The New York Giants went 3-14 this season, and a lot of people were surprised over owner John Mara's decision to retain general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for a fourth season.
Apparently, multiple Giants players were also "surprised" about the team retaining Daboll, according to a report from ESPN.
While multiple players were "surprised" about Daboll coming out, some said they were fine with it because Daboll is a player-friendly coach.
The players said the Giants head coach was open to feedback and incorporates a schedule that "hardly wears them down," according to the report.
The report also said the players like Daboll as a person but see signs that his program is not "destined for success."
Daboll’s tenure could not have gotten off to a better start, going 9-7-1 in his first season, winning a playoff game over the Minnesota Vikings and being named Coach of the Year.
Since then, it has been all downhill.
The Giants regressed in 2023, going 6-11, making what people thought the 2024 season to be a make-or-break season for the coach and general manager.
Instead of improving, they went further in the other direction, going 3-14 in what was supposed to be a celebratory 100th season for the franchise.
It was a season that included fans flying banners with messages directed at ownership, benching starting quarterback Daniel Jones and cutting him days later.
Despite all of that, Schoen and Daboll will get another chance to right the ship.
One of the big issues this season was a lack of communication between coaches and players, according to the report.
Some players spoke of "being misled and left to dangle in the wind on issues, including their roles changing or snaps dwindling, without sufficient explanation."
The biggest question Schoen and Daboll face entering next season is solving the quarterback position.
The team has the third selection in the NFL Draft, behind the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns, and may not have a chance to select this year’s top two quarterbacks in Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward.
Regardless of who is playing quarterback for the Giants next season, both Daboll and Schoen are entering next season on the hot seat with a lot of pressure to win from a starving fanbase and restless ownership.
Meta deleted nonbinary and trans themes for its Messenger app this week, around the same time that the company announced it would change its rules to allow users to declare that LGBTQ+ people are “mentally ill,” 404 Media has learned.
Meta’s Messenger app allows users to change the color scheme and design of their chat windows with different themes. For example, there is currently a “Squid Game” theme, a “Minecraft” theme, a “Basketball” theme, and a “Love” theme, among many others.
These themes regularly change, but for the last few years they have featured a “trans” theme and a “nonbinary” theme, which had color schemes that matched the trans pride flag and the non-binary pride flag. Meta did not respond to a request for comment about why the company removed these themes, but the change comes right as Mark Zuckerberg’s company is publicly and loudly shifting rightward to more closely align itself with the views of the incoming Donald Trump administration. 404 Media reported Thursday that many employees are protesting the anti LGBTQ+ changes and that “it’s total chaos internally at Meta right now” because of the changes.
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Do you work at Meta? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702.
The trans theme was announced for Pride Month in June 2021, and the nonbinary theme was announced in June 2022 in blog posts that highlighted Meta’s apparent support for trans and nonbinary people. Both of these posts are no longer online.
“This June and beyond, we want people to #ConnectWithPride because when we show up as the most authentic version of ourselves, we can truly connect with people,” the post announcing the trans theme originally said. “Starting today, in support of the LGBTQ+ community and allies, Messenger is launching new expression features and celebrating the artists and creators who not only developed them, but inspire us each and every day.”
The blog post announcing the nonbinary theme, meanwhile, read “Messenger is committed to building the safest private messaging experience that gives the growing LBGTQ+ community and its allies a trusted space to open up with confidence. Today, we’re celebrating International Non-Binary People’s Day through the release of new expression tools, including an all-new non-binary chat theme, sticker pack and word effects, in addition to new shortcuts available to easily access these new features.” The blog post featured a discussion between nonbinary members of Meta’s staff and a member of the LGBTQ+ rights organization The Trevor Project.
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine shows these posts were both still live as of September 2024, the last time the announcement posts were archived. The chat themes that they were announcing were deleted this week, according to internal information obtained by 404 Media. We also confirmed that the themes are no longer active on Messenger. A “Pride” rainbow theme is still active.
Two current Meta employees told 404 Media that the nonbinary and trans themes were “retired” this week. A code change notice from this week obtained by 404 Media reads “Retire theme Transgender … this diff will retire the theme Transgender on both Messenger and Instagram.” A separate internal post by an employee reads “Does anyone know what happened to the non-binary themes in Messenger/IG and where out public facing content supporting this feature went? Is this related to the updated guidelines? Have there been any other related gender or LGBTQ design updates?”
