Terror In New Orleans

Good Thursday morning and Happy New Year! You can now wear the computer that powered the Apollo missions on your wrist. Have a great day.

In Today’s Brief

• Puerto Rico: Major blackout

• Kenya: Space junk

• Trump: D.C. rally

• Abu Dhabi: Sovereign wealth

• College football: Playoff winners

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Street horror

At least 15 people died after a pickup truck plowed through a New Orleans crowd on New Year's Day in an apparent terrorist attack.

• What happened: Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran born in Texas, drove his rented vehicle into partiers on Bourbon Street. He then got out of the truck and opened fire before being killed by police. Fifteen people were killed and dozens were injured, including two cops. Police also found several improvised explosive devices in the truck and elsewhere in the French Quarter.

• Apparent motive: Jabbar, who reportedly worked for consulting firm Deloitte, appears to have been an ISIS sympathizer. The terrorist group's flag was attached to the truck. Jabbar posted videos on social media discussing his divorce and a desire to kill family members before opting for the attack. 

• More details: The FBI raided Jabbar's Houston home and other locations yesterday; the bureau does not believe he acted alone. New Orleans police reportedly have footage showing several people placing bombs. Security bollards in the area were not operational because they are being replaced ahead of next month's Super Bowl in the city; Jabbar drove around a police car serving as a temporary barricade. The Sugar Bowl -- a College Football Playoff at the Superdome game between Georgia and Notre Dame -- was postponed until today following the attack.

• Take note: A Tesla Cybertruck that contained fireworks and fuel exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning, killing the driver. Seven people in the area suffered minor injuries. The FBI is probing whether the incidents are linked; the car was rented on the same service as the New Orleans truck.

2) Grand theft

A burglar stole over $13M in goods from an English mansion.

• The news: Police said an intruder entered a London estate in early December. He made off with cash, designer handbags and jewelry, with the latter making up the bulk of the heist's value.

• The crime: Surveillance footage obtained by the BBC shows the man climbed atop the home's roof and entered through a second-floor bathroom window via a concrete gutter. He managed to move through the occupied house without being detected, including a near-miss in a hallway with a housekeeper. He then exited the home in the same way after his first escape route appeared to fail; the window he used was also his second choice, based on the footage.

• Big picture: Metropolitan Police believe the burglar is a white man in his late 20s or early 30s who appears to have been a professional burglar. He may have been armed. The mansion's owner, Hong Kong socialite Shafira Huang, was not home. A reward of up to $1.9M is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction between cops and Huang's family.

3) Last gasp

Nippon Steel is throwing a hail mary to save its proposed U.S. Steel acquisition.

• What happened: The Japanese steelmaker has offered to give the federal government veto power over any future cuts to U.S. Steel's production capacity. The pitch is part of its effort to convince President Biden to sign off on a $15B takeover plan and the latest pledge made by Nippon Steel to secure approval.

• Catch up: Nippon Steel struck a deal earlier this year to buy U.S. Steel, the iconic-but-diminished Pittsburgh-based steelmaker. Steelworkers and local officials support the takeover. But union officials and politicians on both sides of the aisle, including President-elect Donald Trump and Biden, oppose it on economic and national security grounds.

• Big picture: The ball is in Biden's court. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States referred the tie-up to him after failing to make a recommendation for approval or denial. The president has until Jan. 7 to sign off or reject the deal; it would proceed without any action. Trump has already said he will block it.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

• Most Puerto Ricans have electricity back after a massive New Year's Eve blackout. The island territory has dealt with a faulty power grid and frequent outages for years (More)

• Three people died in a fireworks explosion in Hawaii. Dozens of people were injured; the incident occurred when a lit aerial cake flew into unlit fuses at a party in Honolulu (More)

• An FBI raid in Virginia uncovered 150 pipe bombs, one of the biggest busts in bureau history. A man is being held indefinitely in connection with the sweep; he allegedly used a photo of President Biden for shooting practice (More)

World News

• Over 1K pounds of space debris crashed into a village in Kenya. Officials believe a rocket designed to burn up or land in an uninhabited area instead came down over the southern part of the African nation; there were no reported injuries (More)

• A gunman in Montenegro killed at least 10 people, including two children. The shooting spree began at a restaurant in Cetinje; the assailant died by suicide after being surrounded by police and reportedly killed his own family members (More)

• Hamas may currently have as many as 23K fighters inside the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media reports. Experts believe the terrorist organization had far more personnel inside the enclave than Israel's government projected before the Oct. 7, 2023 attack (More)

Political News

• President-elect Trump will hold a Jan. 19 rally in Washington, a day before his inauguration. He also plans to attend late President Jimmy Carter's state funeral on Jan. 9 (More | More)

• House Republicans proposed a rules package that would make it harder to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. But the Louisianan still needs to win re-election tomorrow; there is some doubt he has the votes despite Trump's support (More)

• Former Virginia GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman is exploring a statewide run as an independent. The businessman and Trump critic said conflicts of interest could preclude a gubernatorial run, but the state elects its lieutenant governor separately (More)

Business & Markets

• Major indexes closed lower on Tuesday to wrap up 2024. The Nasdaq was down over 175 points (Dow -0.07%, Nasdaq -0.90%, S&P 500 -0.43%).

• Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co. made $29B in deals last year, becoming the world's most active sovereign wealth fund. It overtook Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which deployed roughly $20B (More)

• Russian gas has stopped flowing to the European Union after decades. The last remaining pipeline deal going through Ukrainian land has expired, although a Black Sea pipeline is still active into Hungary; Kremlin exports to the continent have fallen dramatically in recent years (More)

Entertainment & Sports

• Ohio State, Penn State and Texas won in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal round. Georgia and Notre Dame will meet in today's delayed Sugar Bowl for the final semifinal round berth; the winner will face the Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl while the other teams meet in the Sugar Bowl (More)

• It Ends With Us actor/director Justin Baldoni and others are suing The New York Times for $250M. The lawsuit claims libel related to the newspaper's report on an alleged public relations smear campaign against actress Blake Lively, who has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in New York state (More)

• Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley will not play in Week 18 with the team's playoff seed clinched. The running back will end his season 101 yards shy of the NFL's single-season rushing yards record (More)

Quick Hitters

• Feel Good: One Heartland, a Minnesota camp for kids affected by or living with HIV/AIDS, is for sale. The reason is very good: The number of campers has dramatically dwindled due to strides in antiretroviral medicine; the U.S. perinatal transmission rate is under 1%.

• Take Note: Not everyone is a frequent flyer. Here is a rundown of unspoken airplane etiquette for people who do not take to the friendly skies often.

• Go Deep: Norovirus cases are rising, but some people are immune to the resilient pathogen. Scientists hope these folks can be the key to a vaccine against the nasty bug that impacts almost 700M people worldwide each year.

• New Frontier: A British ocean exploration organization plans to have divers live inside a modular underwater habitat for short stretches this year. The group believes humans could permanently live in the ocean as soon as 2030 if all goes well.

• Life Hack: Many people resolve to read more in the new year. Here are some tips on how to follow through and aim for 100 books in 2025.

Watch This

How Japan built the world’s strongest tower.

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Looking Ahead …

Here is a look at the most anticipated films of 2025, including the latest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, a slew of superhero movies and projected Academy Awards contenders. 

Question of the Day

Tuesday’s results:

Who would be your 2024 Person of the Year pick?

• Donald Trump (47%)

• Taylor Swift (19%)

• Other (10%)*

• Kate Middleton (9%)

• Elon Musk (8%)

• Joe Rogan (7%)

* — The late Jimmy Carter, Caitlin Clark and Kamala Harris all got multiple votes