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Due to protests, Waymo limits San Francisco service

(NYT) — After protesters set fire to five Waymo robot taxis in Los Angeles on Sunday, the company on Monday began preemptively limiting rides to areas of San Francisco where people were expected to gather to show their opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

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Waymo declined to say where in San Francisco it would suspend its service or for how long. Its robot taxis are popular in the city and have become a tourist attraction. The vehicles, which are electric Jaguar I-Paces and include dozens of cameras and sensors, cost around $100,000 each.

The robot taxis have become a way for some protesters to display resistance to the tech industry’s close ties to the Trump administration, said Elise Joshi, an activist in San Francisco who attended rallies on Monday.

“Waymos don’t have human drivers, they’re devoid of humanity,” she said. Destroyed robot taxis are “symbolic of the attempts, throughout the history of this country, by the tech industry to strip us of community.”

Waymo’s actions in San Francisco followed the burning of its self-driving cars in Los Angeles on Sunday, where hundreds of people have demonstrated in recent days against the Trump administration’s escalating immigration enforcement activity. Images of burned Waymos — including one protester with a Mexican flag posing for photos above the scorched cars — quickly spread online. Elon Musk and right-wing influencers then shared the image and others like it as emblems of the supposed dysfunction in Los Angeles.

Waymo cut its service off in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday evening, in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department, a company spokesperson said. She said its vehicles were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and added that the company did not know if the damaged vehicles were hailed by protesters with the intention of being destroyed, or if they were just dropping off riders in the area.

Iran to crack down on dog walkers

(NYT) — When Iran banned dog walking in 2019, few dog owners were all that worried about the order. But after years of lax enforcement, officials in recent days have pledged to crack down, according to the state news media.

Prosecutors in at least 20 cities cited public health risks and threats to public safety in announcing the heightened enforcement of the bans, which include both dog walking and driving with dogs.

Iran’s government has also long seen pet dogs as a sign of Western cultural influence. And much of the opposition to dogs in Iran stems from religious beliefs, with dogs considered to be “najes,” or impure, in Islam.

But even if officials are not planning to take away all pets, they are certainly trying to restrict their presence in public spaces.

Some in Iran share the skepticism about dogs as pets, and although some tolerate the presence of guard dogs, they see the “man’s best friend” narrative as a step too far.

Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat

JERUSALEM/ASHDOD (Reuters) — Israeli naval forces boarded and seized a charity vessel carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, which had tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The British-flagged yacht, Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had aimed to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.

“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg, 22, said in a video released by the FCC, filmed before the vessel was captured.

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who was also on board, posted on X that the crew had been “arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2 a.m.”

A photograph showed the crew seated on the boat, all wearing life jackets, with their hands in the air.

Israel’s foreign ministry later distributed a photo showing Thunberg in a green hat and orange life vest, smiling while a soldier held out a sandwich.

The yacht is carrying a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula. The Foreign Ministry said it would be taken to Gaza.

The Swedish foreign ministry said it was in contact with Israeli authorities.

“Should the need for consular support arise, the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess how we can best help the Swedish citizen/Greta Thunberg resolve her situation,” a Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a written statement to Reuters.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the president has asked Israeli authorities to release the French nationals on board as soon as possible.

The French and Spanish foreign ministries said they had requested consular protection for their citizens aboard.

Hamas condemned the seizure of the boat as “state terrorism” and said it salutes its activists.

Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the militant group.

The United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has supported the FFC operation and on Sunday, urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade.