Director's Notes：The Sea We Call Home
Senior White House officials are discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be pushed out amid a spy scandal surrounding Nvidia’s now-former CEO Jensen Huang, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday. A growing number of lawmakers criticised Lutnick for the administration’s refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key US trade blacklist, and over whether the government was properly overseeing Nvidia’s exports to China. Criticism of Lutnick’s actions...
The Federal Reserve will hold seven rate-setting meetings in 2027 instead of the customary eight, while dedicating its October gathering to broader monetary-policy strategy. The revised schedule also moves the year’s final policy meeting to November and removes designations for quarterly economic projections as Chair Kevin Warsh reviews the Fed’s communication practices.
According to local media reports, the southern half of the region is at a slight risk of severe weather. Meanwhile the northern half is at a marginal risk. The update was issued by the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The forecasters stated that through the afternoon, isolated tornado, damaging winds, and hail were possible. Notably, the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, and Bucks County were placed under a tornado watch until 7pm Thursday.
Is Microsoft Outlook down today? Microsoft Outlook users are reporting issues as they are unable to access their email accounts. Over 129,000 users have reported issues with the service. Microsoft have confirmed they are looking into issues with Exchange Online mailboxes in the Americas. They have also warned that Microsoft 365 may be impacted globally. Their status checker is also having issues.
Social Security cuts: Social Security retirees in 15 states could face monthly benefit cuts exceeding $515, with Connecticut recording the highest estimated loss at $556. The projections come as the retirement trust fund faces depletion in 2032, raising concerns about how much beneficiaries could receive if lawmakers fail to address the funding shortfall.
Delhivery plans to expand its intracity fleet to nearly 20,000 vehicles over the next four to five years, while making EVs the only option for new additions. The company plans to invest ₹80-100 crore in charging and parking infrastructure and fleet-partner support, as it seeks to lower fuel costs and offset rising labour and operating expenses.
Berkshire Hathaway stock is beating the S&P 500 despite current US stock market volatility. Warren Buffett’s company surged 13.2% to a record high, widened its monthly lead to 19.2 percentage points and reversed May’s market underperformance without Buffett as CEO.
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal has dismissed the Samajik Parivartan Morcha formed by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram president Chandrashekhar Azad as an "alliance of convenience" ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Samajwadi Party leaders also criticised the alliance, alleging that it could benefit the BJP by splitting votes from the INDIA bloc.
The 2014 will was short. However, it had different instructions. These were instructions about who will inherit her assets. Franklin's Kecalf and Edward reportedly supported the 2014 document. Notably, The opposing party was their brother, Ted White II, whose lawyer argued that the 2010 will should stand because it was found under lock and key in Aretha Franklin's home.
Akali Dal Waris Punjab De has urged the Election Commission of India to expedite its registration as a political party, alleging that its application has faced undue delay. The party said its application, pending since January 2025, received a positive verification report from the Punjab CEO in April 2026 but the ECI has yet to issue a direction for publication of a public notice.
Microsoft Outlook users have reported an outage on Thursday. Thousands of users have been facing issues with their email accounts. Downdetector has shown that over 65,000 outage reports have been made. People have been reporting empty inboxes, frozen screens and a 'Failed to fetch' error message while trying to send emails.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy appeared before a local court in connection with a 2021 case alleging violation of Covid-19 norms during the campaign for the Nagarjuna Sagar assembly bypoll. Reddy denied the allegations during his examination. The special court for cases against MPs and MLAs has posted the matter for November 18.
