When the cloud rains: Azure outage soaks industries worldwide
A major outage hit Microsoft’s Azure cloud service Wednesday, impacting email and other Office 365 apps used by companies and governments worldwide. A post from the company said users may experience “latencies, timeouts and errors.” Alaska Airlines said the outage had disrupted key systems. In the United Kingdom, London’s Heathrow Airport said it was experiencing […]
Food banks brace for surge as 42 million Americans face November without SNAP
OMAHA, Neb. — An orange alert greets visitors at the top of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) website. The accompanying message is short, blunt and, for millions of Americans, unsettling: no Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be issued for November. As the federal government’s shutdown enters its second month, negotiations in the […]
Both parties say cutting SNAP for 42 million is wrong – but can’t agree on a fix
More than 40 million low-income Americans are about to lose access to SNAP food assistance on Nov. 1, despite there being two funding methods available to Congress and the White House. There is unanimous agreement on Capitol Hill that our leaders are putting the nation’s poor in a bad situation. Here are two quotes that […]
GM lays off 3,300 EV workers in three states after post-subsidy market stalls
General Motors (GM) laid off more than 3,300 electric vehicle (EV) workers, according to reports. Some layoffs are permanent, while others are temporary, as the automaker cited a slowdown in the EV market. GM will temporarily or permanently reduce its workforce by over 3,300 employees at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, the Wall Street […]
AI videos have invaded local news as realism becomes indistinguishable
NBC Chicago aired a fake video generated by artificial intelligence during its newscast. It comes as AI-generated videos become more popular and difficult to spot, even for experts. AI on the news The video comes from a Facebook page that posts videos about a fake racetrack. This particular video showed the lights going out during […]
Fed cuts interest rate while being cut off from key government data
In the shadow of the government shutdown, the Federal Reserve forged ahead with another interest rate cut on Wednesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced the second quarter-point cut in as many months, though the committee was forced to make the decision in the midst of a data blackout. The government did not release its monthly […]
Hurricane Melissa kills dozens, cuts off rescue services in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti
Dozens of people are dead after Hurricane Melissa hit several islands in the Caribbean. Although initial forecasts indicated that the storm was expected to move out to the Atlantic after hitting Jamaica, it continues to cause destruction across Haiti and Cuba. The storm is expected to continue moving through the Bahamas on Wednesday. Melissa still […]
‘More than the Guard’: 9th Circuit reblocks Portland deployment
President Donald Trump told U.S. service members in Japan that he is prepared to send “more than the National Guard” into American cities to enforce his law enforcement push on crime and immigration, according to reporting by The New York Times. Speaking aboard the USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base on Tuesday, Trump said, […]
Why thousands of sea cucumbers washed up on an Oregon beach
Thousands of sea cucumbers have reportedly washed ashore in the Oregon coastal town of Seaside, roughly 80 miles west of Portland, due to powerful waves and low tide. The translucent sea creatures typically burrow into the sand along the low tide line and beyond, but could be seen covering more than two miles of beach, […]
