It turns out that Roborock isn’t the only company that brought a robot vacuum with a mechanical arm to CES 2025. Rival company Dreame, which unveiled its stair-climbing robot vacuum earlier in the week, is also working on a robot vacuum with an arm for picking up objects.
The device is still a prototype, according to the company, but the as yet unnamed robo vac was on full display at Dreame’s CES booth. Considering it’s still a prototype, the actual arm looked far more substantial compared to the one on Roborock’s Saros Z70. It was much thicker and had a bigger “claw” that looked like it might be able to pick up slightly heavier objects. (Roborock says its vac can pick up object that weigh up to 300 grams.)
Unfortunately, Dreame wasn’t showing it actually grab anything, but I was able to watch the arm extend and retract several times. It appeared to be on a similar device as the X50 as the prototype vacuum also rocked up onto “legs,” much like Dreame’s stair-stepping X50.
A Dreame rep at the booth told me that the company has been working on the prototype for a while, but decided to accelerate its plans for the vacuum at CES. After a quick glance up, I knew exactly what he was referring to: Dreame’s booth is positioned directly across from Roborock, which was displaying a massive replica of its arm-wielding Saros Z70 on top of its booth.
Maybe next year we’ll see the two robot vacuum arms wrestle.
The last time that Speaker Mike Johnson faced a threat to his speakership, the Democrats rescued him to spare the country from chaos, but if Johnson doesn’t have the votes from the Republicans to be elected speaker, the Democrats aren’t going to help.
When CNN’s Jim Acosta asked Rep. Connolly if Democrats would save Johnson, he answered:
I don’t speak for the Democratic Caucus, but I do speak for myself, and I can tell you definitively there is no chance of that. Zero. Uh, we’re voting for Hakeem Jeffries. And, and, by the way, that, Jim, if I can, If there are a lot of people who vote present on the Republican side, the risk for them, those votes don’t count toward the majority.
And that, that, we have 215 sure votes for Hakeem Jeffries. If enough Republicans vote present, we could actually elect Hakeem Jeffries, not Mike Johnson, as Speaker.
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It is not a coincidence that Connolly used the same language as Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said when asked about saving Johnson, “ There will be no Democrats available to save him, or the extreme MAGA Republicans from themselves based on the breaching of a bipartisan agreement that reflected priorities that were good for the American people. We’re gonna have to continue to work on several of those as we move forward, including plusing up resources for community health centers, which is a bipartisan priority that Republicans walked away from.”
The Johnson speaker election isn’t likely to turn into the same debacle that Kevin McCarthy unleashed when he ran for speaker, but Democrats have a much different attitude than they did in the last Congress.
If Mike Johnson ends up in deep waters, Democrats aren’t going to toss him a life preserver.
What do you think about Democrats refusing to help Mike Johnson? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Fleeing residents panicked and abandoned their cars after they got stuck in traffic.
On Sunset Blvd. Abandoned cars are being bulldozed out of the way to make room for emergency vehicles, @KTLA reports. There was a mass panic as the fire approached I’m told pic.twitter.com/6Ds2QHl0PJ
The public articulation by Donald Trump of a new desired target for NATO allies to spend 5% of national income on defence will surely plunge governments across Europe into crisis mode – not least here in the UK.
Britain presents itself to the world and in particular to the United States as the biggest defence spender in Europe and NATO’smost powerful European military.
Yet Sir Keir Starmer has not even managed to set out a timeline for what he describes as a “path to 2.5%” of GDP being invested in his armed forces, up from just over 2% today.
If the prime minister merely sticks to this pledge, he risks being viewed by the new administration as woefully unambitious and not credible on defence.
Then there is the extraordinary threat by Mr Trump to seize Greenland by force if necessary, even though this valuable piece of territory belongs to a fellow NATO ally in the form of Denmark.
The move – were it to happen – would demonstrate the limitations of the alliance’s Article 5 founding principle.
It is supposed to guarantee that all allies would come to the defence of any member state which is under armed attack.
But what about if the aggressor is also meant to be an ally?
The president-elect also appeared to dash any hope of Ukraine being offered membership to the alliance anytime soon – a core request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Instead, Mr Trump sounded sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s absolute opposition to such a move.
He said he would meet the Russian president after taking office – reiterating a promise to end the war in Ukraine, though again without spelling out how.
The outbursts came in a lengthy press conference on Tuesday that marked the starting shot in what could be a make-or-break test for NATO – an alliance of transatlantic friends that rose from the ashes of the Second World War.
European members of NATO, as well as Canada, already took a battering the last time Mr Trump was in the White House – and rightly so.
The US had for far too long largely bankrolled the security of Europe, while the majority of its allies – including the UK – reaped the so-called “peace dividend” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, swapping expenditure on defence for peacetime priorities such as economic growth, healthcare and education.
