SAN FRANCISCO — Power was restored Sunday morning to the bulk of the 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco impacted by a massive outage on Saturday that caused major disruptions in the city.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s outage map showed more than 20,000 customers still remained without electricity as of 5 a.m. PST, while crews worked to fully restore service.
The outage, which occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday, left a large swath of the northern part of the city without power that began to grow in size. At its peak, the outage represented roughly one-third of the utility company’s customers in the city.
Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations on Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were “significant transit disruptions” happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops. Waymo, the operator of driverless ride-hailing vehicles, suspended its services. At least one video posted on social media appeared to show a Waymo vehicle stopped in the middle of an intersection.
Some of the blackouts were caused by a fire that broke out inside a PG&E substation at 8th and Mission streets, fire officials posted on X at about 3:15 p.m. The full cause remained under investigation.
At about 4 p.m.., PG&E posted on X that it had stabilized the grid and no further outages were expected.
The Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In) has issued an advisory for WhatsApp users warning them of a ‘device-linking’ feature that can allow attackers to take ‘complete’ control of their account. The advisory, accessed by news agency PTI says that the vulnerability called ‘GhostPairing’ put users’ messages, photos, and videos on the web version at risk. “It has been reported that malicious actors are exploiting WhatsApp’s device-linking feature to hijack accounts using pairing codes without authentication requirement,” the cyber agency said in the advisory.“This newly identified cyber campaign called GhostPairing enable cyber criminals to take complete control of WhatsApp accounts without needing password or SIM swaps,” the advisory said.For those unaware, CERT-In is the national technology arm under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) to combat cyber attacks and guarding of the Indian Internet space.
The WhatsApp Scam That Gives Hackers Your Phone!
What is GhostPairing
GhostPairing is a type of WhatsApp attack where hackers secretly link their own device to a victim’s WhatsApp account, giving them almost full access without the victim noticing. The attack works by tricking users into entering their phone number on a fake website that looks like Facebook or WhatsApp.According to the advisory, the scam usually starts with a message such as “Hi, check this photo” that appears to come from a trusted contact. The message includes a link with a Facebook-style preview. When users click it, they are taken to a fake Facebook viewer page that asks them to “verify” to see the content. At this stage, attackers exploit WhatsApp’s “link device via phone number” feature by convincing users to enter their number. Once they do, the attacker’s browser becomes a hidden, trusted device — allowing them to take over the WhatsApp account.Once linked, attackers can read synced messages, receive new chats in real time, view photos, videos, and voice notes, and even send messages to the victim’s contacts and group chats.
How to stay safe
The advisory warns users not to click on suspicious links, even if they appear to come from known contacts, and to never enter their phone number on external websites claiming to be WhatsApp or Facebook.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
UK companies attracted a surge of interest from foreign buyers eager to capitalise on cheap valuations, driving British dealmaking in 2025 to a post-pandemic high, new data shows.
Overseas bidders agreed $142bn in takeovers of British companies over the past year, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. That marks a 74 per cent uptick from 2024.
The sharp rise in foreign takeovers outpaced a broader 20 per cent rise in UK mergers and acquisitions — which reached a total value of $367bn this year — to reach the highest levels since the pandemic-era boom.
“The UK stock market remains materially undervalued,” said Philip Noblet, head of UK & Ireland investment banking at Jefferies.
“The ratings are still poor to rival companies in the US, but also in Europe, so people keep coming . . . We’re going to see more strategic interest from overseas in 2026 and for bigger companies,” he added.
While the overall value of UK M&A rose 20 per cent, it was mainly driven by a rise in larger deals. The overall number of deals announced in the last year fell 16 per cent. One such headline deal was Anglo American’s $50bn merger with Canadian rival Teck Resources, having rebuffed repeated takeover attempts by Australia’s BHP.
The UK’s bumper year is in the context of a wider dealmaking frenzy, particularly in the US, where President Donald Trump’s deregulatory push has prompted a spate of megadeals topping $10bn.
Just over half of foreign acquisitions for UK companies involved an American buyer, far ahead of any other country, such as DoorDash’s £2.9bn acquisition of Deliveroo.
Private capital investors have been particularly eager bidders for UK assets, with top transactions for the year including the £5.7bn acquisition of Pension Insurance Corporation by the Apollo-backed European insurer Athora, and Advent’s $4.8bn deal to acquire a majority stake in a portfolio of Reckitt cleaning products.
