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Aerosmith have been forced to postpone several dates on their farewell tour just a week after kicking off, after frontman Steven Tyler injured his vocal cords during a gig.

The rock veterans started the Peace Out tour in Philadelphia on 2 September and were playing in New York when Tyler, 75, sustained the damage to his voice on Saturday night.

“I’m heartbroken to say I have received strict doctor’s orders not to sing for the next 30 days,” the singer posted to three million followers on Aerosmith’s Instagram page.

Brad Whitford, from left, Steven Tyler, John Douglas, Joe Perry, and Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith perform during night one of their "Peace Out: The Farewell Tour" on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
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Aerosmith (L-R): Brad Whitford, Tyler, John Douglas (front, on drums), Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

“I sustained vocal cord damage during Saturday’s show that led to subsequent bleeding. We’ll need to postpone a few dates so that we can come back and give you the performance you deserve.”

Formed in Boston in 1970, Aerosmith are known for hits including Dream On, Walk This Way, Sweet Emotion, Cryin’, Crazy, and I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.

Tyler is well known for his wide range and has been dubbed the “Demon of Screamin” for his vocal theatrics.

Aerosmith announced their final tour in May, writing in a statement: “After 50 years, 10 world tours, and playing for over 100 million fans… It’s time for one last go!

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“Fans will see one of the most significant American rock bands in history one last time during this not-to-be-missed final tour. Every night will celebrate the five decades of Aerosmith’s groundbreaking hits as they celebrate 50 years as America’s greatest rock band…

“It’s not goodbye it’s PEACE OUT! Get ready and walk this way, you’re going to get the best show of our lives.”

The 40-date tour was set to include a show in the band’s hometown of Boston on New Year’s Eve, with the final gig originally scheduled for 26 January 2024 in Montreal, Canada.

New dates will take place in Detroit; Chicago; Washington DC; Toronto, Canada; Raleigh, in North Carolina; and Cleveland, Ohio, between 29 January and 29 February 2024.

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What’s affected by internet outage – all we know so far

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What's affected by internet outage - all we know so far

Dozens of websites, banks and apps are being affected by a major internet outage. 

The problem, which started on Monday morning, appears to be related to an issue at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

As of 9.20am, there were more than 2,000 reports of the Amazon Web Services outage in the US alone, according to Downdetector, which monitors issues and outages in real-time.

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On its service status page, the company said it was seeing “increased error rates” and delays with “multiple AWS services”.

Here’s what we know so far.

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

What has been affected?

Multiple banks, the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website, mobile phone networks and video-chatting platform Zoom are among the websites having technical issues.

All Amazon products – including Prime Video and Amazon Music – have also been affected, as well as the main Amazon website.

Here’s a full list of what has been affected by the internet outage, according to Downdetector:

• Snapchat
• Ring
• Roblox
• Amazon Web Services
• Life360
• My Fitness Pal
• Amazon
• Xero
• Signal
• Canva
• Fortnite
• Blink Security
• Zoom
• HMRC
• Clash Royale
• Clash Of Clans
• Asana
• Wordle
• Slack
• Smartsheet
• Epic Games Store
• Duolingo
• Amazon Alexa
• Jira
• Vodafone
• Tidal
• Coinbase
• Atlassian
• IMDB
• Amazon Prime Video
• Pokemon Go
• BT
• Peloton
• EE
• Ancestry
• Square
• Playstation Network
• Eventbrite
• Amazon Music
• Sky
• Flickr
• Hay Day
• Rocket League
• Perplexity AI
• Dead By Daylight
• Bank Of Scotland
• Lloyds Bank
• Halifax

What has AWS said?

AWS confirmed it was suffering from “increased error rates and latencies” for multiple services.

What is Amazon Web Services?

Mickey Carroll

Science and technology reporter

Amazon Web Services was named as the cause of the problem by the chief executive of AI company Perplexity.

Aravind Srinivas posted on X saying: “Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We’re working on resolving it.”

AWS describes itself as “the world’s most comprehensive” cloud service.

It offers companies a virtual backbone, giving them access to servers, databases and storage without having to build their own infrastructure.

Millions of businesses are thought to use AWS, so when something goes wrong, it can have a huge impact. AWS hasn’t put out any information on the outage. Sky News has contacted the company for comment.

In a statement on its website, the company said: “We are actively engaged and working to both mitigate the issue and understand root cause,” an update on its website says.

“We will provide an update in 45 minutes, or sooner if we have additional information to share.”

The company is posting regular updates on the situation and said its engineers were “immediately engaged” as soon as they spotted the issue.

Concentrated in the US

ThousandEyes, a website that tracks the performance of local and wide area networks, servers and applications, shows many of the outages appear to be concentrated in the US.

A large portion is focused in Virginia, which is widely considered as the global capital for data centres.