One employee said these were deleted “without explanation or justification.”
The deletion of these themes coincides with Meta’s announcement of new content moderation rules that specifically allow for the targeting of LGBTQ+ people and, specifically, trans and nonbinary people. Internal guidelines obtained by both The Intercept and Platformer show that Meta is now telling content moderators that statements like "A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it," and “Trans people aren't real. They're mentally ill,” and “This whole nonbinary thing is made up. Those people don't exist, they're just in need of some therapy" no longer violate its rules, according to Platformer. It also says, for example, “‘Tranny’ is no longer a designated slur and is now non-violating,” the Intercept reported.
“I’ve never seen morale this low. Most folks expected some change with the incoming administration’s hostility to gay and trans people but this just feels vicious, almost gleeful,” one current Meta employee told 404 Media about all of the changes at the company. “Some folks are cheerleading the change but most of the vocal people are against it. I’ve even heard open talk from coworkers mulling over resignations over this.”
Philippine fintech startup GCash is gearing up for what could become the country’s largest stock offering, with plans to raise up to $1.5 billion through a domestic IPO. The company has enlisted major financial players, including Citi, Jefferies, and UBS, […]
A lawyer for TikTok argued before the Supreme Court on Friday that a ban on the social network would violate TikTok’s and Americans’ First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court this morning heard arguments on whether to overturn or delay a law that could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. The bill, officially titled the Protecting […]
The Godox MA5R will be available for just $49.99. | Image: Godox
Godox, a company known for its professional photography gear like flashes and reflective umbrellas, has announced a new lighting product for smartphones. Its MA5R is a magnetic power bank with an array of diffused color-changing LEDs on the back that can improve phone photography while keeping battery anxiety in check. It’s priced at $49 and while you can preorder it through online specialty stores, official availability isn’t known.
The MA5R attaches to MagSafe-compatible iPhones, smartphones supporting the Qi2 wireless standard, or mobile devices upgraded with a magnetic ring on the back. It can also be used handheld, but Godox didn’t include a standard tripod mount for attaching it to stands — an odd omission given the company’s lineup of pro gear.
Image: Godox
The MA5R uses color-changing LEDs to reproduce a wide range of colors and color temperatures.
The accessory can be controlled through the Godox mobile app over Bluetooth, which allows its color temperature to be adjusted across a wide range — from 1800K (warmer) to 10000K (cooler) — so you can match the lighting in almost any environment. You can also opt for a wide range of colors if you’re looking for a more dramatic lighting effect, or choose one of “14 pre-programmed special effects” which could be useful when shooting video.
Image: Godox
The MA5R includes an additional smaller LED on other side that can be used to improve the lighting of selfies.
On the other side of the MA5R, next to its magnetic mount, is a small display showing battery life and lighting brightness. There’s also a smaller front-facing LED light that can be used to improve selfies by rotating the accessory while it’s attached to a phone. It offers a smaller range of color temperature adjustments between 2800K and 6500K.
The added lights mean the MA5R is 13 millimeters thick so it’s not exactly going to disappear when attached to your phone. And it’s only got a 5,000mAh battery inside. That’s enough to keep its LEDs running for up to three hours and 40 minutes at full brightness, or up to seven hours and 20 minutes at half brightness, but not quite enough to fully recharge many smartphones more than once.
Wireless charging also stops while the LEDs are turned on, so maybe think of the MA5R’s charging capabilities as a bonus feature for what looks like a solid portable lighting solution.
National climate adviser Ali Zaidi | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Sure, President-elect Donald Trump is probably going to try to blow up efforts to tackle climate change as soon as he steps into office. There still isn’t enough renewable energy available to reach US climate goals or even meet skyrocketing electricity demand from AI. And time is running out to spend down climate funds from the Inflation Reduction Act before the Trump administration can attempt to claw it back. Despite it all, Joe Biden’s top adviser on climate change, Ali Zaidi, isn’t sweating it.
