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Daily Briefing

World in a Pulse

Briflio distills the day's signals into one calm feed — a personalized mix of the top stories across every topic, with context, not noise.

HomePod Mini 2 vs. HomePod Mini: How Apple’s Speaker Compares With Past Models - CNET
AI

HomePod Mini 2 vs. HomePod Mini: How Apple’s Speaker Compares With Past Models - CNET

The HomePod Mini 2 is here and looks incredibly similar to the first Mini, so I tested how audio, AI and more differ across HomePod generations.

Technology

Security officer attacked and killed near Sri Lankan Embassy in Jordan's capital

CAIRO (AP) — An assailant attacked and killed a security officer near the Sri Lankan Embassy in Jordan’s capital on Thursday, authorities said. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said that a member of its forces was assaulted by a sharp object and died, and that an investigation was launched into

Science

Longitudinal and Transverse Thermoelectric Properties in Topological Quantum Materials

Thermoelectric materials can be topologically trivial or non-trivial, enabling reversible interconversion of heat and electricity using a solid-state technology. Incidentally, few of the first experimentally discovered 3D topological materials, namely, Bi, Sb, Sn and Pb-based chalcogenides, were long known as good thermoelectric materials. In these compounds, the heavy atoms that give rise to strong spin-orbit coupling often become essential for band inversion and non-trivial band topology. They

Midwives' union warns over maternity unit plans in Norfolk
Health

Midwives' union warns over maternity unit plans in Norfolk

The RCM union says possible closures in Norfolk would also affect patients in neighbouring counties.

It wouldn't shock me if ... NFL Week 9: Chargers fire Mike McDaniel, another QB change in Arizona
Sports

It wouldn't shock me if ... NFL Week 9: Chargers fire Mike McDaniel, another QB change in Arizona

Is it finally over for Mike McDaniel in Los Angeles?

World

Padel’s Olympic ambition

Padel is the fastest growing racket sport in the world, and is pushing to make its Olympic debut.

Sector Snapshot: Construction Robotics Funding Soars To $1.6B, Tripling Previous Peak
Business

Sector Snapshot: Construction Robotics Funding Soars To $1.6B, Tripling Previous Peak

Companies spanning construction and robotics have raised about $1.6 billion so far this year — more than 4x the $389 million recorded in all of 2025 — according to Crunchbase data. The surge was driven by three companies that raised the majority of the funding.

ABC Affiliate Anchor Exits After 20 Years, Replacement Not Yet Announced
Culture

ABC Affiliate Anchor Exits After 20 Years, Replacement Not Yet Announced

ABC 7 Chicago anchor Ravi Baichwal exits after 20 years as the station prepares for a temporary replacement.

AI

Agility is the first pure humanoid robot company on the stock market. Are you buying?

Agility arrives on the Nasdaq today as the first publicly-traded pure-play humanoid robotics company.

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe first drive: Where tech and fun collide
Technology

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe first drive: Where tech and fun collide

Mercedes-Benz provided flights from San Francisco to Malaga, Spain, and accommodation so Ars could drive the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. The night before I drove the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, I complained to a group of journalists that automakers don't want to take chances and just build fun, weird cars anymore. About 12 hours later, Mercedes made me eat my words.

Science

Magnetohydrodynamics During Reheating

Reheating is a crucial phase that connects inflation with the hot Big Bang Universe. During this phase, the nonlinear interactions among the inflaton, the radiation plasma, and the primordial magnetic fields can influence the subsequent evolution of cosmic structures we observe today. In this paper, we develop a multifluid framework to investigate the evolution of three dimensional nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) during the non instantaneous reheating phase driven by the perturbative decay

In China, a flood of controversial clinical trials slows to a trickle
Health

In China, a flood of controversial clinical trials slows to a trickle

Following patient deaths, China restricts investigator-initiated biotech trials, leaving rare disease families and US investors facing an uncertain future.

Cristiano Ronaldo retires from the Portugal national team following rift with manager
Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo retires from the Portugal national team following rift with manager

The Portuguese superstar announced his decision to retire from the national team on Thursday, ending his career with Euro 2016 glory and two UEFA Nations League crowns

World

Workers strike across France, hundreds of thousands expected to protest

Demonstrators are demanding an increase in the minimum wage and higher salaries for all workers, among other reforms.

South Korea Posts Record Current Account Surplus, Surpassing $60B in Sept.
Business

South Korea Posts Record Current Account Surplus, Surpassing $60B in Sept.

In September, South Korea’s current account surplus surpassed $60 billion for the first time in history, driven by strong exports centered on semiconductors. A

The Pitt and ER are similar enough for lawsuit to proceed, judge rules
Culture

The Pitt and ER are similar enough for lawsuit to proceed, judge rules

The widow of ER creator Michael Crichton argues The Pitt is effectively a reboot of the 1990s series.

