targeted for practicing the tenets of their faith."

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus earlier said the rabbi at the synagogue, located in a middle-class neighborhood around 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of San Diego, was shot in the hand.

"I want you to know this is not Poway," he told reporters. "The Poway I know comes together as we did just a few weeks ago, at an interfaith event.

"We always walk with our arms around each other, and we will walk through this tragedy with our arms around each other."

FLAMES OF HATRED

Minoo Anvari told the local CNN affiliate that her husband was inside the synagogue during the shooting.

"Just one message from all of us from our congregation that we are standing together," she said. "We are strong. You can't break us. We are all together."

On Twitter, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was "heartbroken" by news of the shooting. 

"We have a responsibility to love + protect our neighbors," she said.

"The hatred and violence has got to stop," added California representative Mike Levin.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles said in a statement that the shooting was "a horrific reminder that the flames of hatred still burn strong among some."

"An attack, on any house of worship, from churches in Sri Lanka and France to synagogues in Jerusalem or Pittsburgh to mosques in Christchurch, are an assault on human dignity and our rights as people of faith to pray to God," it added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Southern California fires force 200,000 people to flee

FARIA BEACH, CALIFORNIA - Wildfires roared through canyons, hillsides and residential areas in densely populated Southern California for a fourth day on Thursday as gusting winds hampered efforts to quell the flames.

Some 200,000 people have evacuated ahead of the fires, which have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced hundreds of Los Angeles-area schools to close.

Authorities feared the 4 major fires - ranging from Los Angeles up the Pacific coast to Santa Barbara County - would be whipped up by the region's notorious westward Santa Ana winds that could reach hurricane strength.

The winds, which blow in hot and dry from the California desert, could reach 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) on Thursday and create "extreme fire danger," according to an alert sent by the countywide emergency system in Los Angeles. The National Weather Service said high winds were expected to continue at least through Saturday.

The fires, which broke out on Monday and Tuesday, have reached into the wealthy enclave of Bel-Air on Los Angeles' West Side. Some major highways in the densely populated area were intermittently closed.

North of San Diego, another blaze called the Lilac Fire grew from about 10 acres to between 100 and 150 acres in less than an hour, destroying two structures and prompting evacuations, the local CAL FIRE agency reported.

No civilian casualties or fatalities have been reported from the blazes but three firefighters were injured, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Firefighters and helicopters sprayed and dumped bucketloads of water to try to contain the flames against a hellish backdrop of flaming mountains and walls of smoke.

About 100 firefighters fended off flames in the seaside enclave of Faria Beach, caught between burning mountains and the Pacific Ocean, northwest of Ventura. Fires spread down the smoking hills, jumping the heavily used U.S. 101 highway, and headed toward clusters of beach houses. Firefighters lined up along a railroad track, the last barrier from the flames.

Surrounded by strong winds and smoke, Songsri Kesonchampa aimed a garden hose at a large pine tree between her Feria Beach house and the fire, attempting to fend off disaster.

“If this tree catches fire, the strong wind will blow the flames towards my house. I need to protect this tree,” she said.

“In the 10 years I’ve lived here, I have never seen anything like this,” she added. As she spoke, a sheriff’s car drove by, ordering residents to evacuate. “The fire is here. You must evacuate your homes right now,” an officer said over the loudspeaker.

Nearby, Ventura resident Shana Dalton was checking on her friends’ house. “One minute the flames were on the mountains and then next thing you know, they jumped the 101 and the train tracks and were right in front of us,” she said.

Because of the heavy smoke, the South Coast Air Quality Management District warned residents, especially the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with respiratory diseases, to stay indoors. Ventura County authorities said air quality in the Ojai Valley area was hazardous with "numbers ... off the charts."

The Thomas Fire, the largest in the area, continued its westward push on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of Santa Barbara County residents and the closing of Highway 101 north of Ventura city. The fire has destroyed more than 150 homes and threatened thousands more in Ventura.

