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Congress Votes on Epstein |
Congress approved a bill yesterday directing the Justice Department to release unclassified files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The House passed the bill 427-1, while the Senate agreed to deem the legislation passed as soon as it arrived in the chamber. President Donald Trump, who initially opposed the measure, is expected to sign it into law.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act directs the attorney general to release records concerning Epstein, his former associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and others referenced in Epstein's criminal activities. Information tied to ongoing investigations or containing sensitive victim data can be withheld. Trump has urged the Justice Department to investigate prominent Democrats and financial institutions for potential ties to Epstein. See a timeline here.
The push for transparency follows the release of more than 20,000 pages of Epstein-related documents last week, some of which mention Trump (see previous write-up). The president maintains his friendship with Epstein ended in the early 2000s, before Epstein's 2008 conviction. |
President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House yesterday. The meeting is the first US visit by Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader since the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
In October of that year, a team of Saudi agents assassinated Khashoggi—a Saudi dissident, Virginia resident, and Washington Post journalist. The incident sparked a diplomatic crisis, taking place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (see how it unfolded). US intelligence agencies concluded the crown prince likely ordered the murder. Several European countries, including Germany, Denmark, and Finland, suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Trump vetoed three congressional resolutions that would have taken similar action.
Yesterday’s meeting saw Prince Mohammed pledge to invest up to $1T in the US—roughly the size of Saudi Arabia’s entire economic output—and came after Trump announced plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to the country. |
Amazon’s Zoox began offering robotaxi rides to the public in San Francisco yesterday, challenging Alphabet-owned Waymo’s Bay Area dominance and marking the first time two rivals are operating in the same city.
Founded in 2014 by an Australian designer and the son of Apple’s chairman, Zoox was acquired by Amazon for roughly $1.3B in 2020. Zoox builds its boxy, all-electric, steering-wheel-free vehicles, while Waymo installs its technology into cars from manufacturers such as Jaguar and Chrysler. This summer, Amazon announced the conversion of a former California bus factory into a Zoox plant projected to make 10,000 robotaxis annually. Roughly 50 Zoox vehicles now operate between San Francisco and Las Vegas, where the company first began offering public rides in September. Rides in both cities are currently limited to select areas and are free, pending regulatory approvals.
Waymo, which has charged for rides in San Francisco since 2023, expanded its routes last week to highways around San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
1440 Topics: Dive into our editor-curated resources on self-driving cars here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> "The Joe Rogan Experience" tops Apple's year-end podcast charts by listenership; "The Telepathy Tapes" ranks No. 1 in top series and most shared categories (More) |
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> Sean "Diddy" Combs faces new sexual assault claims from music producer over alleged 2020 and 2021 incidents; LA County Sheriff's Department is investigating (More) |
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> Google rolls out Gemini 3 AI model, built to better grasp nuance and user intent; release comes nearly eight months after Gemini 2.5 and almost two years after 1.0 (More) | The best resources we've found on large language models (1440 Topics) |
> Engineers use ultrasonic waves to shake water molecules out of air; method is 45 times more efficient than heat-based systems and could improve access to clean drinking water in desert regions (More) |
> First-ever 3D analysis of preserved Neanderthal nasal cavity challenges long-standing theory that Neanderthals developed large noses to adapt to cold climate (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -1.1%, Nasdaq -1.2%); S&P 500 logs longest slide since August (More) |
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🏠 The best resources we've found on homeownership: From its role in building personal wealth to its central place in the American dream, tomorrow's 1440 Business & Finance newsletter unpacks what it takes to own a home. |
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> Trump administration takes steps to dismantle the Education Department by transferring key programs to four other agencies, which include the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, State, and Interior (More) |
> Misplaced wire label caused cargo ship to lose power and crash into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge last year, killing six construction workers (More) |
> Federal court bars Texas from using its new congressional map in 2026 midterm elections; new map would have shifted up to five districts from Democratic to Republican (More) |
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1440 Topics gives you the overview, then points you to the best resources: |
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Clickbait: Meet the silent book club.
Historybook: President James Garfield born (1831); President Abraham Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address (1863); Indira Gandhi, first and only female prime minister of India, born (1917); Actress Meg Ryan born (1961); First lady Rosalynn Carter dies (2023).
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