Australia has swept to an 82-run win in the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval to retain the urn with two matches to spare and leave England facing recriminations over another failed campaign.

Chasing a world record 435 runs to win on Sunday, England battled doggedly on day five but folded for 352 with left-armed quick Mitchell Starc taking three wickets and Scott Boland the last dismissal of Josh Tongue before tea.

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“Three-nil is hugely satisfying for many reasons but particularly with how the chat before the series was how equally poised it was going to be,” Australia captain Pat Cummins, who took ⁠six wickets on his return from a back injury, told reporters

“This group’s amazing at just cracking on.”

Much of the talk in the build-up to the Ashes had been the age ​profile of the Australia squad, but Starc said the veterans had proved their worth.

“We do laugh at some of the comments that get back to us about how old we are,” the 35-year-old said.

“I’m sure experience plays a part going through your highs and lows. … That plays a big part in all of this.”

After eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane, England have now lost the Ashes in three matches for the fourth consecutive tour while losing 16 of their last 18 Tests in the country.

Although two Tests remain, the latest surrender may top the previous tours for sheer disappointment.

There were expectations of a genuine contest, fighting words from England captain Ben Stokes and hope that “Bazball” might win the urn in Australia for the first time since 2010-2011.

All that was swept aside in Adelaide, where England ditched their trademark aggression, reverted to more traditional Test batting and were still beaten convincingly.

“We obviously came here with a goal in mind, and we haven’t been able to achieve it. It hurts, and it sucks,” England skipper Stokes said.

“They’ve been able to outdo us on a much higher level. … I thought we did incredibly well to take us where we did in this fourth innings.

“We couldn’t do what we came here to do, but there was some good stuff to come out of this game.”

England’s Jamie Smith scored 60 and mounted an England comeback on the final day, but it wasn’t enough to save the match – and the series [Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Reuters]

The king of Adelaide

On day five while still needing 228 runs to win, England’s hopes were pinned on all-rounder Will Jacks and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith after they resumed on 207 for six.

Jacks turned his ankle when pushing off his crease for a run but battled on for 40 minutes until rain halted play.

England fans cheered, but it was just a passing squall, the ground soon bathed in sunshine.

The Surrey duo brought up a fifty-run partnership with the old ball and were soon spared spinner Nathan Lyon, who came off with a hamstring injury after cutting off a four in the field.

When the second new ball came, Smith attacked with gusto, smashing both Cummins and Starc for back-to-back fours.

But with the deficit trimmed to 150 runs, he threw the bat at a Starc delivery for a third time in succession and was caught for 60 by a ‌back-pedalling Cummins at mid-on.

Jacks played a steadier hand with tailender Carse, who finished 39 not out and hung ⁠tough with the all-rounder for 52 runs.

Home fans shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the pair reduced the deficit to under 100 runs, but Starc returned and Marnus Labuschagne flew in the slips to snuff out the danger.

Jacks, on 47, drove at a Starc ball that moved away off the seam, and Labuschagne dived to his left for another terrific one-handed catch, having removed Ollie Pope with a screamer in the slips on day ‌four.

Jofra Archer then tried to slog Starc but sent the ball down the throat of Jake Weatherald at deep point to leave England one wicket from defeat before Boland had Tongue sending another slips catch to Labuschagne.

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey was named Man of the Match for a first-innings 106 and 72 in the second while Travis Head set up ‍the victory with 170 in the third innings, his fourth consecutive Test ton at Adelaide Oval.

“If he wasn’t before, he’s the king of Adelaide,” Starc said of Head, who also scored a match-winning 123 in Perth.

“He’s not going to have to pay for another beer [here]. I don’t know how he does it, but jeez, it’s bloody good to ‌watch.”

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, right, shakes hands with England captain Ben Stokes after the third Ashes cricket Test match in Adelaide [William West/AFP]



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South African police say a manhunt is under way after a shooting at a tavern left nine people dead – seven men and two women – and another 10 injured in a township in a gold-mining area near Johannesburg.

They say about 12 unidentified gunmen arrived in two vehicles in Bekkersdal, “opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene”.

The shooting happened at about 01:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT Saturday). The police added that the tavern was licensed.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Sixty-three people were killed every day on average between April and September this year, according to police figures.