Zero Trust Agent Systems that Pass Audits and Still Ship
AI

Zero Trust Agent Systems that Pass Audits and Still Ship

Advait Patel shares a playbook for securing AI agent systems in production. He discusses moving defense boundaries from the prompt to the tool layer, enforcing scoped workload identities, and mitigating prompt injection via tool outputs. He explains how to structure audit-ready observability and imp

Agility Robotics' Nasdaq debut invites scrutiny of humanoid robot market
Technology

Agility Robotics' Nasdaq debut invites scrutiny of humanoid robot market

Humanoid robots remain unproven at scale and have not yet achieved widespread commercialization, compared with industrial robots that have decades of proven track records in warehouses and factories. That frank acknowledgment is among the risks outlined in a securities filing by Agility Robotics—the first dedicated developer of humanoid robots to become a publicly traded company in the United States. The robotics company, headquartered in Salem, Oregon, previously became the first to achieve full-time commercial deployment of humanoid robots at a customer warehouse in 2024.

Cristiano Ronaldo announces retirement from international football
Science

Cristiano Ronaldo announces retirement from international football

"To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the No. 7 shirt of our national team,” the 41-year-old Ronaldo said in a long video message on social media.

25-year-old woman died within a month after catching flu
Health

25-year-old woman died within a month after catching flu

She was rushed to hospital and placed in intensive care where her condition rapidly deteriorated

NFL playoff picture: Five games with the biggest postseason implications as Packers face pivotal test
Sports

NFL playoff picture: Five games with the biggest postseason implications as Packers face pivotal test

SportsLine projections reveal how Packers-Patriots and four other pivotal matchups could alter postseason chances

World

3,000 tarantulas hidden inside luggage seized at Peruvian airport

In a peculiar failed smuggling attempt, 3,000 tarantulas were seized at a Peruvian airport.

Bluesky was right all along and will accept your apology any time
Business

Bluesky was right all along and will accept your apology any time

Bluesky is a niche Twitter-clone frequently accused of being an echo chamber for progressives. After the blue tsunami of this week’s midterms, however, its inhabitants don’t seem to be echoing themselves so much as the vast majority of American voters. The sheer scale of Democrats’ victory is staggering. They won control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, flipping Senate seats in seven states Trump carried in 2024—including Republican stronghold Texas, which now also has a Democratic gove

La Bola Negra review: This fiercely ambitious historical drama is one of the great LGBTQ+ films of our time
Culture

La Bola Negra review: This fiercely ambitious historical drama is one of the great LGBTQ+ films of our time

This film from Spanish co-directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi explores a triptych of time-hopping tales.

Postman added itself to Claude Code and Codex without asking
AI

Postman added itself to Claude Code and Codex without asking

An update to the Postman desktop app installed plugins into Claude Code and OpenAI Codex without asking, and users report entries in Cursor and the GitHub Copilot CLI as well. A startup hook pushed the agents toward Postman's tools for API work. Postman says it is reverting the change. Here are the

2026 iPad mini review: Maximizing the mini
Technology

2026 iPad mini review: Maximizing the mini

The iPad mini has long felt like a niche product. It has earned a reputation as a quality tablet for people who want something small, comfortable, and portable, but its small screen and comparatively limited processing power have restricted its appeal, making it best suited to watching media or playing games. With the 2026 version, the iPad mini is more competitive than ever. Its chip is current, its speakers are better, and, most impressively, it trades its 8.3-inch IPS screen for an 8.5-inch OLED that can hold its own against other premium tablets.

Fireballs and a supermoon: SoCal stargazers should brace for a busy month of astronomical events
Science

Fireballs and a supermoon: SoCal stargazers should brace for a busy month of astronomical events

SoCal stargazers can brace for a November packed with astronomical events, including the Taurids meteor showers and a close encounter between Jupiter and Mars.

Dialysis may not be the default treatment for older kidney patients
Health

Dialysis may not be the default treatment for older kidney patients

Dialysis should not necessarily be regarded as the default option for older people with kidney failure, the first randomized study of its kind in the world, led by the University of Bristol, has found.

Why Ravens should trade Derrick Henry: Don't let Baltimore's QB woes drag down 'King Henry'
Sports

Why Ravens should trade Derrick Henry: Don't let Baltimore's QB woes drag down 'King Henry'

The running back should have a chance to win his elusive crown before it's too late

World

Cristiano Ronaldo announces international retirement

Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football.

