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According to estimates from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 16,200 structures were damaged or destroyed in the devastating fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area at the beginning of the year. These will take years to rebuild, not to mention billions of dollars. Music superstars decided early on to lend their talents to the fundraising efforts and play an epic FireAid Benefit concert spanning two venues. The event takes place tonight (Thursday, January 30, 2025), beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Heres everything you need to know about it, including how to stream it and donate: A brief timeline of the L.A. fires On the morning of January 7, a fire broke out in the Pacific Palisades area. Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, it spread rapidly. Later that same morning, the Eaton fire broke out north of Pasadena, near Eaton Canyon. Similar weather conditions caused this blaze to also proliferate swiftly. As of publication, the Palisades fire has burned 23,448 acres and is 96% contained while the Eaton fire burned 14,021 acres and is 99% contained. Twenty-nine people died in these two fires. On January 22, the Hughes fire broke out near Castaic Lake in northern Los Angeles County. It burned 10,425 acres and is now 98% contained. Several smaller fires also broke out, including the Lidia, Archer, Woodley, Sunset, Kenneth, Hurst, and Auto firesburning a combined total of 2,399 acres. These are no longer considered active. Who spearheaded the FireAid concert? Shelli Azoff is the mastermind behind the concert. The idea was born on January 9, just two days after the first fires broke out. When it became obvious that there was going to be a need, I think we were just trying to commiserate. What can we do? And Shelli said we should do all we know how to do. We should do the show, Irving Azoff, Shellis husband and COO of Full Stop Management, told the Associated Press. Where will the FireAid benefit take place? A concert at the Intuit Dome was announced on January 10, which additionally expanded to the nearby Kia Forum as well. So many artists wanted to help that two venues were necessaryand still they had to turn some artists away. Who is performing where? Producing partners the Azoff family, Live Nation, and AEG Presents decided to divide the artists by genre. Pop artists will perform at the Intuit while rockers got the Forum. Intuit Dome: Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Tate McRae, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Kia Forum: Alanis Morissette, Anderson .Paak, Dawes, Graham Nash, Green Day, John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell, No Doubt, Pink, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stephen Stills, Stevie Nicks, the Black Crowes, Dave Matthews, and John Mayer. Each act is going to perform two to four songs, bringing the total run time of the show to more than five hours. Performers at the two venues will switch off, so no matter the audience’s physical location, they will get the whole show. Beyond the 28 performers, there will also be special guest appearancesboth celebrities and people impacted by the fires, including first responders. How can I donate to FireAid? You dont have to wait until the big show to donate. You can do so right now at FireAidLA.org. How can I watch or stream the benefit concert live? If you find yourself in Los Angeles, tickets can be procured on Ticketmaster. One hundred percent of all ticket purchases will go to benefit FireAid relief efforts and all fees have been waived for the special event. If you are outside of Tinseltown or the ticket prices are not in your budget, never fear. Some AMC theaters are hosting screenings. There are also many options for you to listen to or stream the event. We’ve also embedded a YouTube stream of the event below. Check it out on: Amazon Music/Prime VideoApple Music the AppleTV app Disney+/Hulu Facebook/Instagram iHeartRadio KTLA+, Max Netflix/Tudum Paramount+ Peacock/NBC News Now SiriusXMs exclusive LIFE with John Mayer channel SoundCloud Veeps YouTube
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E-Commerce
Tesla’s fourth-quarter adjusted profits rose slightly amid a big push to sell its electric vehicles with offers of zero financing and other incentives, but the results still fell short of Wall Street forecasts.The electric vehicle, battery and robotics company run by Elon Musk said Wednesday that quarterly net income adjusted for one-time items rose 3% to $2.6 billion, or 73 cents a shareless than analysts’ estimate of 77 cents.Tesla stock initially fell after trading closed Wednesday, then reversed course to rise more than 4% after Musk told analysts on a conference call that the company was on track to offer unsupervised “full self-driving” technology to its customers as a paid service starting in Austin in June.“It went from a theoretical, ‘We hope to launch something in 2025,’ to a set timeline,” said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein. “That’s a big step forward.”Tesla has been losing market share in several countries as traditional car makers and other EV companies, such as China’s BYD, offer customers alternatives. Its stock has surged nonetheless, rising by more than 50% since President Donald Trump was elected, on investor optimism that Musk’s advisory role in the new administration will help the company.In its letter to shareholders and on the analyst call, Tesla it was hoping to lift sales by driving the cost of its vehicles down, highlighting that one cost measure fell below $35,000, the lowest in its history. It said production of “more affordable” models are expected to start in the first half of the year, with Musk emphasizing that “maximizing volume” was priority.But then he quickly pivoted in the conference call to other goals and parts of the business, and the stock started climbing.