He’s managed to keep the perhaps cloyingly upbeat optimism that’s become a trademark of the Biden and Harris camp even when that enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily reflect sentiment on the ground. The Verge spoke with White House national climate adviser Zaidi this week about what he sees ahead for clean energy technologies and where there might still be room for progress.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You have a background in law. How did climate change become your thing?
I came to the United States at the age of six, and for me, for my family, the story of America is the story of economic mobility. I really came to Washington wanting to work on putting more...
Lamb souvlaki, baked salmon, and creamy chicken pasta are all in my dinner rotation.
For breakfast, I love shakshuka, and orange, avocado, and shrimp salad is a great lighter meal.
I learned to cook for the Mediterranean diet at university over five years ago. Since then, I've tried various recipes and even developed some of my own.
I take a minimalist approach to my diet and often only use a few ingredients in my meals. I bulk out the more expensive ingredients, like fresh fish and poultry, with whole grains, mixed beans, and vegetables.
My favorite recipes take about 10 to 30 minutes to prepare and don't require any specialist equipment.
I've discovered a love for orange, avocado, and shrimp salad
I wasn't initially convinced that orange, mustard, and shrimp went together. It felt unnatural to make a salad without traditional ingredients like cucumber and tomato.
However, the sweetness of the orange sharpens the buttery avocado and perfectly complements the shrimp.
Start by tearing half of an orange into segments. Squeeze the juice from the other half and put it to the side. Dice an avocado, slice half a red onion, and rip up some romaine lettuce. Add all of the components to a bowl with a few pieces of shrimp on top — I like to buy the precooked kind for convenience.
To make the dressing, combine the orange juice with a splash of olive oil, a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, and a little salt and pepper.
Zucchini fritters with tzatziki make a wonderful lunch
Fried zucchini fritters.
instacruising/Shutterstock
Vegetable fritters are one of my favorite snack foods to batch-cook and freeze for busy weekday lunches.
Grate one zucchini and half an onion into a sieve. Add a little salt and squeeze out the excess water with a spoon.
Then, grate a handful of Parmesan into a bowl with a cup of all-purpose flour, a splash of milk, and one egg. Combine the grated vegetables and batter.
Add a generous amount of olive oil to a pan and fry small dollops of batter until golden. Press the fritters flat to make sure they're cooked all the way through.
For the tzatziki dip, mix Greek yogurt, two crushed garlic cloves, a sprig of fresh mint, and a dash of olive oil.
Smoked mackerel pâté is an indulgent treat
Instead of sweets and chocolate, I like to indulge in cheeses, smoked meats, and pâtés.
To make that fit into my Mediterranean diet, I combine precooked and shredded smoked mackerel, light cream cheese, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Season the pâté with salt and pepper, and serve it spread on sourdough toast.
Sauté diced red pepper, green pepper, and onion with two crushed garlic cloves. Add a sprinkle of cumin, paprika, coriander, and red-chili flakes before pouring in some chopped tomatoes.
Place three eggs in the mixture, cover the pan, and let them simmer on low heat.
Remove from the heat once your eggs are cooked to your liking and finish with fresh chopped parsley and mint.
On special occasions, I'll whip up a lamb souvlaki
As a young journalist, lamb is a little out of my price range, so I reserve it for special occasions.
I opt for a good-quality lamb shoulder and season it with garlic, oregano, lemon juice, and olive oil for a few hours.
Add chunks of lamb to a wooden skewer and throw them on the grill. I often bulk out my kebabs with bell peppers and onions.
Finish the meal with tzatziki and Greek potatoes.
Salmon with veggies is an easy weeknight meal
Baked salmon on a bed of greens and rice.
Nigel O'Neil/Getty Images
If I've spent my evening at a spin class or late-night meeting, salmon is my go-to dish.
Season some fillets with garlic and herbs and wrap them in aluminum foil. Cook them in the oven for about 15 minutes and pair them with roasted asparagus and broccoli.
I've concocted a Mediterranean version of a make-your-own pizza
If you have an at-home dinner date coming up, make some puff-pastry pizza together.
Roll out a premade puff-pastry sheet, add pesto and tomato paste for the base, and cook for five minutes.
Once it's out, top with crumbled feta, spinach, and onions for a veggie-style pizza. You could also use some shredded salmon for a little extra protein.
Put it back in the oven until the cheese starts to brown and melt.
To balance out my lighter meals, I like to make a 1-pot creamy-chicken pasta
Creamy fettuccine pasta.
Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images
We all need cheesy carb-filled dinners from time to time — the Mediterranean diet is all about balance and moderation.
Chop up a few chicken breasts, fry them in a pan until golden, and remove.
Sauté a few cloves of garlic and combine with chicken stock, heavy cream, and fettuccine pasta in the pan. The measurements will depend on how much you like garlic and cream.
Once the sauce has thickened, sprinkle in some Parmesan, olives, and lemon slices and pop the cooked chicken back in.
Chorizo and butter-bean stew is a cozy meal
On colder days, I like to cozy up with a stew.
Slice up some chorizo and fry in a pan for a few minutes. Crank your extractor fan onto its highest setting to avoid the smoke alarm going off — I speak from experience.
Toss in cans of butter beans and chopped tomatoes and let everything sizzle.
Add a big spoonful of pesto for a garlicky twist and serve.
I like to make frittata when it's time to clean out the fridge
Baked veggie frittata in a skillet.
Monkey Business Images/Getty Images
When I don't know what to make, eggs are always a great option.
Mix a few eggs, a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, and some crumbled feta cheese together.
Finely dice half an onion and fry with crushed garlic for a few minutes. Sauté some spinach in the onion mixture and pour the egg concoction on top.
Bake in the oven until the egg is fully cooked and garnish with fresh parsley and your seasonings of choice.
Whenever I need a little extra protein, I turn to tofu
If I find myself in a bit of a food rut, I mix things up with meat alternatives.
I've only recently discovered tofu, and I've been enjoying adding it to salads and grain bowls for a protein boost.
I marinate the tofu cubes in lemon, garlic, and rosemary overnight and then fry them in olive oil for a crispy texture.
This story was originally published on May 17, 2022, and most recently updated on January 10, 2025.
Insurers hire companies like Wildfire Defense Systems to protect structures before a blaze occurs.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images
Insurance companies hire private businesses to protect properties from wildfires proactively.
The CEO of one company told BI that actions range from using fire-blocking gel to cleaning gutters.
He said companies like his can help solve the insurance crisis, as they focus only on economic loss.
Insurance companies are hiring private firms to protect customer properties before wildfires roll in by taking measures like applying protective gels and removing combustibles to try to fire-proof structures.
David Torgerson is the CEO of Wildfire Defense Systems, a private company that contracts with insurance carriers to protect homes and businesses from flames like those ripping through Southern California. As a qualified insurance resource, he said that Wildfire Defense Systems works exclusively with insurers, partnering with dozens of carriers across 22 states to protect structures.
"We are typically working hours in advance, or days in advance of the fire passing over a property, and we call that the pre-suppression," he told Business Insider. "We're preparing the property to survive the amount of time that the fire is in proximity to the structure, and then we quickly come back in after the fire is passed to secure the property."
Still, he said that his employees — who, unlike first responders, are not focused on saving lives or containing the blaze — are "actively working" to help battle the fires in Southern California.
In addition to applying the fire-blocking gels and getting rid of flammable materials, Wildfire Defense System's strategies include cleaning gutters and operating sprinkler systems, according to a fact sheet shared with BI. The famed Getty Villa has so far survived this week's blaze in part because of similar fire-mitigation efforts.
Once a fire passes through a neighborhood, company personnel will return to insured homes to put out any simmering spot fires and other risks, Torgerson said. By law, he said, his company can only protect homes covered by insurance policies that include his services.
In recent years, insurance companies have cut back on coverage in California, largely due to wildfire risk. In 2023, State Farm said it was no longer accepting new homeowner insurance applications in the state. It also ended coverage for 72,000 homes and apartments last year, including some in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood devastated by the most recent blaze.
Torgerson said that qualified insurance resources like his are part of the solution to coverage woes because they mainly try to mitigate the economic cost of a fire.
"Our job really is to help policyholders and insurance carriers keep insurance available in the marketplace," he said. "If wildfires are going to get steadily more intense and more frequent, the scale of our operations have increased."