In the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, the Creek Fire destroyed at least 30 homes, blackened more than 12,000 acres (4,800 hectares) and forced the evacuation of 2,500 homes and a convalescent center.

Another blaze, the Rye Fire, threatened more than 5,000 homes and structures northwest of Los Angeles.

The Skirball Fire in Los Angeles has forced hundreds of residents in the wooded hills near the Bel-Air neighborhood to evacuate and charred more than 475 acres (192 hectares).

Skirball threatened media magnate Rupert Murdoch's Moraga Estate winery. The property was evacuated, with possible damage to some buildings, Murdoch said in a statement, but “We believe the winery and house are still intact."

The Los Angeles Police Department tweeted "LAPD Working to Save Every Californian, Pets Included" along with a photo of a police officer in a respirator rescuing a cat.

CLASSES CANCELED

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the country's second largest with more than 640,000 students, said it closed at least 265 of its nearly 1,100 schools. The University of California Santa Barbara canceled classes as well.

Dozens of schools also were closed in Ventura County, where the Thomas Fire has charred more than 96,000 acres (38,850 hectares). The school district, with nearly 17,000 students, hoped to reopen on Monday.

San Diego Gas & Electric said it was turning off power to customers in some mountain communities northeast of San Diego to lessen fire danger and warned the outage could last several days.

The fires are the second outbreak to ravage parts of California this autumn. The celebrated wine country in the northern part of the state was hit by wind-driven wildfires in October that killed at least 43 people, forced some 10,000 to flee their homes and consumed at least 245,000 acres (9,900 hectares) north of the San Francisco Bay area.

The California Department of Insurance said the northern California blazes caused insured losses of more than $9 billion.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Four dead as 'worst storm in years' buffets California

LOS ANGELES - A devastating storm billed by forecasters as the worst to hit California in years pounded the southern half of the state, wreaking devastation that claimed four lives, authorities said on Saturday.

The powerful storm blew in from the Pacific Ocean, hitting California on Friday with high winds and heavy rain that downed power lines, leaving 60,000 people in the Los Angeles area without power, and prompting hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at airports.

Emergency workers were forced to carry out numerous fast-water rescues after flash flooding forced hundreds from their homes, officials said.

Several people stranded near the Los Angeles River had to be rescued with inflatable boats.

Los Angeles city fire officials said the fatalities included a 55-year-old man who was electrocuted after a tree downed a power line.

Two other people died in car accidents in the San Diego area, and a fourth was died in a submerged vehicle, local media reported.

Another person was injured after her car fell into a massive sinkhole in Los Angeles, local television station KABC reported. She was trapped until fire crews pulled her out.

Flash-flood warnings will continue through the weekend in many areas of the West Coast state, which has been hit this winter by a series of storms that have filled reservoirs, bringing respite following a severe five-year drought.

Although the latest storm, which packed heavy wind-driven rain, was mainly affecting southern and central California, rain was also forecast to hit the San Francisco Bay Area in the north.

Several inches of rain were forecast for parts of northern California.

Residents of the city of Duarte, located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles, were ordered to evacuate on Friday for fear of mudslides and voluntary evacuation orders were issued for some residents of Camarillo Springs, north of LA.

Mudslides in the southern city of Santa Barbara forced Amtrak officials to suspend service between nearby Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo.

The National Weather Service said the northern part of the state -- where flooding last week damaged the Lake Oroville Dam and forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people -- was expected to see new rain and snow systems moving in during the next few days.

It forecast "the wettest storm" on Monday and Tuesday, warning of potential renewed flooding across Northern California.

"Recent storms have left the region highly vulnerable, so amplified impacts will be possible with additional rainfall," the NWS said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sexy star Patricia Javier: I'm here, I'm back!

MANILA -- Six years after she left for the United States to start a family with her husband, Patricia Javier is now looking to resume her showbiz career in the Philippines.

Javier, who recently flew in from San Diego, spoke with ABS-CBN News on Wednesday and shared her hopes of staging a comeback as an actress.