Murders are often the result of arguments, robberies and gang violence, but a motive for this killing is not clear.

At the scene, deputy provincial police commissioner Maj-Gen Fred Kekana told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that the perpetrators, armed with pistols and one AK-47, were “unprovoked”.

“The poor patrons were just enjoying themselves when people came and shot.”

Two of the victims were shot outside the tavern as they tired to flee and a third was a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby, Maj-Gen Kekana added.

Earlier this month, at least 11 people – including a child – were shot dead at a hostel near Pretoria.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Norwegian man Ole Fredrik Sveen was told he won nearly $130,000 in an official text from the local lottery
• However, the company had made an error, and he was actually one of thousands of people who had been incorrectly informed they won a large jackpot 
• He described the experience as “a crushing disappointment”

A man was told he won nearly $130,000 in the lottery, only to be informed that it was all a big mistake.

Ole Fredrik Sveen of Kløfta, Norway, recently told his story to The Guardian in a profile on his experience. In the piece, Sveen said that he had always dreamed of winning the lottery, and he often played every few weeks even though he never won more than a few dollars.

But his luck seemed to change this past summer.

“In June, I was on holiday in Greece with my girlfriend. We’d had the most amazing day and were watching the sunset with a glass of wine. Earlier in the day, we had discussed buying a holiday home there. ‘I’d need to win the lottery first!’ I joked,” he told the outlet.

Lottery tickets (stock image).

Joe Raedle/Getty

He went on to say that “suddenly” his phone buzzed, and he saw that he had received a text from Norsk Tipping, the Norwegian lottery corporation. The text informed Sveen that he had won the Eurojackpot. 

“My hands were starting to shake as I logged into the app and saw a notification saying I had won $128,360,” he recalled.

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Sveen said that his “heart skipped a beat” and he became “light headed” with the news. He recalled that his mind began to “spin with possibilities,” and he even called his mom and excitedly told her he had won.

However, Sveen said that he soon began to feel “that something wasn’t right.”

Lottery card (stock image).

Getty

“I checked the winning numbers and compared them with mine. I’d only matched two main numbers and one bonus number. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. There was no way I could have won so much money,” he explained.

He said by that point, a number of news stories about the major error had already begun to circulate online. He learned that the lotto company had wrongly informed thousands of people that they had won the jackpot.

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“It was a crushing disappointment,” he recalled. “The holidays, the plans I’d made in my head all disappeared. I had to call my mom and tell her I hadn’t actually won any money. My girlfriend broke down in tears.”

“The rest of the evening felt very subdued,” he added. “We were both drained. You can’t miss what you never had, but we felt so angry they could get people’s hopes up like that. The next day, I was even more annoyed that nobody from Norsk Tipping had been in touch to confirm we hadn’t won and apologize. It was two or three days before we were able to stop thinking about what could have been. It took the shine off what had been a wonderful holiday.”

Sveen said that he didn’t receive any formal communication about the error from Norsk Tipping until several days later.

“I’m glad I had my wits about me and realized quite quickly there was an error, because if I thought I’d won for a whole weekend, I might have already spent a lot of money,” he continued, adding that “getting the confirmation in writing felt like the first blow all over again.”

Sveen says he no longer plays the lottery as it feels “tainted” for him now, though he noted that he continues to try to focus on the positives in his life.

Norsk Tipping formally apologized for the error in a statement shared on their website on June 27, citing a “manual error” that caused the prize amounts to be multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100.

“Norsk Tipping sincerely apologizes to everyone who was notified of an incorrect prize amount,” they added

PEOPLE reached out to Norsk Tipping for comment on Friday, Dec. 19, but did not receive an immediate response.

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By NOOR QURASHI, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 03:35 EST, 21 December 2025 | Updated: 03:42 EST, 21 December 2025

Thousands of people have gathered at Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice – as huge crowds formed to witness the sunrise on the shortest day of the year.

Families and friends were heard cheering as they watched the spectacle this morning in Wiltshire.

Onlookers braced the chilly weather and drizzle amid the brightening skies – with folk dancers and pagan revelers also turning out for the occasion.

One pair celebrating – Kim Tester and Paul Ransom – said they were returning to the ancient monument again this year to ‘recharge’.

