Your morning briefing: What you should know for Tuesday, October 5

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‘Faulty configuration change’ to blame for outage, Facebook says

Facebook has blamed a “faulty configuration change” for the widespread outage which impacted the social media platform, along with Instagram and WhatsApp, for several hours.

The platforms had confirmed on Twitter they were aware of issues and working to resolve them after thousands of people reported outages shortly before 5pm yesterday.

Users were eventually able to access Facebook and Instagram from late in the evening, while WhatsApp said its services were “back and running” as of 3.30am today.

Facebook’s share price plummeted 4.9% amid the outage, which also came the day after a whistleblower claimed in a US interview that the company prioritises its own interests over the public good.

Priti Patel to outline measures to stop disruptive activists

Priti Patel will announce new powers for courts to prevent people attending protests, in her speech to the Conservative conference.

The Home Secretary’s announcement comes after a string of attempts by Insulate Britain climate activists to block roads including the M1 and M25.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab it to promise to increase the electronic tagging of offenders as well as pledge to do more to tackle violence against women and girls.

Pfizer jab ‘90% effective against Covid-19 hospital admission’

The Pfizer Covid vaccine is highly effective at preventing hospital admission even with the Delta variant, new research shows – though its effectiveness against infection almost halves after six months.

Two doses of the jab are 90% effective against Covid-19 hospital admission for all variants for at least six months, according to the study.

But effectiveness against infection fell over the study period, dropping from 88% within one month after receiving two vaccine doses, to 47% after six months.

Looking at specific variants, researchers found that the reduction in vaccine effectiveness against infection over time are probably due to waning immunity, and not the Delta variant escaping the protection offered by the jab.

London doctors fear disruptions to work amid lack of access to fuel

Almost three-quarters of doctors in London and the South East fear they will have major problems refuelling their cars in the coming weeks, a survey has found.

Half in the capital believe there will be staff absences as a result, the same study suggested.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is urging the Government to give essential and emergency workers easier access to fuel.

It comes as the Petrol Retailers Association said while there has been a “marked improvement” in the fuel situation since Sunday across most of the country, the picture in London and the South East has only seen a “marginal improvement”.

Adele: Anticipation builds for new music as singer updates social media

Adele has sparked speculation new music is on the way after updating her social media accounts and website.

The pop superstar’s Twitter and Instagram pages showed a blue and turquoise pattern with her biography containing a link to her website, which urged fans to sign up for more information.

After fans spotted the change in Adele’s online presence, the hashtag #Adele30 began trending.

It comes after the number 30 appeared on billboards and was projected onto famous landmarks around the world - including in Dubai, Ireland, France, Italy and the US.

Adele, 33, has not released an album since 2015’s 25, but she has confirmed she is working on a new record.

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