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Winter's Dawn: Celebrating the Solstice

The Winter Solstice, which occurred on December 21st, marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, signaling the official start of winter. Mary Walrath-Holdridge and Julia Gomez from USA TODAY explore the significance of this astronomical event and how it is celebrated across different cultures. The solstice, occurring when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun, brings the least amount of daylight and the longest night. This year, the solstice fell on December 21st at 4:21 a.m. EST, marking the astronomical beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Historically, the Winter Solstice has been a time of celebration and reflection. Ancient civilizations, such as the Romans with their Saturnalia festival and the Norsemen with their bonfires, honored the return of the sun and the promise of longer days ahead. Today, people continue to observe the solstice with various traditions, including gatherings, feasts, and rituals that pay homage to the natural cycles of l...

Global IT Outage Sends Dow Futures Tumbling

                                             

The stock market faced turbulence today as Dow futures slipped following a massive global IT outage. This unprecedented disruption affected various sectors, including travel, finance, and healthcare, causing significant operational challenges worldwide.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 0.2%, reflecting investor concerns over the outage’s impact. The S&P 500 futures saw a slight increase of 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures edged up by 0.2%.

The outage, linked to a botched update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, led to widespread disruptions. Flights were grounded, banks experienced service interruptions, and media companies faced broadcasting issues. Although CrowdStrike has implemented a fix, the fallout continues to affect global markets.

Investors are now closely monitoring the situation, hoping for stability as the fix takes effect. The market’s reaction underscores the vulnerability of global systems to IT disruptions and the far-reaching consequences of such events.


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