Ms Tester told the BBC: ‘We’re coming out of the darkness and then into the light again, so for me, it’s about rebirth.

‘We just love the atmosphere, it’s beautiful.’

Mr Ransom added it was an ‘honour’ to be so close to the stones themselves which he was ‘grateful’ for.

Photos from this morning show revelers dressed in bright red outfits as well as Brits who have come with the chilly weather in mind – donning thick hats and scarves.

Thousands of people have gathered at Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice – as huge crowds formed to watch the sunrise on the shortest day of the year

Folk dancers were also pictured performing this morning in traditional outfits

Folk dancers were also seen performing  in traditional outfits with some sporting flower crowns and a full face of paint.

Will Scutt, from English Heritage, confirmed visitors would be allowed to gather closer to the stones than ever before – but urged for people to treat them delicately.

He said: ‘We’ve got really rare lichens on them and incredible carvings on them, so I’m hoping that people will respect the stones.’

On average, Brits will receive just 7.5 hours of light, although the exact duration will vary based on how far north or south someone is.

While temperatures will continue to drop, the hours of sunshine will increase from today. 

The word ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin words ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ (to stand still)

As well as marking the shortest day of the year, today also marks the first day of winter in the astronomical calendar.

This calendar is based on the tilt of the Earth, and sees winter begin on 21 December 2025 before ending on 20 March 2026.

In contrast, the meteorological calendar always has the first day of winter as 1 December, ending on 28 (or 29 during a Leap Year) February.

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Thousands gather at Stonehenge to celebrate winter solstice: Crowds gather at historic monument for sunrise on shortest day of the year

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Putting embarrassment to one side and seeking medical attention is extremely important

If it’s cancer, the quicker it is caught the better the outcome(Image: Ridofranz/Thinkstock)

A leading doctor has answered several common questions about prostate cancer in an effort to separate facts from fiction. His insights arrive as more than 63,000 men are diagnosed each year, according to Prostate Cancer UK, making it the most prevalent type among men.

While Dr Martin Thornton, Chief Medical Officer at Bluecrest, said that many people feel ‘too embarrassed’ to research this health issue, he stressed that early intervention is always preferable. In light of this, he’s addressed three key queries about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment to save you from Googling.

Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men in the UK. The good news is that when it is found early, treatment is often very successful. The challenge is that many men feel too embarrassed to ask the questions they really want answers to. Here is what you may have been too nervous to Google.”

PSA tests are frequently used to detect prostate problems(Image: Wladimir Bulgar/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

1. How does a doctor check for prostate cancer?

PSA tests measure the level of prostate-specific antigen in the blood and are frequently used by the NHS to detect prostate problems. These check-ups are not routinely provided by the health service and are not included in a national screening programme, but will be offered in certain situations.

“Most will find that the best place to start is a PSA blood test,” Dr Thornton said. “If the level is raised or if you have symptoms, a doctor may also do a prostate exam. If we need a clearer picture, the next step might be an MRI scan or sometimes a biopsy.

“Many men never need anything beyond the first simple tests because the results are reassuring.” Usually, PSA tests take no more than a few minutes and results with the NHS are generally issued within one or two weeks.

Beyond this, a medical professional will sometimes also conduct a rectal examination with their finger, but Dr Thornton insists that it isn’t as scary as it sounds. He continued: “The prospect of a digital rectal exam may sound scary or embarrassing, but it is usually over in less than ten seconds. We talked about prostate cancer clues, and sometimes a physical exam can confirm or discount a flag in a PSA test.

“In terms of the process, a doctor puts on a glove, uses a little gel and gently feels the prostate from the back passage to check for anything unusual. Doctors do this every day, and the exam is over quickly.”

He added: “A PSA test is a simple blood test that measures a protein made by the prostate. A higher number does not automatically mean cancer but it tells us to look more closely. A prostate exam is a quick physical check to feel whether the prostate is enlarged, tender or has any lumps. They give different information and we sometimes do both.”