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From 2019: Was this the most awkward NATO summit ever?
Mr Trump made clear during his first term his displeasure about what he saw as Washington being ripped off and vowed to make Europe take its fair share of the burden.
He even warned member states that the US would not come to the aid of an ally that was not hitting at the very least a minimum NATO spending targeting of 2% of GDP – something they had previously pledged to do by 2024 but were slow to deliver on.
Such language electrified allies in a way that even Putin’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and attacks in the east of the country, had not.
Yet, with the threat from Russia growing in the wake of its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, coupled with conflict in the Middle East and the challenge posed by China, it has become clear that this heightened level of expenditure by allies was still far short of what is required to rebuild militaries across Europe that have been hollowed out over decades.
Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, set the stage for what is expected to be another push to ramp up investment when he delivered a landmark speech last month in which he called on allies to return to a “war mindset” and “turbocharge” defence spending.
He said this was to counter growing threats, but observers said it was also a pre-emptive response to the anticipated demands of the next Trump administration.
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2:41
‘Ukraine needs more arms, less talking’
Either way, it poses a huge challenge for all allies, in particular for Sir Keir Starmer.
He and Rachel Reeves face a choice: change course when it comes to their top priorities of economic growth, hospital waiting lists and new housing and instead invest more in defence or defy what will doubtless be growing demands from the United States to spend billions of pounds more on the UK armed forces – and maybe even leave the country in a position whereby the US would not come to its aid if attacked.
A woman cries as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
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More than 30,000 people in Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate as the Palisades Fire, one of several wildfires that broke out on Tuesday morning, blazed through the Pacific Palisades community.
Fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, the fire has spread over more than 1,200 acres and threatened 13,000 structures; California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during an afternoon press conference that he’s seen already seen many of them them destroyed. The fire remains uncontained.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze on foot in the hillsides of the Santa Monica Mountains where the fire originally broke out, as well as by plane, dropping water and flame retardant. In the Pacific Palisades community, thousands of people have scrambled to escape the flames. According to LAist, video footage showed drivers on the Pacific Coast Highway fleeing their cars to the ocean, at the behest of officers.
Conditions are changing quickly, as evacuation areas shift alongside the fire. Officials warn that the Santa Ana winds are only going to get worse on Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, reaching 100 mph or more. The National Weather Service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation.”
“Very strong gusts and low relative humidity will allow any fires that develop to spread VERY rapidly,” the agency added. On Wednesday, that’s predicted to affect Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
A lone sunbather sits and watches a large plume of smoke from a wildfire rise over the Pacific Palisades, in Santa Monica, Calif..
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A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire around a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles .
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Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Calif.
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The Palisades Fire burns a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
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More than 200 acres (80 hectares) was burning in Pacific Palisades, a upscale spot with multi-million dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains, shuttering a key highway and blanketing the area with thick smoke.
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People flee from the advancing Palisades Fire, by car and on foot, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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A person flees from an advancing wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Firefighters stage in front of the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Bike riders make their way along the coast as large dark plume of smoke passes over the beach from a wildfire from Pacific Palisades, from Santa Monica, Calif.
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Firefighters work as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California.
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The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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A residence burns as a firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Flames rise as the Palisades Fire advances on homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Firefighters protect structures from the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades as seen from Santa Monica, California.
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A fast-moving brushfire in a Los Angeles suburb burned buildings and sparked evacuations Tuesday as “life threatening” winds whipped the region.
The Eaton fire has burned more than 400 acres and prompted evacuations in the area west of the Eaton Canyon Golf Course, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Officials also told people living on these streets to evacuate immediately: Kinneloa Canyon Road, Outpost Lane, Glen Springs Road, Coolidge Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, Veranada Avenue, Kinclair Drive, Fox Ridge Drive, Canyon Close Road, Grand Oaks Avenue and areas east of Altadena Drive, north of New York Drive and west of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue.
Pasadena spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said the blaze broke out in the foothills above Altadena around 6:28 p.m., adding that she did not know the exact location of its origin.
Pasadena ordered mandatory evacuations “for the area north of New York Drive, east of Altadena Drive, and west of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue. If you are in the evacuation area, please take all necessary items with you to be prepared to leave for an extended period of time.”
The fire comes amid intense winds that sparked a destructive fire in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday.
Fire officials say the winds are expected to intensify overnight.
Regularly restarting your iPhone clears temporary files, refreshes system processes, and enhances security — and you can automate it all with the Shortcuts app.
A smooth-running iPhone doesn’t happen by accident — it requires some care, like regular reboots to clear temporary files and refresh system processes.
One easy yet often overlooked way to boost iPhone performance is through regular reboots. Automating this process saves time and ensures your device stays efficient and responsive.
For example, apps frequently store temporary data, and a restart clears out this clutter, allowing your iPhone to run more efficiently.