From postpartum to menopause, ‘brain fog’ affects women at work. Here’s how leaders can help
Business

From postpartum to menopause, ‘brain fog’ affects women at work. Here’s how leaders can help

I was four centimeters dilated and in active labor with my first child when I successfully pitched our startup’s $5 million seed round. Two years later, I closed our $10 million Series A just seven days after giving birth to my second child. These are the kinds of stories about ambitious women that we love to celebrate. The startup founder who pumps in the airport bathroom on her way to a client meeting (been there). The seasoned executive who barely misses a beat through perimenopausal brain

Why Avatar: Seven Havens Won’t Release New Episodes This Week
Culture

Why Avatar: Seven Havens Won’t Release New Episodes This Week

Curious about why Avatar: Seven Havens won’t release new episodes this week? Here’s everything you need to know.

AI

AMD promises not to abandon Ryzen — but keeps drifting away from gamers and PCs

AMD's data-center business now generates nearly two-thirds of its revenue, while gaming sales are down 40% and the PC segment is losing ground. The company says it remains committed to Ryzen and the consumer market, but its latest results show how much its business is shifting toward AI and server c

Longer Estrogen Exposure Linked to Less Blood Vessel Damage in Women's Brains Later in Life
Technology

Longer Estrogen Exposure Linked to Less Blood Vessel Damage in Women's Brains Later in Life

The brain is directly influenced by hormone changes, and scientists suspect this could explain why women are generally more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

After 22 years in space, NASA’s 3,200-pound Swift space telescope crashes back to Earth over Indonesia after failed $30 million rescue mission; agency estimates 1-in-2,100 risk of debris harming someone
Science

After 22 years in space, NASA’s 3,200-pound Swift space telescope crashes back to Earth over Indonesia after failed $30 million rescue mission; agency estimates 1-in-2,100 risk of debris harming someone

NASA’s 3,200-pound Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has plunged back to Earth after nearly 22 years in orbit, bringing an end to a mission that transformed scientists’ understanding of some of the universe’s most powerful explosions. The space telescope re-entered Earth's atmosphere over northern Suma

Health

Cell-type-specific modularity in E/I networks shapes dynamical regimes and computational capabilities

Structural modularity is a ubiquitous feature of brain networks that shapes neural dynamics and information processing. Yet excitatory and inhibitory populations can differ in their modular organization, and it remains unclear how this asymmetry affects network dynamics and computation. Here, using dynamical mean-field theory and simulations of networks performing complex temporal tasks, we show that independently tuning excitatory and inhibitory modularity controls the dynamical regimes of bala

Week 9 NFL odds, lines, totals, spreads for every game, including Ravens-Jaguars, Jets-Chiefs, Giants-Eagles
Sports

Week 9 NFL odds, lines, totals, spreads for every game, including Ravens-Jaguars, Jets-Chiefs, Giants-Eagles

Check the Week 9 NFL odds, spreads, moneylines, and totals for all 15 games, including Ravens-Jaguars on TNF.

World

What can Democrats do in Congress under President Trump?

What can the Democratic party actually change when it comes to Donald Trump’s decisions, policies and presidency?

Stop climbing the wrong career mountain
Business

Stop climbing the wrong career mountain

In November 2015, I booked a suite in a midtown Manhattan hotel and spent the night pacing, rehearsing my presentation in an empty room. The next morning I would host the first breakfast workshop for my new wealth advisory firm. I had left a prominent position as a director of wealth management at Morgan Stanley to build a company based on a radically different idea of wealth. My guests included a senior partner at a private equity firm managing more than $10 billion and the head of a major f

Married at First Sight UK cancelled after BBC revealed rape allegations
Culture

Married at First Sight UK cancelled after BBC revealed rape allegations

Channel 4 will reinvest the show's budget in "distinctive new programming" and said sorry again to the women involved.

Asus Zenbook 14 Arrives in India With Three Processor Options
AI

Asus Zenbook 14 Arrives in India With Three Processor Options

All three variants of the Asus Zenbook 14 run Windows 11 Home.

BGMI Air Gets December 10 Launch Date, Aims To Bring Battlegrounds Mobile India To Budget Phones
Technology

BGMI Air Gets December 10 Launch Date, Aims To Bring Battlegrounds Mobile India To Budget Phones

Krafton confirms BGMI Air India launch date as December 10, with the lightweight mobile game crossing 14 million Google Play Store pre-registrations.

Iranians hold anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rallies across the country | Africanews
Science

Iranians hold anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rallies across the country | Africanews

Iranians held anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rallies across the country on Wednesday, marking the National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance and denouncing what they call U.S.-Israeli hegemony.

Health

Ideas: I Was Lucky to Be Alive. But I Missed Being Pretty.

A pump-up girl faces her own mortality.

Week 9 Super Bowl stock report: Jeffery Simmons trade legitimizes Bears, QB injuries tank Ravens
Sports

Week 9 Super Bowl stock report: Jeffery Simmons trade legitimizes Bears, QB injuries tank Ravens

We assess the NFL title race after Week 8 and identify three upcoming games that could reshape the Super Bowl picture

World

Police bodycam captures moments before deadly Russian strike in Ukraine

Bodycam footage released by Ukraine’s National Police shows people rushing into an underground shelter.

