blackout

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Skype Blackout Hits Millions Worldwide

Firm says service slowing returning

(Newser) - Millions worldwide have been hit with a Skype outage that began yesterday, the BBC reports. The online communications service says that failed “supernodes,” which “act a bit like phone directories,” are at fault. Now, Skype is trying to build “mega-supernodes” to fix the issue. The...

Toronto Loses Power During Queen's Visit

Outage may cancel or delay scheduled state dinner

(Newser) - A power outage struck late this afternoon in Toronto, where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are visiting at the end of a 9-day swing through Canada. The prince was at a downtown hotel when the lights went out and gamely presented the Duke of Edinburgh Awards for community service to...

Hundreds Die in India Heatwave
 Hundreds Die in India Heatwave 



Hundreds Die in India Heatwave

Heatstroke, blackouts, water shortages plague parched country

(Newser) - Hundreds of people have died in northern India as the country suffers the hottest temperatures it has ever recorded. Along with the at least 260 people reported dead, thousands have flooded hospitals suffering heat stroke or food poisoning. In cities the heat has also led to electricity blackouts and water...

Bad Weather Blamed for Brazil Blackout

60M affected after wind, rain knock out transmission lines

(Newser) - Heavy rain and strong wind last night caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians—60 million people—in the dark, officials said today as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The weather made transformers on a...

In Recession, NFL Blackout Rule Raises Ire

To fill seats, league holds local TV broadcasts hostage

(Newser) - High ticket prices and the recession are taking their toll on attendance at pro football games. But if you can’t afford the stadium, at least you can watch at home, right? Wrong. The NFL is sticking to its “blackout” policy—no local broadcast if the stadium doesn’t...

Lights Out for Obama in Oahu Power Outage

800,000 lose power during storm; Prez-elect gets generator

(Newser) - The Hawaiian island of Oahu lost power during heavy rain and lightning last night, leaving the population of 800,000 and thousands of tourists, including vacationing President-elect Obama and his family, in the dark. Authorities advised residents to stay home and to conserve water. Hawaiian Electric Co. took an emergency...

Dutch Blackout Leads to Baby Boom

(Newser) - A mini baby boom in the Netherlands has dark origins: The 44% jump in births in September came nine months after a 2-day blackout left most of the 24,000 residents of a small area in the eastern part of the country freezing. "They went to bed early to...

Calif. Pol Aims to Burst Balloons

Blames orbs on blackouts; opponents vehemently rally to helium-filled cause

(Newser) - A California lawmaker is pushing to ban helium-filled foil balloons, blaming the globe-shaped menaces for flying into power lines and causing more than 800 blackouts in the state last year. The bill easily passed the state's senate, but it’s facing an uproar from balloon artists and balloon lovers alike...

Cat and Mouse Cause Massive Albanian Blackout

Cat-mouse battle leads to blackout in parts of Albanian capital

(Newser) - It’s an unlikely reason for a power outage: A cat and mouse engaged in a chase accidentally ran into high-voltage cables at the main power station in Tirana, frying themselves and causing a 72-hour blackout in some districts of the Albanian capital, Reuters reports. Outages are relatively common in...

FCC Member Wants Probe of Ala. TV Station

'60 Minutes' went black as piece linking Rove to ex-gov's case began

(Newser) - An FCC commissioner wants to know why an Alabama TV station went off the air just as a "60 Minutes" segment critical of Karl Rove started, Broadcasting & Cable reports. WHNT blamed a “technical difficulty," but Michael Copps said today he wants to find out whether Sunday's...

Engineer's Goof Turned Out Florida Lights

Worker disabled two levels of protective backup systems

(Newser) - One engineer's blunder shut off the power in Florida Tuesday, the Miami Herald reports. Florida Light & Power says a field engineer diagnosing a faulty switch disabled two levels of safety backups—against company policy—as he worked. In a bit of extremely unfortunate timing, a fault then occurred that...

Power Back On in South Florida
Power Back On in South Florida

Power Back On in South Florida

Blackout hit 4 million people

(Newser) - Floridians saw the light again last evening when power was restored after equipment failure at a single Miami substation caused a blackout which dominoed across South Florida, leaving millions without power for several hours. Most homes were back on the grid before nightfall, but why a single substation's failure could...

Power Returns to Millions in Fla.
Power Returns to Millions in Fla.

Power Returns to Millions in Fla.

Authorities rule out terrorism but disagree on cause

(Newser) - A blackout that cut off millions of Florida residents today is ending, authorities say, but they disagree on the cause. Florida Power & Light blames a substation west of Miami for sparking the outage, and a state emergency office says a station south of Miami suffered a mechanical failure that...

Lobbyists Pack Ethics Crusader McCain's Staff

Forget Iseman: Senior advisers represent major corporations

(Newser) - Vicki Iseman is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to John McCain’s associations with lobbyists, the Washington Post reports. McCain targets special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are or have been lobbyists representing some of the country’s biggest corporations. Top adviser Charles...

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