☕️ Fallout from global outage

We’re officially in Olympics week, which means it is now time to binge every single sport-related Netflix series that exists.

First up? Simone Biles: Rising. This woman is a star and I will hear no slander against her.

Next up: Sprint. Have I ever watched sprinting outside of the Olympics? No. Will I binge this? Yes.

“May the Olympics be an occasion to call for a ceasefire in wars, demonstrating a sincere desire for peace.”
Pope Francis has called for countries at war to honour “ancient tradition” by calling a temporary ceasefire during the Paris Olympic Games, which begin this week.

$4.8 million
How much the Federal Government is spending on a new campaign raising awareness about elder abuse. The Government said elder abuse can include physical, psychological or emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse or neglect.

1999
NASA astronaut Eileen Collins from the U.S. became the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.

U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has apologised for Friday’s global IT outage, which impacted an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices.

A failed software update is being blamed for widespread shutdowns across banking, travel, retail, broadcast and more.

CrowdStrike called the outage an “isolated” incident. With some services still offline, the company saying it’s “making progress by the minute” to restore all systems.

CrowdStrike’s antivirus software is used by almost 30,000 businesses worldwide to detect and stop cybersecurity breaches.

The company said it released a routine update on Friday, which triggered an “error resulting in a system crash” and ‘blue screen of death’ on impacted systems.

In an update on Monday, CrowdStrike said “a significant number” of services were “back online and operational.”

“We understand the profound impact this has had on everyone,” it said.

“We apologise for the disruption this has created. Our focus is clear: to restore every system as soon as possible.” - A statement from CrowdStrike after Friday’s global IT outage.

Ministers and government agencies held emergency meetings over the weekend to examine the outage’s impact on Australian users and businesses.

The Government said while “teething issues” are expected as the outage continues to be resolved, Australia is on the road to recovery.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians “can be quite proud of the fact that this very significant global event was dealt with in a way that minimised the impact on the Australian people”.

“What I would say to people is please be patient. Don’t take this out on the staff at your supermarkets if you have to wait a little bit longer, it is absolutely not their fault, and what I can see around me is a lot of people who are working as hard as they can to get things working again for Australians.” -Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil speaking at a press conference.

The National Anti-Scam Centre, which is part of consumer watchdog the ACCC, issued scam alerts in the wake of the outage.

In particular, consumers have been told to look out for opportunistic scammers offering technical assistance to people impacted by the outage.

“Criminals look to take advantage of incidents like this CrowdStrike outage, creating a sense of urgency that you need to do what they say to protect your computer and your financial information,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

Experts warn the incident “should serve as a crucial wake-up call” for businesses to diversify and innovate their cybersecurity processes.

University of Sydney Professor Dr Shumi Akhta said: “From banking to healthcare, education to government, no sector remains untouched.”

Akhta said the outage highlights “an urgent need for a worldwide strategic overhaul of our critical infrastructures.”

Reporting by Achol Arok.

Joe Biden has given his support to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democrats into the next election.

It comes after President Biden announced he would not seek a second term as leader of the U.S.

Biden’s withdrawal from the race means his party, the Democrats, need a new contender to face Trump (a Republican) on 5 November.

Biden’s successor won’t be confirmed until next month’s Democratic National Convention, but Harris is the most likely candidate.

So, who is she?

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California in 1964.

Her mother, a breast cancer scientist, was born in India. Her Jamaican-born father was an economist and professor. Both were active in the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Harris is the first woman, first Black person, and first person of South Asian descent to be Vice President.

Before she ran as Biden’s deputy in 2020, the 59-year-old represented the state of California as a Senator, and was its Attorney-General.

Harris graduated from Howard University, a historically Black college, and the University of California before becoming a prosecutor, taking on cases relating to a range of criminal offences.

She specialised in prosecuting child sexual assault cases, homicide, and robbery.

Harris rose through the ranks to become her state’s top legal officer, the first female Attorney General, in 2010 — a role she held for six years.

In 2016, Kamala Harris was elected to U.S. Congress as a Senator for California. Harris (a Democrat) faced a Republican-controlled Senate during her term.

Harris gained prominence as a vocal critic of two Supreme Court judges appointed by then-President Donald Trump.

While Harris was praised by Democrats for her line of questioning, Trump described her approach as “extraordinarily nasty”.

Kamala Harris briefly campaigned for the Democrat nomination ahead of the 2020 election.

However, she withdrew from the race in December 2019 and was eventually named as Biden’s pick for Vice President.

Before she was named as his running mate, Harris criticised Biden for opposing busing, a 1960s/70s de-segregation practice mandating children of colour be moved into predominantly white schools.

Following Biden’s election victory over Trump, Harris was sworn in as VP in January 2021.

In the years since, she has strongly criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — a legal precedent that protected access to abortion for women across the U.S.

Harris’ official White House biography describes her as someone who “always fights for the people” on issues like abortion access, gun reform, pollution, and voting rights.

Harris has been criticised for failing to elevate her profile as VP. She has remained relatively unpopular amongst voters since mid-2021, after she told migrants “do not come” to the U.S., and the country’s military withdrew from Afghanistan.

Recent opinion polls ranked Harris ahead of Biden. While she closely trails Trump as preferred President, the gap between the two is narrower than the one between Biden and Trump.

A recent Reuters-Ipsos survey showed voters were evenly split between Trump and Harris (44% support for each).

President Biden has declared his support for Harris to replace him as the Democrat nominee.

Harris said she was “honoured” by the endorsement. “My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said.

Former President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton also endorsed Harris on X: “Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her.”

The party’s Presidential candidate will be confirmed at next month’s Democratic National Convention.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Get involved in DonateLife Week

Although 4 out of 5 Aussies support organ and tissue donation, only 1 in 10 young people aged 16-24 are registered. During this year’s DonateLife Week, from 28 July - 2 August, we’re trying to change that.

It doesn’t matter if you drink, smoke or vape – anyone over 16 can register. It only takes one minute, but you could save up to 7 lives.

How organ donation saves lives: Nick’s Story

At three months old, Brisbane-born Nick DeBonis was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a condition that required a liver transplant for him to survive.

After months of fighting for his life, his parents received a call that someone had sadly passed away, but they had generously donated their liver – and it was a match to Nick.

Now at 18, Nick’s about to represent Australia as the youngest player in the first Transplant Football World Cup in Italy this September.

"I've been given an incredible gift of life and I'm really grateful for that,” Nick said.

When Aussies register as organ donors and their family consent, it gives people like Nick a second chance.

It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au with 3 taps on your Express Plus Medicare app.

Around 350 plant experts, out of 556, voted in favour of changing the names of a range of plants including fungi and algae, to remove derogatory terms historically used against Black people. The changes will also recognise Africa as the home to many of these species, according to findings published in the journal Nature.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

You may remember the U.S. man who received the world’s first kidney transplant from a pig.

It turns out that his procedure could be one of many pig-organ transplants for humans. Genetically modified pigs are now being raised with the sole purpose of being used for human transplant procedures. 

Scientists at Harvard are using gene editing technology to make the pigs’ organs suitable for human patients. The Associated Press called them “the world’s cleanest pigs”. 

They’re aiming to provide a solution to the long lists of people waiting for organ transplants. Wild!

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

In a historic announcement yesterday morning, U.S. President Joe Biden stepped down from his re-election campaign. Biden said he believed it was “in the best interest” of the Democratic party and the U.S. for him to “stand down”. In today’s deep dive, we’ll explain why Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely candidate, and what’s set to happen next.