promoearn: Who broke the internet?

Tuesday, June 8

Users were met with error messages like this on USA TODAY's homepage and a host of other popular websites after a massive outage at the cloud service provider Fastly.

Websites are back after a massive outage. And new cases of COVID-19 are dropping. It's Tuesday's news.

If you're reading this, the internet is working. But it wasn't, earlier. New COVID-19 cases are down, but a summer surge is possible. And after a controversy over racism, Chris Harrison leaves "The Bachelor" franchise.

👋 It's Laura. It's Tuesday, and I've got some news for you.

But first, what's twice the size of the Hollywood sign and weighs more than 70 tons? Why, the Australotitan cooperensis dinosaur, of course. It's the largest species of dinosaur to be found in Australia. Check it out.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

The Great Internet Outage of 2021

Internet outages: the price we pay for living that always-online life. This one was huge. Multiple websites went down in a widespread internet outage Tuesday morning, including Amazon, Google, Reddit, CNN and – yes, even USA TODAY. 😱 DownDetector, a site that tracks website outages, reported that a long list of sites, which also included Zoom, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Hulu, Spotify, Etsy and Paypal, started experiencing problems just after 5:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Many of the sites' outages were linked to Fastly, a cloud platform that powers websites such as The New York Times and Shopify. "The issue has been identified and a fix has been applied," read the latest update from Fastly posted at 6:57 a.m. Most websites affected by the outage appear to be back up and running.

•	Our so-called cloud life: Expect more internet outages like Fastly's – and protect yourself.

'An impossible situation' on Jan. 6

Law enforcement was left unprepared after intelligence officials failed to warn of potential violence at the U.S. Capitol, leaving officers to grapple with a violent mob intent on overturning the 2020 election results, according to a Senate report on the insurrection Jan. 6. "Capitol Hill police were put in an impossible situation," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. "Without adequate intelligence, training and equipment, they didn't have the tools they needed to protect the Capitol. That's the hard truth." To create the report, the panels held oversight hearings and reviewed thousands of documents and written statements from 50 Capitol Police officers.

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT, AFP via Getty Images

What everyone's talking about

•	Somebody slapped the president of France in the face: Emmanuel Macron was touring a village when he was smacked by someone in the crowd.
•	'Fertility fraud': When your father turns out to be your mother's fertility doctor.
•	'Joints for Jabs': Washington state turns to marijuana giveaways to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
•	Meet the Maverick: Ford reveals a brand-spankin' new $20,000 compact hybrid pickup.

3,900 migrant kids separated from parents under zero tolerance policies

More than 3,900 children were separated from their parents under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance policy," according to a report from a task force designed to reunify migrant families. The Reunification of Families Task Force determined a total of 5,636 children were separated from July 1, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021, 3,913 of whom were separated under zero-tolerance-related policies. There are 1,723 children whose separations remain under review. "When we reunified the first seven families last month, I said that this was just the beginning," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. "In the coming weeks, we will reunify 29 more families."

•	Supreme Court: Immigrant who entered country illegally can't get a green card because of TPS program.
•	We asked the experts: What would a better US immigration system look like?

A mother from Honduras with her 1-year-old child surrenders to U.S. Border Patrol agents June 25, 2018, after illegally crossing the border near McAllen, Texas.

David J. Phillip/AP

New COVID-19 cases drop to numbers not seen since last year

"It gives me so much hope," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday as she announced that a little more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases were reported Monday. This brings the seven-day average of new, daily cases to 13,277, the first time it has fallen below 15,000 since the first weeks of the pandemic in March 2020. Walensky noted that deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 also continued their precipitous decline, crediting the 300 million-plus vaccination shots administered across the nation for the encouraging numbers. Still, experts say a summer surge could emerge in states lifting restrictions despite lagging in vaccination rates.

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💉 Vaccine trials for kids: Pfizer released details Tuesday about the progress of its COVID-19 vaccination trials in children, showing that it completed early testing and is moving forward with lower-dose trials in younger kids. Children are less likely than adults to have a serious case of COVID-19, so drug companies are trying to minimize vaccine side effects while maximizing benefits.

Nurse Courtney Cherco gives Marco Tapia, 13, a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile clinic at Family Health Centers in Lehigh Acres, Fla., on May, 27. Golisano Children's Hospital launched the clinic for kids.

Andrew West, Fort Myers News-Press

Real quick

•	Department of Justice lawyers say Trump acted in an official capacity in denying rape allegation.
•	No show: Green Bay Packers mandatory minicamp kicks off with no QB Aaron Rodgers to be found.
•	'The worst kind of human conduct': Florida woman sent to prison for fake GoFundMe account to benefit families of triple-murder victims.
•	Global sting: 800 arrested after FBI secretly ran phone encryption program used by organized crime.

Longtime host of 'The Bachelor' exits after racism controversy

Trouble in paradise. After a controversy last season, Chris Harrison, the longtime host of the popular reality dating show "The Bachelor" and its spinoff series, "Bachelor in Paradise," is exiting the franchise after nearly 20 years. Here's why: This spring, during "The Bachelor" (starring Matt James, the franchise's first Black male lead), contestant Rachael Kirkconnell faced backlash for liking Confederate-flag-related TikTok videos and attending a plantation-themed party in 2018. Harrison, hosting the show, came under fire for defending her. She apologized for her "offensive and racist" actions. "I've had a truly incredible run as host of 'The Bachelor' franchise, and now I'm excited to start a new chapter," Harrison wrote in an Instagram post.

•	What will it take to fix 'The Bachelor' franchise's racism problem?

Matt James and host Chris Harrison star on ABC's "The Bachelor."

Craig Sjodin, ABC

A break from the news

•	🍿 Let's go out to the movies! These are the must-see movies of summer.
•	💰 Stack that cash: Here's how to retire with $3M on a $70,000 salary.
•	🏳️‍🌈 We need to celebrate LGBTQ joy this Pride Month. Lives depend on it.

🗣 Hey, America, we need to talk

One conversation, even multiplied thousands of times, won't heal America. But it's a start. Join us and thousands of other Americans on Saturday for America Talks. We will meet one-on-one in hourlong video conversations across political divides.

•	👉Start here: Take the survey and register to participate.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.