Another advantage of frequent reboots is security. Restarting your device refreshes system processes, which can reduce the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited.
While Apple’s security measures are robust, a rebooting automation adds an extra layer of protection by interrupting any potential malicious activity that might rely on an extended session.
Additionally, automated reboots can address minor glitches like app crashes, sluggish performance, or connectivity hiccups. These issues often resolve after a restart, saving you from the frustration of troubleshooting on your own.
Automation takes it a step further by ensuring these benefits happen without requiring manual intervention, allowing you to focus on enjoying your device rather than managing its maintenance.
Apple’s Shortcuts app simplifies this process. You can schedule reboots at your preferred times to ensure your iPhone stays in optimal condition with minimal effort.
Boost iPhone performance with Shortcuts
While iOS requires manual confirmation for shutdowns, automation still saves effort. Here’s how to set it up.
Open the Shortcuts app.
Tap Automation , then Create Personal Automation .
Choose a trigger, such as Time of Day to specify when the action should run.
Tap + and search for Shut Down.
Choose Restart and then and select Done.
How to automate iPhone reboots
When the scheduled time arrives, you’ll receive a prompt to confirm the shutdown. Afterward, you’ll need to manually power the device back on to complete the process.
You can also change the Shut Down action to turn off your iPhone instead of rebooting. Then, schedule the shutdown at a time that works for you and turn your device back on manually.
This way, you still get the benefits of a clean restart, but it’s not as automated. Another important thing is timing.
Don’t schedule reboots during important activities like alarms, meetings, or presentations, because the process might mess up your work. Try to schedule reboots during times when you’re not doing anything important, like late at night or early in the morning.
Additionally, Focus modes persist even after restarts, ensuring that your custom notification preferences and app restrictions remain intact without the need for reconfiguration.
Keep your automation simple. Don’t pile too many actions into a single shortcut. That way, you’re less likely to make mistakes. And a well-thought-out reboot schedule will keep your device running smoothly and hassle-free.
A few days later, it was revealed that Corey Anderson had agreed to step in to fill the void, while putting an end to their rivalry once and for all in what would have been a trilogy fight. A week later, however, that fight was cancelled after Anderson alleged that Nemkov refused to fight him because he was seeking to book a fight against lesser competition.
Whether or not Johnson — a natural heavyweight — is an easier fight for Nemkov is open for interpretation. Johnson is coming off a technical knockout (TKO) loss at the hands of Denis Goltsov at PFL 7 earlier this year, snapping his three-fight win streak. Over his last seven fights, the hard-hitting big man is 3-4.
After vacating his light heavyweight title in order to go back to the 265-pound division, Nemkov went on to defeat Bruno Cappelozza to win the “PFL vs. Bellator Champion of Champions” Super Belt earlier this year, improving his unbeaten win streak to thirteen straight fights. As for Anderson, there is no word if he will remain on the card to face a different opponent
“Road to Dubai” will feature a lightweight title fight as division king, Usman Nurmagomedov, will defend his title against rising sensation, Paul Hughes. The event is the first for PFL after the promotion signed a historic multi-year partnership between the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and the Dubai Sports Council (DSC).
Former President Jimmy Carter, the longest-living U.S. president at 100 years old, passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2o24. The Carter Center confirmed he died in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. The late politician will lie in state at the Capitol, with his funeral set to take place on Thursday, January 9, 2025.
Prior to his death, he had laid his wife, Rosalynn Carter, to rest on November 28, 2023. Rosalyn’s memorial service came nine months after it was announced that the former president would receive hospice care in February. Jimmy “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention” after a series of short hospital stays, according to a statement from The Carter Center.
Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn had four children. (Everett Collection)
Rosalyn’s passing was announced shortly after she began hospice care herself earlier in November, following a dementia diagnosis. Following her death, the former president paid tribute to her in a statement shared by the Carter Center. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” he said. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
The former Georgia senator had an incredible career as a humanitarian following his four years in the White House from 1977 to 1981. He became synonymous with Habitat for Humanity and worked tirelessly as an ambassador to impoverished countries, earning himself the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
“When I was president of the most powerful and influential nation on earth, I had more total influence over peace and progress and things like that,” Jimmy said in a 2017 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “But the last 35 years since I’ve left the White House has been the most challenging and interesting and adventurous and unpredictable and gratifying times of my life. … And the things that I tried and didn’t quite accomplish because of change in circumstances and so forth. But, I did the best I could. As my vice president said, ‘We told the truth, we obeyed the law and we kept the peace.’”
Along with his incredible career, Carter had an extremely successful personal life. He married his childhood sweetheart, Rosalyn Smith, on July 7, 1946 and they welcomed four wonderful children. In a 2015 interview with CNN, the former politician said his wife and children are “the foundation for my entire enjoyment of life.” He added, “We have a big family now, we have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all. So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.”
