Waymo is scaling its autonomous footprint by launching freeway operations in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, signaling a shift toward high-speed commercial robotaxi service.
“The autonomous taxi service began operating on Bay Area freeways Wednesday morning... Waymo is also adding freeway routes to Phoenix and Los Angeles.”
The 43-day government shutdown has ended, but a 'subsidy cliff' threatens to quadruple health insurance premiums for 24 million Americans by year-end.
“For Amy Jackson... her premium is going from under $300 a month to $1250. You know, for them, a thousand bucks is probably nothing... but for me, that's half of my wage.”
A major diplomatic rift is widening as the UK and Colombia suspend intelligence sharing over the US military’s aggressive classification of drug smugglers as 'terrorist enemy combatants.'
“The UK has begun denying certain intelligence sharing requests out of concern over US military actions in the Caribbean because they do not align with British foreign policy.”
The US Mint has officially retired the penny after a 200-year run, citing a 400% production deficit that was draining $50 million from the Treasury annually.
“Producing each penny was costing the US government nearly 4 cents, and ending production would save the US more than $50 million a year.”
Gallup reports a historic 17-point collapse in American religiosity over the last decade, a rate of secularization that is among the fastest ever recorded globally.
“Gallup has found a 17-point drop in the percentage of US adults who say religion is an important part of their daily lives... such a large drop is rare among the 160 plus countries it studies.”