Finding it difficult to pee is among several potential symptoms of prostate cancer(Image: Boonchai Wedmakawand/Getty Images)

2. When should someone get tested?

While prostate cancer often has no symptoms at first, there are several red flags that men are advised to look out for. According to the NHS, this may include the following:

• Finding it difficult to start peeing or straining to pee
• Having a weak flow of urine
• ‘Stop start’ peeing
• Needing to pee urgently or often, or both
• Feeling like you still need to pee when you’ve just finished
• Peeing during the night
• Erectile dysfunction
• Blood in the urine or semen
• Lower back pain
• Unexplained weight loss

These symptoms do not necessarily mean you have prostate cancer, but they are always worth discussing with a doctor. Dr Thornton also added: “We usually recommend one if your PSA level is higher than expected, if it has changed compared to a previous result, if you have symptoms like peeing more often or a weak stream, if you ever see blood in urine or semen, or if you are in a higher risk group such as Black men or men with a close family history. It is never automatic but based on your symptoms and risk.

“Knowledge is power, if you are 45 or over, it is sensible to start a conversation about having a PSA test. Certain factors may mean you might need to consider these tests earlier, for example, if you are Black, or if your father or brother has had prostate cancer. It’s important to know that you don’t need symptoms to get tested, and many who are diagnosed show no symptoms at all until it’s too late.”

3. What is the biggest mistake men make with prostate cancer?

Dr Thornton warned that ignoring symptoms and delaying doctors’ appointments are among the worst approaches you can take with potential cancer cases. Even if it feels embarrassing, a straightforward test could potentially avoid a lot of future stress.

The expert added: “Ignoring warning signs, waiting too long or hoping that symptoms disappear is not a long-term health plan. If something feels new or unusual for you, do not sit on it. Early and regular assessments are simple and could save your life.”

Official guidance from the NHS also summarises: “You may be offered a PSA test if a doctor thinks you have symptoms that could be prostate cancer. If you’re having treatment for a prostate condition you may be offered regular PSA tests to check how the treatment is working.

“Men aged 50 or over can ask their GP for a PSA test, even if they do not have symptoms. Anyone aged 50 or over with a prostate can ask for a PSA test.”

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Victims of Jeffrey Epstein have criticised the United States government after it released a partial trove of documents from cases against the late convicted sex offender with heavily redacted pages and blacked-out photos.

The growing outcry on Saturday came as US media reported that at least 16 files from the tranche, which were published online, had disappeared from the public webpage.

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The deleted files included a photograph showing President Donald Trump.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) began releasing the trove on Friday to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that ⁠mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite Trump’s months-long effort to keep them sealed.

It said it plans to release more records on a rolling basis, blaming the delay on what it said was a time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information.

But the tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years. They also omitted some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal DOJ memos on charging decisions.

Meanwhile, a 119-page document titled “Grand Jury-NY”, likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019, was entirely blacked out.

One of Epstein’s victims, Marina Lacerda, reacted angrily to the large number of redactions and unreleased documents.

“All of us are infuriated by this,” she told the news outlet MS NOW on Saturday. “It’s another slap in the face. We expected way more.”

Lacerda, who said Epstein abused her when she was 14 years of age, was a crucial witness in the 2019 investigation that led to the filing of sex trafficking charges against the late financier.

Epstein killed himself in jail that year shortly after his arrest.

Lacerda told The New York Times in a separate interview that she felt let down.

“So many of the photos are irrelevant,” she said.

Another survivor, Jess Michaels, told the news outlet CNN that she spent hours searching through the released files for her victim’s statement and records of her call to an FBI tipline, but found neither.

“I can’t find any of those,” she said. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.”

Marijke Chartouni, who said she was abused by Epstein when she was 20 years old, decried a lack of openness.

“If everything is redacted, where is the transparency?” she said on Friday in an interview with The New York Times.

Some lawmakers also expressed frustration.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who helped spearhead the legislative push, accused the White House of failing to comply “with both the spirit and the letter of the law that Donald Trump signed just 30 days ago” in a social media post on Friday.

That law required the government’s case file to be posted publicly by Friday, constrained only by legal and victim privacy concerns.

Meanwhile, the unexplained 16 missing files led to speculation online about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding longstanding intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

“If they’re taking this down, just imagine how much more they’re trying to hide,” said senior Democrat Chuck Schumer. “This could be one of the biggest cover-ups in American history.”

