Self-driving car death

Uber has removed its self-driving cars from the roads following what is believed to be the first fatality involving a fully autonomous car. A self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she walked her bicycle across a street in Tempe, Arizona, Sunday night, according to the Tempe police. Authorities are investigating the crash. Rafael Vasquez, a 44-year-old test driver from Uber, was behind the wheel of the Volvo XC90 SUV at the time. Based on preliminary information, the car was going approximately 40 mph in a 35 mph zone. Police say the investigation does not at this time show significant signs of the SUV slowing before the crash. It has not yet been determined whether charges will be filed. "The vehicle involved is one of Uber's self-driving vehicles," the Tempe police said in a statement. "It was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a vehicle operator behind the wheel." Autonomous mode means the car is driving on its own. During tests, a person sits behind the wheel as a safeguard. Uber is conducting tests of autonomous vehicles in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Toronto and other areas. Uber said it has stopped testing the vehicles throughout the United States and Canada.

In Other News A 9-year-old boy retrieved a gun from his parents' bedroom and shot his 13-year-old sister to death, authorities said, after the two got into an argument over a video game controller. The incident occurred over the weekend in rural Monroe County, Mississippi, as the children's mother was preparing lunch in the kitchen, the county sheriff said. The boy grabbed a handgun, which was kept in a nightstand next to the bed, and shot the sister in the back of the head. The case is still under investigation and authorities have not filed charges. The world's last male northern white rhino has died in Kenya, meaning the subspecies only has two females left. At the start of a second term that could see him serve for life, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave Taiwan a warning: We just might be coming for you. The island of Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of China's civil war in 1949. The Chinese government considers it a breakaway province and has talked tough before about regaining control of it. But now that Xi can stay in power for life, he can execute longer-term strategies that could one day help China reclaim Taiwan. For decades, Civil War buffs and assorted fortune seekers have combed the hills and forests of northwestern Pennsylvania, looking for a Union shipment of gold that reportedly was lost in June 1863. Depending on which account you believe, the Union wagon train was carrying up to 52 bars of gold weighing 50 pounds each -- a haul worth some $54 million in today's market. The Legend of the Dents Run Gold gained new life last week when FBI agents and state officials were spotted digging up the snow-covered ground off Route 555 in Benezette Township. An FBI spokesperson wouldn't say what the agency was doing there, so the rumors persist.