Alex Mahon, the first female CEO of Channel 4, has announced her decision to step down from her role this summer, marking the end of a nearly eight-year tenure that saw the UK public broadcaster navigate through significant challenges and transformations. Under her leadership, Channel 4 successfully resisted two privatization attempts, transitioned into a digital-first public service streamer, and expanded its operations across the UK, all while maintaining its commitment to innovation and diversity in programming.

Mahon's departure comes at a time when Channel 4 is looking to build on its digital growth and continue its mission to represent and reflect the diversity of the UK. Her leadership was instrumental in the broadcaster's digital transformation, which included the creation of one of the largest social media brands in the UK and the delivery of market-leading digital growth. Channel 4's programming under Mahon's guidance, including critically acclaimed shows and films, has left an indelible mark on the UK's cultural landscape.

The search for Mahon's successor is underway, with Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Allan stepping in as interim CEO. The board is committed to ensuring that the next leader will uphold Channel 4's legacy of creativity, risk-taking, and public service. Mahon's tenure has set a high bar, with her efforts to champion fairness in the workplace, support for women's health and disability representation, and her unwavering commitment to challenging conventions and changing conversations.

As Channel 4 prepares to turn the page, the broadcaster's achievements under Alex Mahon's leadership serve as a testament to her vision and dedication. From landmark programming to digital innovation and a steadfast commitment to public service, Mahon's legacy will undoubtedly influence the future direction of Channel 4 and the broader UK media landscape.

A major outage at Amazon Web Services has disrupted operations for numerous popular applications and platforms globally, affecting millions of users. The cloud computing infrastructure failure began early Monday morning, with users reporting widespread issues accessing services including Snapchat, Duolingo, Zoom, and various gaming platforms. Amazon confirmed it was investigating increased error rates and latency across multiple AWS services, though the company has not yet identified the root cause of the system failure.

The disruption appears to have originated with servers hosted in the US-EAST-1 region, according to initial reports. This triggered a cascade effect that impacted AWS infrastructure supporting millions of websites and applications worldwide. Downdetector, a platform that monitors service outages, reported receiving over four million problem reports in a single morning—more than double the typical weekly volume—indicating the scale of the disruption across affected services.

Among the services experiencing significant operational problems are communication platforms like Zoom, Signal, and Slack; gaming services including Roblox, Fortnite, and PlayStation Network; social media applications such as Snapchat; and financial services from banks including Lloyds and Bank of Scotland. Streaming platforms Prime Video and Crunchyroll, along with educational tool Duolingo and design platform Canva, have also been affected by the cloud service failure.

The outage has manifested differently across regions, with Amazon's own websites remaining operational in Europe while still experiencing service-specific errors. AWS engineers are actively working to mitigate the issues and restore normal operations. The company has committed to providing regular updates as they work to resolve the widespread service disruption that has highlighted the internet's heavy reliance on cloud infrastructure providers.