16 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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News Archive

Archives for October 2026

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
A Game Boy game coveted by collectors just landed on Nintendo Switch Online.

A quick peek at eBay reveals that just the manual for the US version of Jaleco’s Avenging Spirit currently sells for over $150. The game (with its coveted artwork) has just been added to Nintendo Switch Online’s Game Boy library along with the Shigeru Miyamoto-produced Mole Mania and Pinball: Revenge of the ‘Gator.

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Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
High heat killed 50,000 Europeans this summer.

Scientists are blaming climate breakdown for that record figure, which is almost double 2025’s, and only covers city areas — meaning the real number of deaths is likely higher. According to this new mortality report, Malta, Italy, and Hungary had the hightest rates of people succumbing to the heat.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Greece is banning kids from using social media.

The ban comes into force on January 1st, 2027, and applies to any child under the age of 15. Greece is the latest country to consider or pass such legislation, following Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, France, the UK, and more. Similar efforts are also being made in some US states, including Florida.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Strava makes it easier to start a hike or run offline.

A new update shows saved routes on your home screen so you can start and complete a route offline, uploading it when you’re next connected. It also improves the ability to search for interesting places to build into your next run. Other improvements are on the horizon, including hands-free navigation, browsing routes on the web, and expanded route details.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Oura is suing Ultrahuman all over again.

Its previous patent dispute saw Ultrahuman blocked from the US market for almost a year. Now Oura alleges the Ultrahuman Ring Pro violates another two of its patents, including one only issued to Oura this week, and wants it taken off sale. For now at least, that hasn’t happened yet.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Intel just got a temporary waiver from the foreign robot ban.

And no, you haven’t forgotten about a line of Intel-made Roombas. It requested permission to make hardware changes to the “Automatic Guided Vehicles” it’s used in semiconductor facilities for two decades. It says replacing the machines could take years, and there are no domestic alternatives. The FCC agreed, giving it permission to update its bots for the next year.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
The Duo makes its Apple Store debut.

Apple’s foldable is available for purchase and demos at stores worldwide today, and the company is already sharing images of the crowds and customers celebrating the launch at Apple Jing’an, Shanghai. You can check out our iPhone Duo review before you run to your closest Apple store, but be aware that there are only a “limited” number of in-store units available.

<em>Click through to check out how the iPhone Duo launch unfolded at Apple Jing’an in Shanghai.</em>
1/5
Click through to check out how the iPhone Duo launch unfolded at Apple Jing’an in Shanghai.
Image: Apple
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Epic Games is promoting a game jam where AI is welcome with a six-fingered hand.

And a red pill meme. You can see the post on X here.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said last week that the company is undergoing a “huge pivot” to “retool for maximum AI acceleration,” and it announced a “vibe coded” update to its PC launcher last week in preview that had some issues on the first day.

An image from Epic Games showing a six-fingered hand holding a red pill.
Image: Epic Games
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
OpenAI’s misalignment monitoring system had “a number of novel vulnerabilities,” third-party evaluators found.

From July 21st to August 11th, two employees from METR and Redwood Research conducted a “pilot” to stress test the system, and METR published a high-level overview of their findings, as reported by CNBC. One exploit would have allowed agents to “prevent hundreds of recent actions (including the actions involved in the exploit itself) from being monitored.”

OpenAI “has stated” that the vulnerabilities identified “that impact their production safeguards stack” have been patched, METR says.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Your YouTube homepage on mobile is going to look a bit different.

The app has a new, “simplified” top bar, where you’ll find tabs for things like subscriptions, Live, Music, and custom feeds, YouTube says. The custom feeds will stay in that top bar, according to YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
President Trump reportedly called Elon to lift Ukraine Starlink restrictions.

Trump asked Musk on Wednesday to fully roll back the interruptions that neither has publicly taken responsibility for, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Today, the WSJ says the system is working “more normally” after the call, citing US and Ukrainian officials.