"Nakaka-miss din talaga," said Javier. "Kung may magandang project for me, why not, 'diba? So yeah, I'm here, I'm back!"

The former teen star -- she debuted on TV at 16 via "That's Entertainment" -- was launched as a sexy actress in 1999 with the film "Ang Kapit ni Mrs. Montero."

She went on to appear in some 15 movies, a number of them comedy, and in several TV shows. Javier even dabbled in music, having launched a self-titled album, "PJ," at one point.

'Full-time mommy'

While on a US concert tour in 2003, Javier met chiropractor Dr. Rob Walcher, whom she eventually married four years later. They decided to move to San Diego for good shortly after.

Describing herself as a "full-time mommy" with children now aged 7 and 2, Javier told ABS-CBN News she also busied herself in the US as an esthetician and as a DJ.

She also took active part in charity works, interacting with battered women and those in need of medical help. Javier explained that part of the reason she returned to the Philippines, aside from visiting her family, is to continue her cause.

A member of BKP (Books for Kids in the Philippines), Javier said she will be participating in the distribution of books to schools sponsored by the non-profit organization.

More sexy roles?

Once finished with her business with BKP, Javier said she is hoping to find luck in showbiz. She added she misses having TV guestings, doing drama on TV, "atsaka 'yung mga nakakasama ko sa showbiz na mababait na artista, syempre."

Asked who among the currently popular stars she is a fan of, Javier said mentioned Maja Salvador, Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson.

"Syempre si Cristine Reyes," she added, "kasi natatandaan ko pa siya noong nag-da-dance pa kami nung ate niyang si Ara, pumupunta pa kami sa bahay niya no'n. Nagulat nalang ako, ngayon sobrang sikat na siya tapos angganda-ganda niya!"

As a returning actress, is Javier still open to doing sexy roles?

"Para sa akin, ang pagiging artista, kung ano 'yung ibinigay sa'yo na role, kung kaya mong panindigan or patunayan, [tatanggapin mo]," she said. "Iyon ang pagiging artista, 'diba?"

"So sa akin, hindi ako namimili kung anuman ang ibigay nila basta masasabi ko na 'yung project, pwede mong ipagmayabang."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Seau's death shocks, saddens hometown and NFL

Sadness socked San Diego on Wednesday as news spread of the county’s greatest sports icon having died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Junior Seau shot himself in the chest at his beachside home. He was 43 years old and not quite three years past playing in the last of his 20 NFL seasons.

Luisa Seau sobbed in front of reporters outside her son’s home and cried loudly, “Junior! Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”

A high-profile NFL free agent who is in San Diego covertly training to make a run at playing in 2012 was told the news during a workout.

“Noooo,” the man screamed.

That is how an entire region and many in the NFL felt.

San Diego prides itself on being a big small town. It is not New York, where icons grow on skyscrapers.

Seau, who played 13 seasons for the Chargers, was arguably the biggest star to ever play here. Only Tony Gwynn, who played 19 seasons for the Padres, and former Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts could even compare.

source: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-05-02/junior-seau-suicide-seaus-death-shocks-saddens-hometown-and-nfl

3 dead, 1 missing after sailboat disappears south of San Diego

Three people are dead and a fourth missing at sea after a mishap Saturday involving a 37-foot sailing boat near the Coronado Islands south of San Diego, the Coast Guard reported.

The vessel, called the Aegean, was participating in a race from Newport to Ensenada, Mexico, when it was reported missing shortly before noon.

Three bodies were found by midafternoon, one by a Coast Guard helicopter, and two by a civilian crew, in an area where debris was spotted, the Coast Guard said. The three bodies were brought to San Diego for examination by the medical examiner.

The Coast Guard, the Mexican navy and civilian vessels are searching for the fourth crew member. A cause of the incident is under investigation.

The Coronado Islands are four small, largely uninhabited islands about 15 miles south of San Diego and governed by the city of Tijuana.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

source: latimes.com