AI, Wars & Wallets: The Week’s Headlines That Shocked the World

News

UK Home‑Office & Law Enforcement

• More than 200 Home Office arrests for people ‘working illegally’ in NI – BBC News
• Home Office has struggled to deal with crises, says Mahmood – BBC News
• Fifth Met Police officer sacked after BBC investigation – BBC News
• Man injured by falling masonry in Leicester Square – BBC News
• Man who stabbed girl eight times in Leicester Square won’t face attempted murder trial – Sky News

International Conflict & Security

• Israel strikes Gaza after accusing Hamas of ceasefire violations – BBC News
• Netanyahu orders Israeli military to immediately carry out strikes in Gaza – Sky News
• At least 64 killed as police launch deadliest‑ever raid ahead of COP30 – Sky News
• Army soldiers fled key Sudanese city – leaving 200,000 civilians trapped – Sky News

Natural Disasters

• ‘Very nervous’: British tourists in Jamaica tell of Hurricane Melissa ordeal – Sky News
• Strong winds and flying debris as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall – BBC News

Other Domestic Incidents

• Baby dies after ‘hazardous materials’ incident – BBC News
• Brigitte Macron’s life ‘deteriorated’ after alleged cyber‑bullying, daughter says – BBC News
• Chris Brown can return to US after bail conditions changed – Sky News

AI

AI Partnerships & Investment

• Microsoft gets 27% stake in OpenAI, and a $250B Azure commitment – GeekWire
• The next chapter of the Microsoft–OpenAI partnership – OpenAI Blog
• Built to benefit everyone – OpenAI Blog
• Seizing the AI opportunity – OpenAI Blog
• Finding return on AI investments across industries – Technology Review

Enterprise AI & Automation

• Microsoft’s Copilot can now build apps and automate your job – VentureBeat AI
• GitHub’s Agent HQ aims to solve enterprises’ biggest AI coding problem – VentureBeat AI
• PayPal’s Agentic Commerce Play shows why flexibility, not standards, will define the next e-commerce wave – VentureBeat AI

AI in Finance

• Intuit learned to build AI agents for finance the hard way: Trust lost in buckets, earned back in spoonfuls – VentureBeat AI
• Anthropic rolls out Claude AI for finance, integrates with Excel to rival Microsoft Copilot – VentureBeat AI

Open Source Models & Tools

• IBM’s open source Granite 4.0 Nano AI models are small enough to run locally directly in your browser – VentureBeat AI
• MiniMax-M2 is the new king of open source LLMs (especially for agentic tool calling) – VentureBeat AI

Climate, Ethics, and Safety

• Roundtables: Seeking Climate Solutions in Turbulent Times – Technology Review
• The Download: Microsoft’s stance on erotic AI, and an AI hype mystery – Technology Review
• “We will never build a sex robot,” says Mustafa Suleyman – Technology Review
• Strengthening ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive conversations – OpenAI Blog
• Doppel’s AI defense system stops attacks before they spread – OpenAI Blog
• An AI adoption riddle – Technology Review

Miscellaneous Community News

• A tale of two Seattles in the age of AI: Harsh realities and new hope for the tech community – GeekWire

Technology

Age Verification & Content Policy

• Google Play users are starting to see age verification checks – ZDNet
• Senators propose banning teens from using AI chatbots – The Verge
• YouTube will restrict more content showing ‘graphic violence’ in video games – The Verge

AI in Education & Workforce

• Super Teacher is building an AI tutor for elementary schools — catch it at Disrupt 2025 – TechCrunch
• Mappa’s AI voice analysis helps you find the best job candidates and will show off its tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 – TechCrunch
• Inside CampusAI’s mission to close the AI training gap for everyday workers — check it out at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 – TechCrunch
• Unthread has a plan for cleaning up Slack and will show off its tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 – TechCrunch

Tech Deals & Discounts

• Get Microsoft Office 2024 for Mac or PC — now $70 off for life – Mashable
• This credit‑card‑sized smartphone offers full‑sized performance for $110 – Mashable
• Learn to think like a hacker with this $35 cybersecurity bundle – Mashable
• You have less than a week left to score unlimited learning for just $20 – Mashable
• Upgrade to a curved OLED gaming monitor for 44% less with this LG UltraGear deal – Mashable

Hardware & Gadgets

• The best foldable phone you can buy – The Verge
• Board is a $500 board game console with 12 original titles – Engadget
• Waabi unveils autonomous truck made in partnership with Volvo – TechCrunch
• Apple MacBooks running Nvidia RTX GPUs are not a fantasy anymore – TinyCorp unlocks a whole new world of possibilities – TechRadar

Entertainment & Media

• Netflix’s Crash Bandicoot show could be Naughty Dog’s next big adaptation – if it doesn’t get canceled again – TechRadar
• ‘The Creep Tapes’ Season 2 Will Dig Even Further Into the Madness – Gizmodo
• GOG Autumn Sale discounts Cyberpunk 2077, Silent Hill 2 and Fallout: New Vegas – Engadget

Gaming

Amazon Games Layoffs

• Amazon Games is making major layoffs as it shifts focus away from MMOs to its Luna cloud gaming platform: “We have made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first‑party AAA game development” – PC Gamer
• Amazon reportedly “gutting” its video game division as part of 14,000 company‑wide job cuts – Eurogamer

Game Releases & Updates

• Lanterns “Is In a Lot of Ways About Replacement” and “That Push and Pull Between” Hal Jordan and John Stewart – IGN
• Doom Arena Board Game Hands‑On Preview: Rip and Tear on the Tabletop – IGN
• Battlefield 6’s battle royale mode REDSEC is out now, plus a new Gauntlet mode attached – Rock Paper Shotgun
• Darkwood 2 – Overlooked top‑down horror Darkwood is getting a sequel and surprise new developer – Eurogamer
• ID@Xbox Showcase October 2025: Everything Announced So Far (Updating Live) – IGN
• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is getting a prequel manga starring Rebecca – it’s up for preorder today – IGN
• Star Wars: The Acolyte showrunner confirms plans to reveal the Stranger’s connection to Kylo Ren in future seasons – IGN
• The Outer Worlds 2 spent 95 % of its runtime mocking me for a purchase I didn’t make (review) – Rock Paper Shotgun

Merchandise & Accessories

• The New Secretlab Magnus Evo Desk is Now Available, Comes Highly Recommended for Gamers – IGN
• Dark Forces’ Kyle Katarn Gets a Star Wars The Black Series Action Figure – IGN

Free & Discounted Deals

• FREE Vampire Survivors: Ante Chamber DLC is out now, introducing characters from Balatro! – GG.deals
• Black Ops 6 Multiplayer & Zombies modes are FREE to play until November 3! – GG.deals
• Deals for Today: Cheap Yet Epic Power Bank and Shin Godzilla Steelbook Out Now – IGN

Comic & Manga News

• Tom the Dancing Bug: The Beloved Surrealist Comic Strip Gets a New Book Collection – IGN

Horror Gaming Experiences

• Please tell me I’m not the only person who plays horror games on mute? – Eurogamer

Entertainment

• New American Psycho Movie Won’t Gender-Swap Serial Killer Protagonist or Star Margot Robbie – IGN