Has something like this happened before?

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Donald Trump mocks ‘No Kings’ protests with AI video of himself dropping brown sludge on protesters from jet

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Donald Trump mocks 'No Kings' protests with AI video of himself dropping brown sludge on protesters from jet

Donald Trump has responded to so-called “No Kings” rallies with an AI video of himself in a fighter jet, pouring brown sludge over protesters.

Millions of people were expected to take part in the demonstrations this weekend – the second such gathering after an initial nationwide day of protest in June coinciding with the US president’s birthday.

The term “No Kings” reflects the belief by some that Mr Trump is behaving like a “king” and some in his administration are depicting him as a monarch.

A protester in costume as Donald Trump presents the president as a prisoner in chains in Seattle. Pic: AP
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A protester in costume as Donald Trump presents the president as a prisoner in chains in Seattle. Pic: AP

One of the rallies in New York. Pic: Reuters
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One of the rallies in New York. Pic: Reuters

On Sunday, the president shared the AI video on his social media platform, Truth Social.

In the clip, an AI-generated version of Mr Trump is wearing a crown and sitting in a jet with “King Trump” written across it, to the soundtrack of Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone, from the film Top Gun.

The jet then drops thick brown sludge on to AI-generated protesters.

Supporters say the marches are a patriotic defence of free speech, while critics are calling them anti-American.

A large inflatable effigy of Mr Trump in Chicago. Pic: Reuters
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A large inflatable effigy of Mr Trump in Chicago. Pic: Reuters

This protest took place in Washington DC. Pic: AP
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This protest took place in Washington DC. Pic: AP

Mr Trump’s Republican Party has dismissed the demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies.

Many of the events featured marching bands, huge banners and signs, as well as effigies of the president and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes.

Thousands gathered along the waterfront in Portland, Oregon. Pic: AP
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Thousands gathered along the waterfront in Portland, Oregon. Pic: AP

Protesters at the Wyoming State Capitol got creative with their signs. Pic: Wyoming Tribune Eagle/AP
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Protesters at the Wyoming State Capitol got creative with their signs. Pic: Wyoming Tribune Eagle/AP

The protests follow Mr Trump’s return to the White House and come against the backdrop of a government shutdown which has closed federal programmes and services.

There has also been criticism of what some see as an aggressive executive, confronting Congress and the courts, in ways that protest organisers believe are a slide toward authoritarianism.

This event in San Francisco was among thousands taking place across the US. Pic: Reuters
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This event in San Francisco was among thousands taking place across the US. Pic: Reuters

A 'No Kings' sign, outside City Hall in Los Angeles. Pic: Reuters
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A ‘No Kings’ sign, outside City Hall in Los Angeles. Pic: Reuters

So far, the atmosphere at most of the protests appears to have been largely energetic and upbeat, with protesters calling for accountability and protections for civil liberties.

Organisers said events would be peaceful – a direct response to Republican and Trump administration claims that the protests could be unsafe.

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US airstrike destroyed ‘drug-carrying submarine’, says Trump – as survivors repatriated

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US airstrike destroyed 'drug-carrying submarine', says Trump - as survivors repatriated

Two survivors of a US airstrike, targeting what Donald Trump has described as a “drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean, have been repatriated to their home countries.

The US president posted footage of Thursday’s operation, part of a recent military campaign targeting boats transporting drugs to America.

“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“US intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics,” he added.

The US military staged a helicopter rescue for the survivors on Thursday after the strike on their semi-submersible
vessel, suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics. They were then transported to a US Navy warship.

Two other crew members on board were killed.

The semi-submersible vessel was struck by US forces on Thursday, leaving two dead and two survivors. Pic: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
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The semi-submersible vessel was struck by US forces on Thursday, leaving two dead and two survivors. Pic: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

President Trump confirmed the survivors would be returned to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador “for detention and prosecution”. Both countries subsequently confirmed they had been handed over.

More on Colombia

“America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea,” he added.

On Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on X: “We have received the Colombian detained on the narco submarine, we are happy he is alive and he will be processed according to the law.”

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Trump sends CIA into Venezuela and threatens land attack

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Venezuela’s president pleads for peace
Is Trump planning to attack Venezuela?
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The Trump administration has said previous strikes in the Caribbean have killed 27 people, raising concerns among some about the legality of the military operations.

The strikes also come against the backdrop of a US military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and around 6,500 troops as the US president escalates a standoff with the Venezuelan government.

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Venezuelan president: ‘We don’t want a war’

On Wednesday, Mr Trump disclosed he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, adding to speculation in Caracas that the US is attempting to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Mr Maduro has denied any connection to drug smuggling and claimed the US boat strikes are a pretext for regime change, and violations of sovereignty and international law.

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