The Trump administration, however, denied that it was not being forthcoming with the released materials. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a TV interview with ABC that there was no attempt “to hold anything back” to protect Trump.

The DOJ also issued a statement on X late on Saturday. “Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information,” it said.

Separately, celebrities who appeared in photos made available as part of Friday’s release include former President Bill Clinton, late news anchor Walter Cronkite, singers Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, British entrepreneur Richard Branson and the ⁠former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.

There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey.

Many of the photos were undated and provided without context, and none of those figures has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor also appears in one photo lying across the laps of several women. The former duke of York, who was stripped of his royal title over his ties to Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing.

Notably missing were references to Trump himself, despite his frequent inclusion in previous releases of Epstein-related documents. Trump and Epstein were friends in the 1990s and early 2000s and had a falling out before Epstein’s first conviction in 2008.

Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes.

Amid the outcry, the DOJ sought to draw attention to Clinton, with two agency spokespeople posting on social media images that they said showed him with Epstein victims.

Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Angel Urena, said in a statement that the White House was attempting to “shield themselves” from scrutiny by focusing on the former president.

“They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they ‌want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton,” he wrote.

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It smells like Christmas in the countries that celebrate: In Germany, for example, scents of fresh pine, sugar cookies, mulled wine waft through the air. And they are likely to trigger emotions or memories in many people’s minds.

“When you smell [this familiar] scent again, you’re back in the memory — in grandma’s kitchen baking Christmas cookies,” said Olaf Conrad, a doctor of otorhinolaryngology at Erlangen University Hospital. 

Otorhinolaryngology is a branch of medicine that specializes in the head and neck, often called ear, nose and throat medicine.

Scents don’t only trigger Christmas memories, of course. My grandmother used to come by once a week when I was growing up to make pancakes for me after school. She has been dead for years, but whenever I smell pancakes, I immediately think of her. And the memory is stronger than what I feel when looking at old photos. I have often wondered why that’s the case.

Scents — a powerful catalyst for memories

Smells are processed in the oldest part of our brain, the paleocortex. Olfactory processes happen close to the amygdala, which is in charge of our emotional responses, and the hippocampus, which is crucial for forming memories, Conrad explained. No wonder, then, that scents and memories are so closely connected!

“Tests have shown that our sense of smell is the strongest sensory impression when it comes to triggering memories,” Conrad told DW. “And that’s true for negative memories as well. People returning from war or children who’ve grown up in a warzone are triggered by the smell of gunpowder, for example.”

The reason why the connection between scents and formative memories is so intense is that important, stand-out memories are “saved in the brain without a time-stamp,” Conrad said.

In other words: When a smell connected to a formative memory hits us, our brain doesn’t supply the crucial information that what we’re experiencing is something from the past. That goes for traumatizing experiences as well as Christmas traditions or memories of a loved one.

A highly sensitive sense of smell can be painful

Most people will experience the connection between a smell and a memory or an emotion at some point. But a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) experiences sensory stimuli on a much greater level than the average person.

For many Highly Sensitive Persons, that means they smell things people without the condition don’t even register — or that smells are much more intense to them. Scents can make HSPs feel physically ill, throw them into emotional turmoil, or prevent them from concentrating.

What our noses do

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Daphne, a young entrepreneur from Germany, is an HSP. For her, the scent of the perfume her mother used to wear is a strong emotional trigger.

“I have this problem with Chanel No. 5,” Daphne told DW. “When I smell it, I am thrown right back into the pain I felt with the [death of] my mom.”

She said the difference between HSP and people with a regular level of sensory sensitivity is that once the scent throws her back into the memory of her mother’s passing, she would stay in the memory for long stretches of time, unless she didn’t “make an active effort to bring myself out of it.”

“The world fades in a matter of seconds, and you feel the exact same thing you did back then,” Daphne said.

How smells are used in medicine

The strong link between smells and emotions can be put to good use.

“Professionals in palliative care have recognized how much calm aromatherapy can provide,” Conrad said.

While smells can’t help with the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, the sense is an indicator of the neurodegenerative illness. Parkinson’s makes patients lose their sense of smell.

“There’s no one in the early stages of Parkinson’s who can still smell well,” said Conrad.

