Microsoft outage takes out banks, airlines and businesses | First Thing

‘No sector remains untouched’ after global outage linked to botched update to security software called CrowdStrike. Plus: the rise of the sporting dad bod

Good morning.

Businesses including banks, airlines, telecoms companies, TV and radio broadcasters, and supermarkets have been taken offline by a Microsoft outage linked to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Experts are calling the outage “an unprecedented global crisis”.

What happened? A botched update to CrowdStrike security software – a well-regarded malware and endpoint protection tool used by entities around the world – caused Windows machines to boot and crash on an infinite loop, explained Ilkka Turunen of the software supply chain management firm Sonatype.

What has the outage affected? Flights on US airlines including American, Delta and United have been grounded while airports in Germany and Spain have also been reporting issues. Grocery stores in Australia have gone offline. Emergency 911 lines in Alaska went down, as did TV and radio broadcasters in the UK.

What have CrowdStrike and Microsoft said? CrowdStrike ran a recorded phone message on Friday saying it was “aware of reports of crashes on Windows”. The situation is developing: follow the Guardian’s liveblog for the latest news.

What did Trump say about his assassination attempt? He said his speech may be the last time he spoke of the attempt on his life because it was too difficult for him, and that he had been saved by the grace of God. “I had God on my side, I felt that,” he said. Trump went on to kiss the helmet and embrace the uniform of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was killed as he shielded his family during the shooting.

How did the speech go down? The adoring crowd, many wearing bandages over their ears in solidarity with the injury Trump sustained, chanted: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” And punched their own fists in the air in unison – echoing Trump’s immediate response to the shooting.

What were some of Trump’s policy messages? He promised, once again, to carry out the largest deportation of immigrants in US history, and although other convention speakers largely avoided questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump accused Democrats of having “used Covid to cheat”.