One particularly popular strategy has been private equity takeovers of publicly listed companies; one reason why London has lost core constituents of its public markets.
Some London-listed groups such as the £4.8bn industrial group Spectris and the £2.7bn fund administrator JTC were acquired by private equity firms KKR and Permira respectively after competitive bidding processes.
The deals also highlighted how UK boards are pushing suitors for higher bids to compensate for their relatively lower valuations. KKR’s final offer for Spectris represented a close to 100 per cent premium compared to the company’s share before a bidding war broke out.
“UK boards have got more self-confidence [ . . . ] boards are likely to hold out on premia for takeover bids that are on average higher than has historically been the case,” said Murray Cox, a partner at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Other significant transactions in the past year include Santander’s £2.65bn acquisition of high street lender TSB.
“Where is M&A happening in the UK? It is in the products we have to sell, which is services; professional services, financial services,” said James Howe, co-head of European M&A at the law firm Simpson Thacher.
The surge of foreign takeovers for UK companies contrasts with domestic dealmaking, which plunged 54 per cent to about $44bn, the lowest level since 2016.
Domestic dealmakers have had to contend with economic uncertainty both overseas — driven by Trump’s widespread tariff plan — and the wait for the UK’s new budget in late November.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget drove taxes to an all-time high, but it was preceded by weeks of uncertainty that broadly forced dealmakers to sit on the sidelines.
There remains a large number of transactions still in the works: BP is in talks to sell its lubricants business to the infrastructure investor Stonepeak, and Comcast’s Sky is in talks to buy ITV’s television business.
Meanwhile, the private capital owners of UK wealth manager Evelyn Partners, and the UK’s two roadside recovery businesses AA and RAC are all exploring exits.
“You continue to have an economy whose performance is relatively muted and where GDP forecasts have been downgraded, so that creates a necessity for companies to find growth,” said Anthony Parsons, executive chair of investment banking and capital markets at Deutsche Bank. “Private equity continues to see the UK as a very fertile ground for investment.”
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Macro hedge funds are enjoying their best year since at least 2008, as huge swings in the price of currencies, commodities and bonds have provided fertile conditions for traders.
An index from data provider HFR tracking the returns of such funds — which aim to profit from economic trends by trading equities, bonds and commodities — was up 16 per cent at the end of November, putting the sector on course for its most profitable year in data stretching back to 2008.
Hedge funds such as Andrew Law’s Caxton and Chris Rokos’s RCM have enjoyed returns which were well into the double digits this year, according to figures seen by the FT.
Macro managers say sharp market moves, such as the drop in the dollar triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war, a sell-off in long-term bonds, and a relentless gold rally, have offered the most favourable backdrop for the sector in many years.
“There’s plenty to work with, which doesn’t make it easy to get right,” said Ken Tropin, the founder and chair of macro fund Graham Capital, who said the firm’s discretionary portfolio managers had made most of their returns trading the dollar, gold and the US government bond market. “But at least there’s opportunity.”
Tropin said these portfolio managers relied on so-called “tactical”, or short-term, trading strategies this year, so that they could move quickly in asset classes such as currencies which were volatile in 2025.
While that approach started before the Trump administration unveiled broad tariffs in April, Tropin added, “that was really the wake-up call for everybody”.
Macro funds made money both by shorting the dollar, but also by piling into emerging market currencies and bonds, which rallied as a weaker dollar allowed countries to lower interest rates and refinance their debt more cheaply.
“Every underlying asset class like commodities, FX and bonds had great opportunities this past year,” said an executive at a large European family office that invests in hedge funds. “There was the exuberance in gold and precious metals, the bear market in US dollar, and the divergence between the actions of central banks including the Bank of England and Federal Reserve.”
The strong returns extend a renaissance for the sector which struggled during the decade of very low interest rates and muted volatility that followed the global financial crisis of 2008-9.
“If you didn’t make money this year as a macro fund it will be difficult to explain,” said one hedge fund executive in the sector.
Some funds also profited from a sell-off in long-term bonds driven by worries over excessive government borrowing in big economies, by betting on a growing gap between short-term and long-term borrowing costs.
Caxton and Graham both made money from such “steepener” trades, while Caxton also profited from rallies in gold and copper, according to people familiar with the funds’ performances. Caxton’s Global, the firm’s main fund which manages $10bn, was up 14 per cent to December 5, according to an investor, while Caxton Macro, the $9bn fund run personally by Law, was up 18 per cent.