As for the connection between smells and Christmas memories, Conrad told DW about his personal experience with it.

“The big moment in our house was when we put up the tree, that was always too big for the small room it was in,” he said. “The smell of fresh pine always put me in a Christmas mood.”

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

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Hauling out a full-size vacuum isn’t ideal for everyday spills and crumbs. For smaller jobs, a compact yet powerful device is a great grab-and-go solution. 

At 73 percent off, the Ayontin Cordless Handheld Vacuum is down to just $46 exclusively for Prime members — a deal worth snagging while it lasts. If you’re not a member, sign up for a free 30-day trial today to access exclusive deals and other perks, such as fast and free shipping.

The handheld vacuum comes equipped with dual suction modes, which can reach a maximum speed that rivals upright models. It weighs less than 2 pounds but can swiftly snatch up dust, dirt, crumbs, and pet hair with ease. In one reviewer’s words, the device is a “pet hair destroyer” and “actually gets the hair off the rug and sofa.” 

Ayontin Cordless Handheld Vacuum, $46 with Prime

Amazon

With a dust brush and retractable nozzle, it easily reaches crumbs in tight corners and spills lurking in car seat crevices, which makes it perfect for families with kids, pets, or both. Plus, the LED lights illuminate surfaces to highlight fine dust, ensuring nothing gets missed. With a one-touch dustbin, you can empty it in seconds without the mess.

It also comes with a compact charging dock that doubles as storage, or you can plug it directly into the charger for added convenience. Two washable, reusable HEPA filters are included to help trap dust, germs, and allergens while you clean, keeping both your home and the air around you fresher.

“Light, powerful, [and] convenient,” one reviewer wrote about the handheld vacuum, adding that it “makes cleaning less of a chore.” Another person shared, “Bye bye dust bunnies… Those LED [lights] exposed an entire [dust] bunny civilization under my couch. Sucked ‘em up in seconds.” 

A final user noted that the vacuum is “excellent for small spaces,” adding that it “maneuvers around furniture like a dream” and “the bin size is impressive for a compact unit.”

If you’re looking to streamline your cleaning routine, don’t miss the massive discount on the Ayontin Cordless Handheld Vacuum at Amazon now. And keep scrolling for more quality devices to clean your floors. 

Shark WV201 Wandvac Handheld Vacuum

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Ckikh Handheld Vacuum, $40 with Prime

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Dyson V8 Plus Cordless Vacuum

Amazon

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By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 01:05 EST, 21 December 2025 | Updated: 01:21 EST, 21 December 2025

A massive outage has knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses across San Francisco, leaving at least one-third of the city in darkness.

The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark on Saturday, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park.

Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations.

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.

The city’s transportation agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART train stations because of the power outages.

At least some of the blackouts were caused by a fire that broke out inside a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) substation at 8th and Mission streets.

A massive outage has knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses across San Francisco, leaving at least a third of the city in darkness

The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark on Saturday, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park 

A Waymo vehicle sits idling at an intersection with no operating traffic lights due to power outages, in San Francisco, California on Saturday

Ryan Sicat, store manager of Industry of All Nations, stands outside the store amid the major power outage impacting 30 percent of San Francisco

The outage represents roughly one-third of the PG&E’s customers in the city. 

PG&E posted on X around 4pm that it had stabilized the power grid and was not expecting additional customer outages. 

The company said it was unable to confirm when power would be restored.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie urged people to stay off the roads in a post on social media.

‘We are still not clear when power will be restored to over 130,000 customers,’ Lurie wrote. ‘So what I am going to ask all of you to do is, if you do not need to go out tonight, stay home, be safe.’ 

PG&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause of the blackouts. 