With some of the nation's wealthiest zip codes on fire — in Pacific Palisades, for example, the average home price is $4.5 million, per Realtor.com — controversy has erupted around who has access to fire safety resources. When a Los Angeles-based investor and self-described entrepreneur posted on his X account about how to hire private firefighters for his home, many responded with outrage in the comments. The user, Keith Wasserman, has since suspended his X account.
Torgerson told BI that his services are very different from private firefighters, whom he said comprise a tiny sliver of the market. Wildfire Defense Systems does not have contact with individual homeowners and protects properties based on risk, not home value. He also said that his employees meet all training required by the National Wildlife Coordinating Group and are members of the firefighters union.
"It only really comes up when the fires are occurring in Southern California, the LA basin," he said of private firefighters, whom he said are not subject to the same training. Torgerson said its services are part of standard insurance policies with the affiliated companies, though he declined to disclose which insurers use his services.
In 2021, State Farm said in a press release that it was partnering with Wildfire Defense Systems and that the perk was added to all non-tenant homeowner policies in California, Arizona, and Washington. Chubb also partners with Wildfire Defense Systems in California and other states, according to its website, and says that policyholders can opt to enroll in the protective services.
Representatives from State Farm and Chubb did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
TikTok said it would "go dark" this month if the Supreme Court doesn't extend a divestment deadline.
TikTok users would likely stop seeing videos after January 19, and the app would leave app stores.
The company is arguing its case against a divest-or-ban law before the Supreme Court on Friday.
TikTok said it would "go dark" in the US later this month if the Supreme Court fails to extend a January 19 divestment deadline set by a divest-or-ban law.
During oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Friday, the company's attorney Noel Francisco said TikTok's partners, like app store hosts and other service providers, would stop working with it if its Chinese owner ByteDance fails to divest its US operations by the 19th. That would force TikTok to shut down.
"It's essentially going to stop operating," Francisco told the court. "I think that's the consequence of this law, which is why I think a short reprieve here would make all the sense in the world."
This means a TikTok ban would not only prevent the app from being downloaded but also likely block existing users from seeing videos. The app wouldn't continue operating in the US the way "Fortnite" did, for example, when Apple removed the game from its app store amid a dispute between the companies.
"This is not a dispute between two private parties," G.S. Hans, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School, told Business Insider. "This is a dispute between a private party and the government, and the government can pretty easily legally prevent a company from operating."
TikTok filed a legal challenge against the divest-or-ban law in May. The bill asked its China-based owner, ByteDance, to separate itself from the US version of TikTok within nine months or be forced to stop operating in the US. The company lost its case in the DC Circuit last month, and it's now asking the Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to pause its divestment deadline.
During oral arguments, the company pushed back on the idea that it could divest the US version of TikTok from the rest of the company. Francisco described that process as "extraordinarily difficult" over any timeline.
The bride says she thought the ceremony was just a social media prank.
Kenji Lau/Getty Images
A couple in Australia had their marriage annulled after the bride said she didn't genuinely consent.
The woman said she believed the ceremony was a "prank" being filmed for Instagram.
A judge ruled in her favor, saying it was likely the applicant believed she was just acting.
A couple in Australia had their marriage annulled after the bride testified in court that she thought the ceremony was part of a "prank" video orchestrated by the groom for social media clout.
In a family court judgment from October, which was made public this month, a judge declared the couple's December 2023 marriage void.
The bride, 24, filed for the annulment in May 2024, arguing that the marriage to the groom, in his 30s, was a sham because she did not offer real consent.
She said she thought she was merely playing the role of a bride for a video that the groom, a social media influencer with over 17,000 followers, would post on Instagram.
The couple, both originally from the same country, met on a dating platform in September 2023.
For legal reasons, their identities cannot be published.
In her affidavit, the bride said that after a brief period of dating, the groom invited her to Sydney in December 2023 to attend a "white party," instructing her to wear a white dress.
Upon arriving at the venue, she said she was "shocked" to find out for the first time that he had "organized a wedding for us."
She said she felt uncomfortable and told the groom she was leaving. However, she testified that she did not leave, and instead called a friend for advice.
The bride said the groom had told her it was a "simple prank" and that her friend assured her that she could not legally marry without a notice of intention to marry being filed.