The Absolute Return and Multi-Alpha Opportunity funds at Graham were up 8 and 13 per cent respectively at the end of November, according to people familiar with the figures. Rokos made 17.5 per cent up to the end of November, according to another person who had seen the numbers.
Greg Coffey, the Australian hedge fund star once nicknamed the “Wizard of Oz”, has emerged as one of the biggest winners this year. The flagship fund at his firm Kirkoswald Capital has made 21 per cent by mid-December, according to people familiar with the figures.
Both Graham and Rokos snapped up UK government debt when long-term borrowing costs soared to their highest levels this century, profiting as gilts rallied and yields fell back, according to people familiar with the trades.
Brevan Howard had a more mixed performance. Its Master Fund was up just 0.4 per cent as of the end of November, while its multi-manager fund Alpha Strategies, which uses a variety of investment approaches, was up 7.2 per cent over the same period, according to people familiar with the returns.
Brevan, Rokos, Caxton and Kirkoswald all declined to comment.
Undated photo of some of the displays at the Lightopia event in Hillsboro, Ore.
Courtesy of the city of Hillsboro
Thousands of glittering holiday lights illuminate Gordon Faber Recreation Complex at Hillsboro’s Lightopia for the last time this year. The drive-thru holiday light display, one of the largest free displays in the Portland metro region, will be reimagined next year.
But until Dec. 28, residents can still enjoy the holiday magic in its current format.
Lightopia — located at the complex home to Hillsboro Stadium, Ron Tonkin Field and the under-construction future Hillsboro Hops stadium — is open to cars 5:30-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30-9 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The display will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
With no tickets or reservations required this year, visitors can simply show up and motor through the dazzling display of holiday lights.
To enter Lightopia, the city recommends traveling north onto Century Boulevard from Cornell Road. While the display layout has changed from previous years due to the stadium construction, the city emphasized it contains the same number of lights.
The display got its start in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when the city of Hillsboro was looking for ways to spread holiday cheer without spreading the virus.
According Hillsboro public information officer Cindy Dauer, an average of 20,000 people have gone through Lightopia each of the past five years.
While no plans have been announced for what the display will look like in coming years, the city says it will focus on “spreading the light across the City of Hillsboro, making it more accessible and enjoyable by all.”
“We believe the future remains bright for Lightopia,” Dauer said, “While we are working behind the scenes to determine what the next iteration will be, we can assure the community the lights are not going out.”
‘We’re glad to welcome and support Propair, a regional airline that, with its long operational history, understands those needs and values the opportunity to provide air service to the North Bay region’
Bryan Avery says the Propair Airline, which will start offering flights from Jack Garland Airport in North Bay to Toronto, is welcome addition, and some good business news for the airport in 2026.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for the region, with service to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport again, as well as an all-new connection with Rouyn-Noranda Airport,” said Avery, the Airport Manager at North Bay’s airport.
The new service is operated by Propair, a regional air carrier based in Northern Quebec with over 70 years of aviation experience.
These flights, offered five days a week, will begin in February 2026, and reservations are now available online at www.propair.ca.
See related: New airline coming to Jack Garland Airport
The new airline fills a void left by Air Canada, which announced in September 2025 that it would be leaving North Bay at the end of January 2026.
The Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, which accommodates up to 18 passengers, will operate regular flights from North Bay to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to better meet the needs of a wide range of travellers and facilitate connections to international flights.
Propair will also offer a shuttle service between Billy Bishop Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport.
“We’re glad to welcome and support Propair, a regional airline that, with its long operational history, understands those needs and values the opportunity to provide air service to the North Bay region,” added Avery.
“With the information and comments we received during our traveller analysis in summer 2025, as well as in recent months, we knew that options to travel with greater flexibility were what was needed.”
Avery notes that Propair is not new to North Bay.
“In the past, they’ve operated charters to many airports such as ours to connect businesses,” said Avery.
“After a lot of work by all stakeholders, Propair is now introducing this regularly scheduled air service that everyone can book for business or liesure – today.
“Every ticket purchased with the airlines operating from North Bay Jack Garland Airport contributes to maintaining convenient air access for our region—an investment in our community’s future.”
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For years, oil tanker traffic has been prohibited off the waters of northern British Columbia in order to protect environmentally sensitive coastlines from disaster.
But the federal government is now open to the idea of changing its moratorium.
The debate over the future of the tanker ban arose from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November that lays out the steps for a potential pipeline to carry oil from the Alberta to the Pacific coast.
