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Facebook has apologised after global reports of people having problems accessing its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

Those two services and Facebook itself have all reportedly crashed, with users saying they are unable to send or receive messages, and their feeds are not refreshing.

Andy Stone, from Facebook’s communications department, tweeted: “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Facebook working ‘to get things back to normal’ – live updates

Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone has been speaking to people across the world on Twitter who have confirmed the networks are down.

Shares of Facebook, which has nearly 2 billion daily active users, fell 5.7% on Monday, knocking more than $50bn off its market value.

The company has also come under pressure from the testimony of a whistleblower, who claims it chose “profit over safety”.

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Downdetector, which collects status reports on the services, showed 73,804 problems with WhatsApp had been recorded in a spike at 4:53pm.

It showed 43% of the problems were associated with the app and 28% were related to sending messages.

WhatsApp thanked its users for their patience in a statement posted on its official Twitter account.

The tweet said: “We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment.

“We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible.

“Thanks for your patience!”

Downdetector suggested Facebook had received more than 58,219 reports, of which 71% were regarding its website and 17% were with the app.

Users reported being unable to access the site in California, New York and across Europe.

People using their Facebook credentials to log in to third-party apps such as Pokemon Go and Match Masters were also said to be facing issues.

“If your game isn’t running as usual please note that there’s been an issue with Facebook login servers and the moment
this gets fixed all will be back to normal,” puzzle game app Match Masters said on its Twitter account.

For Instagram, a total of 30,473 reports have been recorded, with more than 50% showing issues with the app.

The company said on Twitter: “Instagram and friends are having a little bit of a hard time right now, and you may be having issues using them.

Analysis by US correspondent, Mark Stone

These outages do happen from time to time.

Other social media companies experience them as well, but this is a particularly long one.

In terms of what’s happened, no one knows, but this does appear to be a global outage.

I’ve been talking to people from all corners of the world via Twitter and they have all confirmed the networks are down.

It’s very embarrassing and it’s also potentially very serious for the people who rely on these products for their business.

There is also the somewhat strange coincidence that Facebook is in the news today because of a whistleblower.

They were effectively saying Facebook’s own research has found it amplifies hate, misinformation and political unrest but the company is hiding what it knows.

There is no suggestion this outage and the whistleblower is anything other than a coincidence at this stage, but it’s certainly not a good day for Facebook.

“Bear with us, we’re on it!”

Tens of thousands were still reporting issues on Downdetector beyond the peak at just before 5pm.

A similar issue with the three apps was recorded in April 2019, when they crashed for around two hours before returning to being fully functional.

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Queen Camilla withdraws from engagements after becoming unwell with chest infection

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Queen Camilla withdraws from engagements after becoming unwell with chest infection

The Queen is unwell with a chest infection and has withdrawn from her engagements this week, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A palace spokesperson said Camilla’s doctors “have advised a short period of rest” and added that “with great regret, Her Majesty has therefore had to withdraw from her engagements for this week”.

They added the Queen “very much hopes to be recovered in time to attend this weekend’s Remembrance events as normal”.

“She apologises to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result,” they said.

It is understood the Queen is currently resting at home and is under doctor’s supervision.

Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, has stepped in on Camilla’s behalf to attend the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

The Queen has also withdrawn from a Buckingham Palace reception for Olympic and Paralympic athletes hosted by the King on the same evening.

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Camilla recently returned from an overseas tour of Australia and Samoa. No further details regarding her illness or treatment have been released.

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Labour confirms U-turn on proposed ban on smoking and vaping in pub gardens

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Labour confirms U-turn on proposed ban on smoking and vaping in pub gardens

A proposed ban on vaping and smoking in pub gardens will not go ahead, the health secretary has confirmed.

Wes Streeting said the Labour government would not press ahead with the idea after it was floated over the summer and caused an outcry within the hospitality industry.

Back in August, Sir Keir Starmer said his government was considering a ban on outdoor smoking in a bid to bring down the 80,000 preventable deaths caused by smoking in the UK each year.