During cross-examination, the bride testified: "He pulled me aside, and he told me that he'd organizing a prank wedding for his social media, to be precise, Instagram, because he wants to boost his content and wants to start monetizing his Instagram page."
Video evidence presented in court showed the celebrant leading the couple through their vows. The judge said that nothing in the words used by the bride "revealed hesitation or uncertainty."
"We had to act," she said in cross-examination, "to make it look real."
The couple got engaged 2 days earlier
In his affidavit, the groom disputed the bride's account, claiming the ceremony was legitimate and resulted in a valid marriage.
He said the bride had accepted his marriage proposal, which she did not deny.
However, she said that while she did eventually intend to marry him, she didn't expect to get married so soon after the proposal — just two days later.
In her affidavit, the bride said her culture would require either her parents to be present or to grant permission beforehand.
The judge wrote, "In my view, it beggars belief that a couple would become engaged in late December then married two days later."
The judge added that a wedding celebrant had been retained over a month before the groom proposed, a notice of intention to marry had been filed in November, and the bride didn't have a single friend or family member present.
The bride said she only found out the marriage was real in February last year when the groom, who was applying for refugee status, asked to be put as a dependent on her application for permanent residency.
In concluding remarks, the judge wrote: "On the balance of probabilities, in my view it is more probable than not that the applicant believed she was acting in a social media event on the day of the alleged ceremony, rather than freely participating at a legally sanctioned wedding ceremony."
The problem unleashed a flurry of criticism, including from President-elect Donald Trump. He accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of refusing to sign a "water restoration declaration" that would have allowed water from northern California to flow into the areas burning in Los Angeles.
"He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn't work!), but didn't care about the people of California," Trump wrote on January 8 on his social media platform.
But the reasons the water ran out were about local infrastructure, California officials and water policy experts told Business Insider. They also refuted the existence of a "water restoration declaration" and said Trump used the delta smelt as a scapegoat for a separate — and much more complex — debate over water allocations from a watershed in northern California.
A spokesperson for Newsom called Trump's claims "pure fiction," and accused Trump of politicizing the disaster. A spokesperson for Trump's transition team pointed to a plan his administration developed in 2019 directing water to the Central Valley and Southern California. But a Newsom spokesperson and California water policy experts said that plan is unrelated to water in fire hydrants in LA.
Janisse Quiñones, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said water demand was four times higher than usual for 15 hours straight as firefighters rushed to put out the flames. That depleted three 1 million gallon water tanks in Pacific Palisades between the afternoon of January 7 and early morning of January 8.
"Those tanks help with the pressure on the fire hydrants and the hills of Palisades," Quiñones said Wednesday during a press conference. She explained that without enough pressure in the system, more water couldn't be pumped uphill into the tanks from a network of underground pipes and aqueducts, leaving hydrants dry. Officials couldn't refill the tanks fast enough as flames engulfed entire neighborhoods.
Fire hydrants ran dry because of infrastructure
The problem stemmed from depleted water tanks in the hills of Pacific Palisades on January 7 and 8.
Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank that tracks water use and storage data in California, characterized it as an "infrastructure bottleneck."
"Water flows from the reservoirs into this very complicated network of pipes, pumps, and tanks that stretch all over LA. It's really like an electrical grid," Mount said. "Before the fire, the system was full, but then was drained."
Mount echoed LA officials, who said there wasn't enough pressure in the system to pump water into tanks in the hills of Pacific Palisades. Firefighters were stretched thin trying to put out the flames, unable to refill the tanks from which water flows down to homes and fire hydrants.
"We had crews trying to mitigate this, and they had to evacuate," Quiñones said during the press conference. "We're fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging."
Newsom on January 8 said up to 140 additional water tender truckers were deployed to assist in fighting the Eaton and Palisades fires.
At a January 9 briefing, LA Mayor Karen Bass said fire hydrants aren't constructed to handle such massive devastation. The water shortage was compounded by the fact that planes couldn't perform water drops from the air because of the high-speed Santa Ana winds.
"That was the reason that the devastation was so bad," Bass said. "The unprecedented wind, the strength of the wind, and the fact that the air support could not go."
