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The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop for the first time in twenty-five years, halting all flights across the United States after a telecommunications outage disrupted air traffic control centers. Around one thousand flights were canceled. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed there is no indication of a deliberate attack, though officials have not yet ruled out a cyberattack as investigators work to determine the cause.
Shifting from the skies to the ground, Paraguay's energy future is taking a sharp turn. Bitcoin miners currently account for four percent of global bitcoin mining activity and pay the country's state utility three hundred fifty million dollars a year under contracts set to expire on December thirty-first, twenty twenty-seven. That utility has now signed a fifteen-year agreement to power an AI campus backed by Founders Fund, signaling that artificial intelligence is displacing crypto as the preferred tenant for cheap, abundant power.
And out of Singapore, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang finds himself at the center of a growing scandal that is drawing uncomfortable attention to the city-state's role as a global chip hub. The BBC reports the controversy has raised questions about Singapore's exposure to alleged illicit semiconductor trade, creating a real diplomatic and reputational headache for one of Asia's most business-friendly nations.
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