Learn more about Carter’s kids, below.
Jack Carter
Jack Carter took a swing at politics in 2006. (Ira Schwarz/AP/Shutterstock)
The Carter’s eldest child, son Jack Carter, was born on July 3, 1947 at Portsmouth, Virginia during his father’s naval service, according toThe Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. After attending Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Georgia Southwestern, Jack joined the Navy. He returned to Georgia in 1971, where he married Judy Langford, and they had two children: Jason James born August 7, 1975 and Sarah Rosemary born on December 19, 1978.
Jack then earned a degree in nuclear physics at Georgia Tech and a law degree at the University of Georgia. However, he entered the political arena in 2006, when he ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada before losing to the Republican incumbent.
Jack remarried in 1992, and his second wife, Elizabeth Brasfield, had two children from a previous relationship: John Chuldenko and Sarah Reynold, per Country Living.
James ‘Chip’ Carter
Chip Carter married Caron Griffin in 1973. (ANL/Shutterstock)
Born April 12, 1950, in Honolulu, Hawaii, James “Chip” Carter is the second child of Jimmy and Roselyn. He is an attorney and served as a state senator in Georgia from 1995 to 1999.
On June 23, 1973, Chip married Caron Griffin, whom he had met while working on his father’s campaign for Georgia governor, per People. They welcomed a son named James Earl Carter IV on Feb. 25, 1977. After Chip and Caron split in 1979, Chip married Ginger Hodges and had a daughter named Margaret Alicia Carter with her on Sept. 23, 1987. However, that marriage ended in divorce in 2001, and Chip would go on to marry his third wife, Becky Payne.
Chip Carter speaks at his mother’s memorial service. (Brynn Anderson/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Following his mother’s death, Chip released his own statement, honoring the former first lady. “Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today,” he said.
Chip also confirmed his father’s death on Dec. 29 in a statement, “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love. My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
Donnel ‘Jeff’ Carter
Jeff Carter had three sons with his wife Annette. (AP/Shutterstock)
Donnel “Jeff” Carter was born on August 18, 1952, in New London, Connecticut. He graduated from George Washington University in 1978 with a geography degree and a specialty “in computer cartography,” per Time. Jeff and his former professor co-founded the company Computer Mapping Consultants the same year of his graduation.
He and his wife, Annette Jene Davis, welcomed three sons together: Joshua, Jeremy, and James. Sadly, Jeremy passed away at the age of 28 in 2015. He was found unresponsive after taking a nap at his home and later died in a hospital, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Annette died on Sept. 19, 2021, at age 68.
Amy Lynn Carter
Amy Carter was only 10 when her family moved into the White House. (Everett Collection)
The youngest child and only daughter of Jimmy and Rosalynn, Amy Carter, arrived on October 19, 1967, in Plains, Georgia. She was only 10 years old when her family moved into the White House. She became known for her political activism during her 20s. Amy then went on to get her bachelor’s degree from the Memphis College of Art in 1991. Four years later, Amy illustrated her father’s children’s book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer.
She would go on to get her master’s in art history from Tulane University in 1996. That same year, Amy married computer consultant James Wentzel and the couple welcomed son Hugo in July 1999.
James Corden has denied that he purposely stole a joke that Ricky Gervais had made in 2018 first. Corden, 44 years old, tweeted on Tuesday that he had “inadvertently told a wonderful Ricky Gervais joke on the program last night, obviously not knowing it was from him.” Because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke, it’s hilarious. You can view every one of Ricky’s entertaining specials on Netflix.
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Corden joked during Monday’s episode of The Late Late Show about Elon Musk’s comparison of Twitter to a town square when he purchased the company. However, this is not the case since residents of the town will not say, “I don’t want to learn the guitar!” when they see a sign in the town square that advertises the availability of guitar tuition if someone hangs the poster there. I’d love to learn how to play the piano!
He continued by saying, Well, then you weren’t the target audience for that sign. It was intended for another individual! So you don’t have to let all this get you in a rage.
In the wake of the show’s airing, internet users were eager to point out that his remark was strikingly similar to a joke from Ricky Gervais’s 2018 Netflix special, Humanity.
According to CNN, Ricky Gervais compared it to entering a town square as he spoke in the special. And there’s a signup sheet for guitar instruction, so you head over there. However, I have absolutely no interest in taking guitar lessons.
When accusations surfaced on Twitter that Corden had stolen a comedy piece from Ricky Gervais, the star of The Office, who is 61 years old, stated that he did not believe Corden willfully took the joke.
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No. ‘I suppose one of the writers came up with it for him,’ Gervais tweeted on Tuesday, adding that he had doubts that the comedian would intentionally duplicate such a well-known stand-up routine word for word like that. After further investigation, Corden admitted that he had paraphrased Gervais’ joke without realizing it.