There is no water shortage in southern California
Trump accused Newsom of causing a water shortage around LA. But southern California has plenty of water, despite the issues with fire hydrants, sources told BI.
The reservoirs in southern California are full, Mount said. And as of January 10 the Castaic Lake reservoir — the largest State Water Project reservoir in Southern California — was at 77% of its total capacity, per the California Department of Water Resources.
Mount said this was due to two years of record rainfall and snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range, which feeds many reservoirs that serve southern Californians.
Mike McNutt, a spokesman for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District that serves 75,000 people in northwest LA — including in Palisades — told CalMatters on January 8 that the water supply was "looking pretty solid."
What does the delta smelt have to do with this?
A spokesperson for Newsom said Trump "conflated two entirely unrelated things: the conveyance of water to Southern California and supply from local storage." The spokesperson added that there was no "water restoration declaration."
Mount agreed, as did Mark Gold, the Natural Resources Defense Council's water scarcity director and a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
"There is no connection between the delta smelt and the water challenges of fighting a fire in Southern California," Mount said.
Mount said Trump may have been referring to a separate debate over how to allocate water exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — where water in northern California flows into the San Francisco Bay — to both agriculture and urban areas in the southern half of the state, including Los Angeles.
In December, the Biden administration and California officials finalized a plan that aimed to strike a balance among farmers, urban residents, and depleted fish populations including the delta smelt, CalMatters reported. The new regulations replaced those finalized during Trump's first term, which were litigated by Newsom's administration over concerns that the delta smelt, salmon, and steelhead trout would be pushed to extinction.
While Los Angeles does import water from the Bay Delta through the State Water Project, Gold reiterated there are no shortages in southern California.
The region also gets water from the eastern Sierra Nevada through the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the Colorado River, and groundwater.
"The scapegoat for Trump has been the delta smelt because it's not exactly charismatic megafauna," Gold said, noting that endangered and threatened salmon, trout, and other fish are at risk.
Were you impacted by the Los Angeles fires and want to share your story? Email this reporter: Catherine Boudreau [email protected]
Xocean's uncrewed ships offer low-carbon ocean data for offshore wind and hydrography.
The Irish startup has secured $119 million to expand its services.
Check out the 10-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funding.
Xocean, which offers data on the ocean to offshore wind and hydrography operations, has secured $119 million to expand.
The Irish startup, launched in 2017, has developed remotely controlled uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) with built-in sensors that can capture geophysical ocean data.
Users monitor and control the USVs through the startup's CyberDeck cloud platform, which also analyzes the quality of the data being collected. This data can give insights into seafloor topography and the sediments that make up the ocean floor.
Xocean's clients include BP, Shell, and SSE Renewables.
"We are providing this service for many of the world's largest energy companies, supporting the development of clean, renewable energy globally," founder and CEO James Ives said in a statement announcing the $119 million investment.
The transition to cleaner energy has been a central topic of discussion as companies race to find renewable sources of energy — such as wind and nuclear — to power the AI boom.
The startup partnered with climate investment firm S2G Ventures to structure the $119 million round, which was backed by S2G, Climate Investment, and Morgan Stanley's 1GT climate fund, among others.
The company said it would use the capital injection to expand its geographical footprint and accelerate product innovation.
Check out the 10-slide pitch deck used to secure the fresh funding.
Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson underwent surgery Thursday after tearing his Achilles again, and his status for the 2025 season is now in jeopardy, sources tell ESPN.
The OnePlus 12 was the surprise package of 2024, putting more pressure on the OnePlus 13 to bring something new to the table. How do these devices stack up?
A new leak suggests that the Galaxy S25 will once again include an S Pen but will not have Bluetooth compatibility. The decision could be a cost-cutting measure, but it surely won’t be received well by some.
At CES 2025, MacPaw unveiled a new version of CleanMyMac for small and medium businesses. You interact with it differently than traditional CleanMyMac, but you still get the same suite of tools to help maintain your Mac. CleanMyMac Business focuses on affordability, ease, and transparency.
Benjamin Byron Davis speaks with GLHF about his portrayal of Rupert Thorne in Creature Commandos and his ambitions for playing more DC villains in the future.
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Image: Godox
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Image: Godox