The ban would have covered smoking in outdoor restaurants and outside sports venues, hospitals, nightclubs, and in some small parks.

But speaking to Sky News this morning, Mr Streeting confirmed the U-turn and said: “We’re not going ahead or not proposing to go ahead with a [smoking] ban on outdoor hospitality.”

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He said the policy idea was a “leak of government discussion” over the summer and promoted a “really good debate about whether or not it would be proportionate” when taking into account the public health benefits, but also the potential downsides.

“I think people know the UK hospitality sector has taken a battering in recent years,” he added.

“And we don’t want to add to their pressure – so we’re not proposing to go ahead with an outdoor hospitality ban at this time.”

However, Mr Streeting did say that the smoking ban would be extended to some outdoor spaces, including schools, hospitals and children’s playgrounds.

It comes as the government today introduces a “groundbreaking” bill that aims to create the “first-ever smoke-free generation”.

The Tobacco and Vapes bill, which was first introduced by Rishi Sunak but was dropped due to the general election, will prevent anyone who was born on or after 1 January 2009 from buying tobacco.

The ban will effectively raise the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by one year every year, until it applies to the whole population.

The policy to create a “smoke-free generation” was seen as a defining one of Mr Sunak‘s premiership and caused controversy within Tory ranks, particularly the more libertarian wing of the party.

The bill will also create limits on the sale and marketing of vapes to children, while separate environmental legislation will be introduced to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes by next summer.

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The health secretary said “clamping down on the scourge of youth vaping” with licensing, tougher enforcement and a ban on the marketing of vapes to children and young people was “happily, an area of broad cross-party consensus”.

“I first proposed the generational ban for children, when I was the shadow health secretary,” he said.

“To my delight and surprise, Rishi Sunak took it up as prime minister and Conservative leader.

“I hope that cross-party support will sustain a new leader of the Conservative Party, but we’ll find out in the coming weeks.”

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Powys crash: Safety system ‘blocked’ before fatal train collision

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Powys crash: Safety system 'blocked' before fatal train collision

A safety system was “blocked” during a fatal train crash in Powys, an initial investigation has found.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has published its initial findings into last month’s collision, in which one person died.

David Tudor Evans, 66, was described as a “lovely guy, full of life and enjoyment”.

A further 15 people were taken to hospital for treatment after the crash near Talerddig, police said.

The collision – at around 7.26pm on 21 October – involved the 6.31pm Transport for Wales service from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and the 7.09pm Transport for Wales service from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.

The RAIB said the units were fitted with wheel slide protection systems – described as being similar to anti-lock braking systems in cars – and an automatic sanding system.

Sand is discharged automatically via hoses when a wheel slide is detected during braking – creating more friction at the wheel-rail interface.

Powys train crash
Image:
A map showing the location of the crash near Llanbrynmair and Talerddig in Powys

The on-train data recorder shows the wheel slide started during braking and was also present after the driver made an emergency brake demand.

An inspection of the sanding system fitted to Aberystwyth-bound train 1J25 showed the leading vehicle’s sanding hoses were blocked.

The RAIB says they were apparently unable to discharge sand.

The ongoing investigation is also looking at the speed at which the trains were travelling when they collided.

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Initial enquiries suggest the westbound train was travelling at a speed of between 15mph and 24mph, while the eastbound train was travelling at a speed of 6mph.

The RAIB says its investigation will look at the sequence of events which led to the crash.

As part of the probe, the agency will look at factors including the actions of those involved, the level of wheel-rail adhesion, and the behaviour of both trains during and after the crash.

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In a joint statement, Transport for Wales and Network Rail said they have “fully cooperated” with the British Transport Police, the Office of Rail and Road and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

“As investigations are currently still ongoing, we’ll continue to work together with investigators to understand what happened and await the full conclusion and recommendations of the investigation,” a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said safety was the “main priority” for both companies and they had “carried out enhanced checks to the trains and the railway line”.

“At this early stage of the investigation, it’s fundamental that we await the findings of the full report and show sensitivity towards our customers, colleagues, the local community and the families of those affected by the incident,” they added.

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