“AI and roboticsthat will bear immense fruit,” he said, adding “I see a path, I’m not saying it’s an easy path, but I see a path for Tesla being the most valuable company in the worldby far, not even close,” leapfrogging the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. Tesla is currently the seventh-most valuable company in the S&P 500 with a market value of $1.25 trillion.Tesla’s unadjusted profits for October through December period were down dramatically, though the year-earlier period was a poor comparison because the results included a large one-time tax benefit. The company said it made $2.31 billion last quarter, down 71% from the $7.93 billion profit in the same period in 2023.Revenue rose 2% to $25.7 billion, less than Wall Street’s forecast of $27.1 billion, according to FactSet. Tesla offered a series of incentives during the quarter to drum up demand for its electric vehicles including low-interest loans and lower prices. Tesla’s gross profit margin fell to 16.3% for the quarter, down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.Earlier this month, Tesla said it sold 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, the first drop in more than a dozen years despite offers of 0% financing, free charging and low-priced leases. The fourth quarter showed signs of a rebound, though, with a record 495,570 vehicles sold.“The bulls got what they wanted, and the bears got data to support them as well,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a big fan of the stock. “But ultimately what will drive the stock is autonomous driving, and this is the bullish I’ve ever heard Musk.”For the full year, Tesla posted profits before one-time items of $8.42 billion, down 23% from the year earlier.Investors are expecting that Musk’s close relationship with Trump will translate into lighter regulation on the car company, fewer investigations and help in speeding the development of autonomous driving.But the Trump administration has also vowed to cut government incentives to customers to buy EVs and says it will loosen emission standards. The latter especially could hurt Tesla because it has a big business in selling “regulatory credits” to other automakers that fall short of the standards.The latest financial report showed that in the fourth quarter Tesla sold $692 million in these credits, a spigot of cash that could be turned off if Trump follows through on his vow. Bernard Condon, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River, and multiple people were killed.The crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles (five kilometers) south of the White House and the U.S. Capitol.Here are some things to know about the collision: The crash The midair crash happened around 9 p.m. when a regional jet at the end of a flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training exercise, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could land on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked a helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” There was no reply. Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac. Emergency response Authorities were conducting a massive search-and-rescue operation. Inflatable boats were launched into the river and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area. Helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region also flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies and survivors. Passengers and fatalities There was no official death toll announced at an early Thursday news conference, but a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press there were multiple fatalities. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas hinted that the number killed will be high. “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow,” he said. Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the plane, along with other Russian nationals, according to the Kremlin. Coaches, skaters, and others had been in Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which concluded Sunday, and a development camp.Shishkova and Naumov were married and won a 1994 world championship in pairs figure skating. Airport Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of Washington, Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer to the city than the larger Dulles International Airport.All takeoffs and landings from Reagan Airport were halted. It will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. Investigation Investigators will try to piece together the aircraft’s final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet. Aircraft involved The helicopter was a UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, according to the U.S. Army. A crew of three soldiers were on board the helicopter, an Army official said.The other aircraft was a Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet and was manufactured in 2004. It can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers. History of fatal aircraft crashes Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. All 45 passengers and the four crew members were killed when the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house. One person on the ground also was killed.The incident Wednesday recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather. Hallie Golden, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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