Prices continued to rise in September, increasing at an annual rate of 3%, according to the latest government inflation report.The September 2025 consumer price index (CPI) was published approximately two weeks later than usual due to the federal government shutdown, which halted all Bureau of Labor Statistics operations.Furloughed staff were recalled to prepare the inflation report, which the Social Security Administration relies on to calculate an annual cost-of-living adjustment for benefits.Consumer pri ...

Instagram, Facebook have breached EU law by failing to provide users with simple ways to complain or flag illegal content including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, the European Commission has said.In a preliminary finding on Friday, the EU’s executive body said Meta, the $1.8tn California company that runs the social media services, had introduced unnecessary steps in processes for users to submit reports.It said both platforms appeared to use deceptive design – known as “dark patterns” – ...

Amazon has revealed the cause of this week’s hours-long AWS outage, which took everything from Signal to smart beds offline, was a bug in automation software that had widespread consequences.In a lengthy outline of the cause of the outage published on Thursday, AWS revealed a cascading set of events brought down thousands of sites and applications that host their services with the company.AWS said customers were unable to connect to DynamoDB, its database system where AWS customers store their data, due to ...

The oil price has jumped after Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Russia’s biggest producers, as the US president ramps up pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.Brent crude increased by 4.9% to $65.65 a barrel – a two-week high – on the news of the fresh restrictions on Moscow’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.All assets in the US belonging to the two fossil fuel firms have been frozen, and American companies and individuals will be barred from doing business with them.The ...

Despite record vehicle sales, Tesla saw a precipitous drop in profit in its most recent quarter.A rush to buy electric vehicles before a US tax credit for them disappears had boosted Tesla’s flagging sales, leading to the automaker exceeding some of Wall Street’s projections in its most recent financial quarter. Yet the company failed to meet earnings expectations and its stock fell in after hours trading.Tesla reported third-quarter earnings of 50 cents a share on Wednesday after market close, less than th ...

Google has claimed a breakthrough in quantum computing after developing an algorithm that performed a task beyond the capabilities of conventional computers.The algorithm, a set of instructions guiding the operation of a quantum computer, was able to compute the structure of a molecule – which paves the way for major discoveries in areas such as medicine and materials science.Google acknowledged, however, that real-world use of quantum computers remained years away.“This is the first time in history that an ...

Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy beamed as he met Keir Starmer in Downing Street’s garden to announce £40bn of UK investments in June. Starmer was equally effusive, gushing: “This deal shows that our plan for change is working –bringing in investment, driving growth, and putting more money in people’s pockets.”Four months later, and the tech company was left scrambling to fix a devastating global outage on Monday that left thousands of businesses in limbo – and shed light on the UK government’s reliance on ...

Warner Bros Discovery is considering an outright sale following interest from several potential buyers, the company said Tuesday, in what would be the latest shakeup across legacy media.Shares of the company rose 10.5% in morning trading. Netflix and Comcast are among the potential bidders, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing sources, following earlier reports that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison was also in talks to acquire the combined company.Warner Bros Discovery – home to CNN, HBO Max and the “Harry Pot ...

Core Viewpoint - General Motors has raised its financial outlook for the year while slightly reducing the expected impact from tariffs, amidst a challenging electric vehicle market [1][2]. Financial Outlook - The company now anticipates its annual adjusted core profit to be between $12 billion and $13 billion, an increase from the previous estimate of $10 billion to $12.5 billion [2]. - The updated impact of tariffs on the bottom line is now projected to be between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion, down from the earlier estimate of $4 billion to $5 billion [2]. Electric Vehicle Strategy - General Motors incurred a $1.6 billion charge due to changes in its electric vehicle strategy, with the removal of a $7,500 tax credit for battery-powered models at the end of September [3]. - CEO Mary Barra indicated that future charges related to electric vehicles are expected, but the company aims to reduce EV losses by addressing overcapacity [3]. Revenue and Sales Performance - Revenue for the quarter ending in September slightly decreased to $48.6 billion compared to the previous year [4]. - Despite tariff uncertainties, US car sales increased by 6% in the third quarter, with consumers opting for more expensive models and features [4]. Tariff Mitigation Efforts - General Motors plans to mitigate 35% of its anticipated tariff impact, aided by a new program allowing credits for US-assembled vehicles [5][6]. - The MSRP offset program is expected to enhance the competitiveness of US-produced vehicles over the next five years [6]. Investment and Market Dynamics - The company is increasing investments in the US to counteract tariffs, with a $4 billion investment announced for three facilities in Michigan, Kansas, and Tennessee [7]. - Other automakers, such as Stellantis, are also planning significant investments in the US, with Stellantis announcing a $13 billion investment over the next four years [8]. Electric Vehicle Market Challenges - Although electric vehicle sales were strong in the third quarter, they still represented less than 10% of General Motors' overall sales [8]. - The company initially planned to offer a program to allow dealers to continue providing tax credits on EV leases but has since retracted this initiative due to political backlash [9].

Core Points - A significant internet outage affected numerous websites and applications globally, primarily due to issues at Amazon's cloud computing service, AWS [1][4][5] - The outage impacted major platforms including Snapchat, Roblox, Signal, Duolingo, and various Amazon-owned services [1][3] - In the UK, Lloyds Bank and its subsidiaries, as well as the HM Revenue and Customs website, experienced disruptions [2][3] Summary by Sections Outage Details - The problems began around 8am BST, with Amazon reporting increased error rates and latencies in its AWS services [4][5] - By 10:30am UK time, Amazon indicated that recovery was underway, confirming that services relying on the US-EAST-1 region were recovering [4] Affected Services - Reports indicated tens of thousands of issues across various platforms in the UK, including Wordle, Coinbase, Slack, and PlayStation Network [3] - The outage had a global ripple effect, with Downdetector reporting problems across multiple continents [5] Technical Insights - Cisco's Thousand Eyes noted a surge in outage reports, particularly in Virginia, where AWS's US-East-1 region is located [6] - Experts suggested that the outage was likely an IT issue rather than a cyber-attack, specifically related to AWS's DynamoDB database system [6][7] Industry Implications - The incident highlighted concerns about the concentration of digital infrastructure within a few companies, emphasizing the need for diversification in cloud computing [7][8] - The UK government is in contact with Amazon regarding the outage, indicating the potential implications for critical services [9]