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In North America, a Breaking News alert is usually the result of severe weather or other immediate hazards such as tornadoes and hurricanes. When these events occur, a network affiliate will interrupt their regular non-news programming or a regularly scheduled newscast to run the report. The newscast will usually pause for a brief countdown sequence and the network feed will then appear with a special graphic, often with a distinctive music cue. Other names for these reports include Newsflash and Special Report. Breaking News is a term also used by 24-hour cable news channels to refer to live interruptions of programming.