A view of traffic from above as more than 130,000 PG&E customers are without power in San Francisco

A pedestrian crosses an intersection lit with headlights amid the San Francisco power outage

A Waymo driverless car is unable to detect traffic lights after a major power outage in San Francisco, California on Saturday

Pedestrians walk in the dark on Hayes Street after a major power outage in San Francisco

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie urged people to stay off the roads amid the power outage

Fog and power outages darken the skyline as traffic moves in dark San Francisco

Vehicles move slowly in traffic as power outages darken the San Francisco streets

Traffic at a standstill in all directions as traffic lights are out amid a San Francisco power outage

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Massive power blackout leaves at least a third of San Francisco in darkness

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Pride of Britain winner Hari Budha Magar MBE is nothing short of extraordinary. Born in a cowshed, he lost his legs to a bomb in Afghanistan… then was the first double below the knee amputee to climb the tallest peak in the world. And his next challenge is about to begin…

Hari Budha Magar is aiming to climb the highest peak in each of the seven continents by the end of the year.(Image: Rami Rasamny/Life Happens Outdoors/PA)

Growing up in a remote village in Nepal, Hari Budha Magar heard stories about Mount Everest and as a boy had wild dreams of climbing the famous peak. So when he successfully summited the world’s highest mountain in 2023, he could scarcely believe it himself. The feat was made even more incredible due to the fact that Hari is a double above knee amputee, so climbed all 8849m on prosthetic legs.

“The Nepalese people are proud of three things: Everest, Nepal being the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and being the home of the Gurkhas,” says Hari, 46, a mountaineer and disability campaigner who lives in Canterbury, Kent with his wife Urmila, a stay at home mum. He has three children, daughter Samjhana, and sons Brian, and Ublan. Born in a cowshed overlooking Nepalese mountains Dhaulagiri and Sisne, Hari’s family were poor farmers. He didn’t have flip flops so had to walk 45 mins to and from school every day barefoot. At 11 Hari’s parents found him a bride and he married (his parents would later separate them when he was 22 after realising the couple were incompatible) and at 17 he became a dad to Samjhana.

READ MORE: Pride of Britain hero exchanges epic Everest for fantastic fjords

Aged 19, as civil war descended on Nepal and ravaged his country, Hari joined the Gurkhas. “It was a horrific time. Brothers turned on brothers, neighbours turned into each other, 17,000 people in Nepal were killed, including 21 from my village as I left,” he says. He applied to join the British Army and was selected in 230 out of 12,000 applicants, and for the next 15 years served the United Kingdom in five continents, in Brunei, Kosovo, the Falklands and more.

Hari Budha Magar has achieved an astounding amount(Image: PA)

He moved to the UK from Brunei in 2009 with Urmila. The couple have two children together, Brian and Ublan. Then, in 2010, two weeks into a tour in Afghanistan, during a foot patrol an IED exploded underneath Hari and he lost both his legs. He says: “I looked down and saw one of my legs was gone. The other was hanging by the skin and bone.”

Fellow soldiers fought to save Hari, and thankfully a helicopter was 10 minutes out. “I felt no pain at all at first. But when they tightened the tourniquets, it was excruciating,” he remembers. 22 days followed in hospital, then Hari was allowed home. But there, Hari suffered from PTSD and struggled to cope with what had happened to him.

“I tried to take my own life. I thought my wife would leave me. Why would she stay with someone like me? I was broken. I thought the children would be ashamed. What use was I to anyone? I began to drink a lot every day and became an alcoholic. I’d wake up feeling awful but think it’s okay, it’ll die soon, it’ll be over.” Two years in the wilderness followed for Hari as he battled his demons.

Hari won a Pride of Britain award in 2024(Image: David Dyson / Daily Mirror)

But then a chance day out in 2012 changed everything. “I took up the opportunity to go skydiving. I thought, half of me is already gone, what does it matter about the other half,” says Hari. “But when I was about to jump, I felt something – fear. I realised I didn’t want to die and in fact I was very scared of the prospect indeed. It sparked something in me I hadn’t felt for years – hope.”

Determined to get better, Hari threw himself into research. “I looked into all the things disabled people could actually do – I tried all the Paralympic sports. And as I tried them. I found myself getting fitter and fitter, my mind stronger and stronger. I realised that I could do almost anything I wanted, just with a little adaptation.

“And in the back of my mind I had a thought… what if I could climb Everest.” The fascination Hari had as a child came back. At first I didn’t tell anyone about my dream, not even my wife. I thought people would think I was mad. Me? No way,” he says. But when he began to open up and share his idea, sponsors, his communities and charities listened.

