Your daily life 6: Facebook's failure, winter explosion via a "cyclone bomb" and UPS sued for nooses and n-word | New

Facebook fails, then plagues stocks

Your Facebook has been down Wednesday for hours, which you already knew.

And the stock of the company is beating the next day. Some users were unable to access Facebook or other company-owned platforms, including Instagram and Messenger, for at least 14 hours on Wednesday.

The stock was down about 2% in pre-market trading.

This network was thought to be the biggest disruption in its history, which could upset advertisers who are spending huge amounts of money to reach potential customers on Facebook.

It appeared that the blackout was resolved early Thursday, but not before Facebook went to Twitter to explain its technical problem.

At 12:41 ET, Instagram posted a tweet that said "Anddd … we're back" with a gif of Oprah Winfrey.

Instead of selfies and status updates, many Facebook users have received an error message during the outage: "Sorry, an error has occurred. We are working to resolve this problem as quickly as possible. "

"Explosive cyclones" form hundreds of snow, strong winds cross parts of the United States

The National Guard troops used specialized vehicles with tank-like treads to rescue stranded drivers in Colorado following a major late winter storm that was to unleash a rainy Thursday. and abundant snow in the Midwestern plains.

Wednesday's snowstorm caused numerous power outages, theft of hundreds of flights and considerable damage to the roads as drivers were overwhelmed by the blinding snow. A gust of wind reached 97 mph in Colorado Springs.

The storm also contributed to the death of Corporal Daniel Groves, an officer of the Colorado State Patrol who was hit by a car while he was helping another driver who had slipped from the car. Interstate 76 near Denver.

"It's a tragic reminder that people's lives are at stake," said Shoshana Lew, chief of the Colorado Department of Transportation. "The best place to be is at home and off the road."

Lew warned drivers that conditions would remain precarious at least until Thursday.

About 200 vehicles were shut off on Interstate 25 near Colorado Springs, and many more drivers were rescued on secondary roads, said Kyle Lester of the Department's Highway Maintenance Division. transports.

Bria McKenzie, 22, was one of the drivers stranded. With her mother, brother and sister, she was stuck in her car for over two hours on a hilly Colorado Springs road. She said the snow was so blinding and numb and the wind was blowing so hard that she did not feel safe to get to the hospital just down the road.

"It was like every second you were there, it was as if some parts of you were freezing," she said.

McKenzie and his family were eventually saved by his father during his abduction.

The storm caused snowstorms, floods and a tornado in more than 25 states Wednesday, extending from the northern Rockies to Texas and beyond.

Many motorists fled to truck stops in eastern Wyoming, while blowing snow forced the closure of some of the major highways of Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. Meanwhile, hundreds of flights have been canceled at the Denver International Airport and nearly 40 have been stranded in Colorado Springs.

Monkey dolls, flowing knots and the keyword: UPS sued for discrimination

Nineteen UPS workers sued the parcel vendor, claiming that they had been victims of repeated racial discrimination and that the company did nothing to stop him.

Officials and supervisors have allowed and even encouraged hatred at the Maumee Distribution Center in Ohio, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon in Lucas County Court in Ohio.

The workers claim that nooses were hanging over the workstation of an African-American employee, that a monkey doll disguised as a UPS employee was placed close to the office. other people and that the word N has been frequently used.

The workers say that a monkey doll was disguised as a UPS employee and placed near black workers.

Workers, many of whom have been working in the business for more than two decades, contend that racist remarks provoked reactions ranging from "fear, anger and disgust to dismay" regarding comments and lack of action. on the part of the company.

"UPS promptly initiated an investigation and took early disciplinary action against those found to have taken improper action, including the dismissal of two employees," CNN's Glen Zaccara, Director of Corporate Relations, told CNN. the media in the company.

He added that the company had taken corrective action and collaborated with the Civil Rights Commission of Ohio to ensure that employees are trained.

The lawsuit describes in detail various incidents that occurred in the UPS distribution center during the years in which the workers worked there.

According to an employee, a text message sent by a group of white colleagues about possible lottery winnings in July 2016 contained "racist" and "shocking" messages, according to the trial, including: "If you feel discouraged, the noose is loose; " "Can we buy another noose with the winnings" and "As Clint Eastwood said:" Hang 'em High. "

A gang leader murdered in front of the New York House

Federal prosecutors said a man had been one of the top leaders of the famed Gambino family of criminals in New York, who was shot dead Wednesday in Staten Island.

Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, 53, was found shot and wounded at home at his home in the Todt Hill section of the borough just after 9 pm.

Cali was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. There was no arrest.

No other information was provided by the police.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had referred to Cali at the recent court hearings as "Gambino's chief of infantry," linked by marriage to the Inzerillo clan of the Sicilian mafia.

Several press reports since 2015 have revealed that Cali has risen to the top of the gang, although he has never been charged with criminal charges.

His only criminal conviction related to the crowd was pronounced a decade ago when Cali pleaded guilty to an extortion plot involving an unsuccessful attempt to build a NASCAR track on Staten Island. He was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison and released in 2009.

The last criminal head of family to be shot in New York was Paul Castellano. The crime leader Gambino was murdered in front of the Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan in 1985.

The Gambino family was once one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the United States, but prosecutions by the federal government in the 1980s and 1990s sent its key leaders to jail and reduced its reach.

Senate rules on Trump border declaration for Trump

The Republican-run Senate is ready to reprimand President Donald Trump after his national emergency declaration on the Mexican border. The only outstanding question is how many GOP senators will join the Democrats to challenge it.

Republicans predict that Thursday's decisive vote will lead Congress to send Trump a resolution blocking the border emergency declared last month to mobilize an additional $ 3.6 billion for the establishment of border barriers.

Since the Democratic-controlled House approved the measure last month, the Senate vote would force Trump to use a veto to protect the "Build the Wall" mantra from his presidential campaign against the objections of his own party.

"It's been called turning off the lights, the party is over," said Sen. John Kennedy, representative of the R-La., Evoking a favorite chorus of advertisers for "Monday Night Football" when a match was off. of scope. "Well, it's appropriate right now."

Trump tweeted Thursday morning about the "big vote for the national emergency" in the Senate, saying "I'm ready to veto, if necessary" and described the border situation as "a nightmare for security. national and humanitarian aid ".

The Senate's adoption of the resolution was virtually ruled Wednesday after the failure of the White House and GOP Senators' efforts to reach a compromise on separate legislation from Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah , limiting the power of presidents to declare emergency situations in the future.

Republican lawmakers had hoped that an agreement on this measure would further help them support Trump's border emergency during Thursday's vote. Instead, many Republicans are grappling with a thorny dilemma: challenge Trump and the conservative voters who passionately support him, or endorse what many lawmakers on both sides see as a dubious and dangerous expansion of presidential authority.

Republicans controlling the Senate 53-47, it would be enough for four GOP defections to approve the resolution rescinding Trump's border emergency.

Lee became the fifth Republican to say that he would support the resolution after Trump called him at a private lunch of the GOP senators to say he was opposed to it. Lee's compromise bill. The appeal was described by two officials who were not allowed to publicly discuss the case and who described it under the guise of anonymity. Other GOP Senators who said they would vote to block the Trump border emergency are Thom Tillis from North Carolina, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Rand Paul from Kentucky. .

Dementia deaths more than double in the United States, report says

Dementia not only affects memory and quality of life, but can be fatal. A report released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics reveals that the death rate among Americans with dementia has more than doubled, from 30.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2000 to 66.7 in 2017.

The term dementia encompasses conditions that impair memory and cause a decline in cognitive function. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these conditions appear to affect more of the population, since it is expected to affect 14 million people aged 65 and over by 2060.

Dr. Ellen Kramarow, lead author of the new report and health statistician at the Aging and Chronic Disease Statistics Branch of the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC), explained that one of the causes of the number Increasing number of deaths from dementia in Canada The United States is probably due to the aging of the population. "If people live longer, they do not die of other causes, so they live to the point where the risk of dementia is higher," she said.

Researchers used death certificate data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They examined four types of dementia recognized by the International Classification of Diseases: Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, unspecified dementia, and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system. The authors adjusted according to age, which allowed them to compare people of different ages.

Alzheimer's disease has been responsible for 46% of the 261,914 deaths due to dementia in the United States in 2017. This discovery confirms the need for further research on Alzheimer's disease, Kramarow said.

Although the cause of Alzheimer's disease is not fully understood, researchers are better understanding how it affects the brain. The disease destroys neurons, cells responsible for communication throughout the brain.

Dr. Chad Hales, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, explained that the diagnosis of dementia begins with a good clinical history, examinations, brain imaging, and laboratory studies in order to avoid any other condition. cause the symptoms.