Apps, Websites Hit by Major Outage at Amazon Web Services

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

So your AI agents make your team more productive, right? But if they're not connected to the rest of your business, how productive can they really make your teams? IBM helps smarter businesses get more from their AI agents. Let's create smarter business, IBM.

Caitlin McCabe (0:19)

Apps and websites around the world are hit by a widespread outage at Amazon Web Services. Plus, Trump vows to halt USAID to Columbia as the president turns up the heat on Latin America. And US stocks might be close to all-time highs, but warning signs are flashing below the surface.

Rebecca Feng (0:38)

We're seeing investors pulling back from holdings that are more sensitive to a slowing economy in the past months. And then we're also seeing that investors are turning to industries that sort of reliably churn out profits, no matter how the economy is doing.

Caitlin McCabe (0:51)

It's Monday, October 20th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Internet users around the world are struggling to access their favorite apps and sites this morning as a result of a major outage at Amazon Web Services. Sites including Facebook, Amazon, Snapchat and Roblox appear to be down early Monday, with financial services Coinbase, Robinhood and Venmo also reporting disruptions. The AWS infrastructure underpins millions of websites and platforms, providing cloud computing services to the world's biggest companies. Any problems with the network can have a major impact on the wider internet and many mobile apps. AWS said it's investigating and actively working to mitigate the issue, which seems to stem from a group of data centers in and around Northern Virginia. The Wall Street Journal is among several media organizations affected by the outage, which began around 3 a.m. Eastern. In an update around 5:30 a.m., Amazon said its systems are now recovering and that many websites and apps are coming back online. We will bring you any updates on this developing story as and when we get them. Check out wsj.com for more information. President Trump is ramping up pressure on Latin America as part of the administration's crackdown on drug smuggling from the region. His latest broadside against Colombia came in a social media post Sunday morning that branded its president Gustavo Petro an illegal drug dealer vowing to halt USAID to Bogota and take unilateral action unless Petro immediately closed the quote killing fields. Juan Ferro leads the journal's coverage of Latin America. He says the threats have turned one of Washington's most critical security partners in the region into a target.

Juan Ferro (2:50)

This comes at a time when the United States has been laser focused on the issue of drugs coming mainly from South America. Since early September, most of the focus has been on Venezuela. The United States has carried out a large military buildup, mostly of naval vessels and aircraft, there's a submarine, et cetera, off the coast of Venezuela. As part of that buildup, the United States has struck what Trump calls drug boats coming from Venezuela. And then all of a sudden this weekend, the focus turned to Colombia, which is the largest cocaine producing country in the world. Colombia has been defiant in responding to Trump. Petro has come out with numerous tweets where he has said that the US president is rude and ignorant about Colombia. So there's been a bit of a strong response from Colombia toward the United States.

Caitlin McCabe (3:52)

According to a senior administration official, Trump is hoping that the US offensive will make people like Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro so miserable that he can't remain in power, even if that takes time. And Israel's military is once again reinforcing the fragile Gaza ceasefire, following a wave of deadly airstrikes on Sunday after it accused Hamas of killing troops inside Israeli-controlled areas. The military said two soldiers were killed and another severely injured in southern Gaza, where militants targeted troops with an anti-tank missile and gunfire. Israel decided to halt humanitarian aid following calls from Israeli politicians across the political spectrum for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to respond forcefully to the attack. Officials said humanitarian aid to the enclave is set to resume today. Coming up, there are warning signs lurking below the surface of a record market. We asked Markets reporter Rebecca Feng what that means for investors, the economy and you after the break.

SPEAKER_5 (4:57)

This message is brought to you by NuVein. How would you invest if you knew the future was watching? At NuVein, this isn't a theoretical question. It's a perspective that comes from navigating 125 years of market cycles, using foresight to innovate and adapt to the changing needs of investors and remaining steadfast in the pursuit of lasting performance. NuVein, invest like the future is watching. Visit nuvein.com/future to learn more. Investing involves risk, principal loss is possible.