As a double above knee amputee, Hari uses three times more energy than someone able bodied

There was a catch, however. At the time, Nepalese law forbid double amputees from climb any mountain over 6,500m which includes Everest. “Disabled people are always being told what they can’t do,” says Hari. “It’s too dangerous, something might happen. Well Everest is perilous with or without a disability, and I know what I’m capable of.”

He campaigned and helps to fight a case in the Supreme Court in Nepal – and they won. It was game on. And in the meantime, armed with specially designed prosthetics that could walk on ice and snow, Hari practiced climbing some of the tallest peaks in the world. He became the first double above the knee amputee to summit a peak higher than 6000m (Mera Peak in Nepal at 6476m). Then came successful climbs of Mt Blanc in France and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Then, in 2023, it was time to tackle Everest. “It was really tough. We had to wait a month at base camp because weather conditions were too bad and so we could acclimatise to altitude,” says Hari. “It was a hard season that saw 17 people die climbing Everest, the most ever in one season,” says Hari. “Three guys died in an ice fall before we even arrived at base camp, four people died on the day we summited.

Hari Budha Magar is made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle in December 2024(Image: PA)

“The mountain takes no prisoners, it’s brutal even for the fittest person. It takes the fastest person around eight hours from camp four to summit, but it took me 25. It takes three times longer and I use three times more energy than an able bodied person. I was absolutely exhausted. But I couldn’t give up, if I gave up I’d die. You walk past dead people on your way up and down. There’s only so much oxygen that you can carry, and if runs out – that’s it. It’s so hard to rescue people. If someone said they’d give you a million pounds for your oxygen you’d say no.”

Standing at the summit in May 2023, Hari broke down. “It was windy and cold. I cried – we did it! But then I knew we had to go back down, I had half way to go again to be safe. We were running out of oxygen, it was getting late. We started at 9.50pm in the evening and arrived back at camp four at 11pm the night after.”

Hari now dedicates his life to proving just how much people living with a disability can do. He says: “There are 1.3 billion disabled people in this world. I don’t want other people to lose years of their life struggling like I did. And I want governments around the world to know that banning us from the things that we love to do – like climbing Everest as a double amputee – isn’t the answer. Supporting us the right way is. We can live a meaningful life like anyone else. That’s what drives me forward.”

Hari strives to prove that those with a disability can do anything(Image: PA)

In 2024, Hari was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for his services to disability awareness. Later that year, the Mirror met him for the first time when he won a Pride of Britain Award and he and his family were invited to Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as a result.

“It’s been such an honour and an incredible experience, to be in a room full of those incredible winners at the Pride of Britain Awards was humbling,” says Hari. But there’s no rest for the wicked, as he is about to embark on his latest challenge: climbing Mt. Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, to complete the 7 Summits challenge, the climb of each highest peak of each continent of the world. He hopes to raise the height of Mt. Everest plus two 00’s [£884,900], for five amazing charities: Gurkha Welfare Trust, BLESMA, Pilgrim Bandits, On Course Foundation and Team Forces.

“When practicing for the Everest climb, I realised that I’d already climbed three of them,” says Hari. So Denali in Alaska followed in June 2024, then Aconcagua in Argentina in February this year, and Puncak Jaya in New Guinea in October. His final expedition of the challenge, to summit Vinson in Antarctica, launches this week.

Hari will leave the UK on Dec 24th, begins the trek on Jan 1 and hopes to summit on January 6 or 7. Hero Hari plans to plant a Mirror flag on the top of the mountain, and we wish him all the luck in the world for his trip. We’ll bring you the full story exclusively once he’s done.

“I want to show that anything is possible,” says Hari. I’m still a human being – I just have a couple of limbs missing. Who is perfect? I wasn’t perfect when I had legs. I may have a weakness but it doesn’t mean I can’t do anything.”

Next year will see Hari put pen to paper for the release of his debut book, which will tell his incredible story, published by Mirror Books. And one day he hopes there may even be a film. “I’m waiting for the call…” he jokes. Hari has certainly achieved the impossible, and he’s full of gratitude.

“I do it too for the soldiers who saved me. It’s incredibly dangerous to help someone on the battlefield, and they risked their life to save mine. So now when I achieve something with my life, it’s for them too, to show them it was worth it.”

*You can support Hari’s incredible appeal, and donate HERE

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