Here’s what you need to know about the oil tanker moratorium and the area it’s meant to protect.
What is the ban on oil tanker traffic?
The federal government first imposed an oil tanker moratorium back in 1972 but it wasn’t legislated, as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, until 2019.
The ban covers an area that stretches from the northern tip off Vancouver Island to the B.C.-Alaska border.
The act prohibits oil tankers from stopping, loading or unloading in any port in the designated area.
It applies to vessels carrying a cargo of more than 12,500 metric tons of crude oil or persistent oil products, such as bitumen and Bunker C fuel, which dissipate slowly and can linger in the environment.
The moratorium does not apply to refined oil products, like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Penalties for violating the Tanker Moratorium Act can include fines up to $5 million for each instance of non-compliance.
What’s the voluntary tanker exclusion zone?
The federal government established the voluntary tanker exclusion zone in the late 1980s. It offers a larger buffer zone between tankers and much of B.C.’s coast.
That boundary extends further off shore, about 100 km west of Haida Gwaii and roughly 40 km off Vancouver Island.
It’s aimed at U.S. tankers transporting oil between the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System marine terminal in Valdez, Alaska and refineries in Washington state.
“The size of the area was based on calculating the worst possible drift of a disabled tanker with a cargo, versus the time required for help to arrive,” Transport Canada explains on its website.
WATCH | Carney could change tanker moratorium:
Federal government agrees to possible B.C. tanker ban exemptions: sources
CBC News has confirmed that the federal government has agreed to possible exemptions to the tanker ban on B.C.’s northern coast as it discusses a new energy accord with Alberta.
How dangerous are the waters in moratorium area?
The Hecate Strait, famed for being treacherous, is often the focus of concerns about oil tanker traffic.
It separates Haida Gwaii from mainland B.C. and all types of boats, including fishing vessels, ferries and container ships, have run into problems in this stretch of water.
There is a “cocktail of risks” when it comes to navigating vessels in any area of open water, says Mariah McCooey, director of hydrography for the Pacific region of the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) — a division of the science branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that is tasked with supporting safe navigation.
But she explains that what makes the Hecate strait unique is that it’s particularly shallow, which contributes to big Pacific waves stacking up even higher.
WUDONG, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, fills up at an LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, B.C., on Nov. 13. The oil tanker moratorium does not prohibit vessels carrying LNG or refined oil products. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)
How do ships navigate the area?
Mariners are what McCooey calls “risk-assessing machines,” who use all available data to steer ships.
Navigation charts for areas off Haida Gwaii and the north coast of B.C. have greatly improved in the past 10 years thanks to new technology and data collection, she said.
Prior to that, McCooey explains, charts relied on survey data that dated back to 1912 and measured manually.
She says CHS now has 50 updated charts, covering hundreds of kilometres of coastline, using high quality sensors capable of collecting thousands of data points at one time and giving a clearer picture of what lies beneath the surface of the waters off northern B.C.
Any vessel travelling in the Hecate Strait would also rely on the knowledge of a specialized pilot who is mandated to be on board and guide ships from ports out to sea.
WATCH | Possible changes to oil tanker moratorium strikes fears on B.C.’s coast:
First Nations, experts warn of catastrophic risk in lifting B.C. oil tanker ban
A potential new oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C. is shedding light on the dangerous B.C. waters that tankers would have to navigate if it’s built. CBC’s Janella Hamilton dives into the implications and the worries.
Who’s for and against the moratorium?
Those who want the tanker ban lifted or changed — including Alberta’s oil sector, Premier Smith and federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre — argue it hinders Alberta’s ability to export its oil to key markets in Asia.
Supporters of the moratorium, including First Nations and environmental groups, say the ban is vital to protecting environmentally sensitive coastal areas and critical marine ecosystem that are key to both the provincial economy and Indigenous ways of life.
“There is no technology that can clean up an oil spill at sea or in a salmon river,” Coastal First Nations said in a statement emailed to CBC News last month, calling the moratorium a “matter of national responsibility.”
B.C.’s NDP-led government also supports the moratorium, and in November, Premier David Eby signed a declaration, along with Coastal First Nations, urging Ottawa to keep the oil tanker ban in place.
WATCH | Political and environmental pushback to a potential pipeline partnership:
The Breakdown | Carney’s Alberta pipeline partnership
The National’s At Issue panel breaks down Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s partnership to build a new pipeline out of Alberta and the political and environmental pushback it sparked.