Apple’s Music Hall signals a bigger strategic plan
Business

Apple’s Music Hall signals a bigger strategic plan

Why would Apple launch a concert venue? This is the question I’ve been asking myself since it inaugurated its Apple Music Hall, nestled underneath its U.K. headquarters at London’s Battersea Power Station, in late September. Not just any performance space, this intimate 600-person, 48-speaker hall features Apple’s Spatial Audio technology, which uses Dolby Atmos and dynamic head tracking to turn flat stereo sound into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experience. To my eye, the Music Hall i

Cheek of the Week: Which K-Pop Hottie Is Baring Her Booty?!
Culture

Cheek of the Week: Which K-Pop Hottie Is Baring Her Booty?!

Can you score this week's Cheek of the Week?!

Under pressure: it's time to get realistic about ransomware and resilience
AI

Under pressure: it's time to get realistic about ransomware and resilience

Most ransomware victims are attacked more than once, Semperis's 2026 report finds. Why realistic crisis exercises and identity recovery matter.

Discord is ditching Electron and its new app uses less RAM
Technology

Discord is ditching Electron and its new app uses less RAM

Discord is moving its apps fully over to the Rust programming language.

Google HQ refused 54,000-signature petition, campaigners say
Science

Google HQ refused 54,000-signature petition, campaigners say

Campaigners oppose the development of a large data centre on a wildlife site at Thurrock.

Health

PINR-ESI: Physics-Informed Self-Supervised Implicit Neural Representation Framework for EEG Extended-Source Imaging

EEG extended-source imaging aims to localize active cortical regions and characterize their spatial extent, yet supervised inverse networks typically depend on synthetic EEG-source pairs and may be sensitive to synthetic-to-real mismatch. We propose a physics-informed self-supervised implicit neural representation (INR) framework for spatial source reconstruction without paired source labels or simulation-based supervised pretraining. The lead field matrix encodes the source-to-sensor volume-con

NFL Week 9 upset alert: Texans allow Chargers their first win, Vikings overtake Josh Allen's Bills
Sports

NFL Week 9 upset alert: Texans allow Chargers their first win, Vikings overtake Josh Allen's Bills

Plus, Denver is a road favorite that could be due for a letdown

World

Four people, including a child, killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza

Gaza officials say more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the so-called 'ceasefire' took effect.

Samsung Leads Q3 DRAM Revenue Amid SK hynix Closing In
Business

Samsung Leads Q3 DRAM Revenue Amid SK hynix Closing In

Driven by expanded investments in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and rising memory prices, the global DRAM market size has grown nearly fivefold in

Garth Brooks announces 10 Irish concerts for 2027
Culture

Garth Brooks announces 10 Irish concerts for 2027

US country star Garth Brooks is returning to Ireland and will play 10 dates here in 2027.

AI

A YC startup is putting $1M behind five unsolved materials science problems for AI

Discovered Materials, a months-old YC startup that uses AI to find chip materials, is offering $200,000 for each solution to five open materials science problems.

Motorola's new Signature 27 has it all if you can stomach the $1,600 price tag
Technology

Motorola's new Signature 27 has it all if you can stomach the $1,600 price tag

Motorola is patching a hole in its US lineup with a non-folding flagship phone, but the pricing puts this device dangerously close to the company's expensive tablet-style foldable. The long-rumored Motorola Signature 27 is real, featuring top-of-the-line specs, a super-bright OLED screen, and a ton of cameras. But all this high-end hardware won't come cheap in the age of AI.

AI and Robotics Archives - Interesting Engineering
Science

AI and Robotics Archives - Interesting Engineering

Coverage here spans industrial robots, cobots, humanoids, drones, and service robots, along with the hardware and software that enable them to operate at scale.

What the midterms could mean for the future of health AI
Health

What the midterms could mean for the future of health AI

The midterms highlighted the negative sentiment around AI across the U.S. How will those attitudes trickle down to legislating AI use in health care?

Week 9 NFL betting promos: Get over $3,000 in bonuses from betting apps, sportsbooks for Jaguars vs. Ravens
Sports

Week 9 NFL betting promos: Get over $3,000 in bonuses from betting apps, sportsbooks for Jaguars vs. Ravens

Top Week 9 NFL betting apps include DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, bet365, Caesars, Fanatics Sportsbook and Hard Rock Bet

World

Indonesia rushes thousands of troops to Jakarta amid wiretap scandal

Indonesia is deploying thousands of troops in Jakarta amid an alleged wiretapping scandal targeting the president.

How Norway flipped Trump’s name-calling into destination marketing
Business

How Norway flipped Trump’s name-calling into destination marketing

After President Donald Trump called Norway a “shithouse country,” its tourism agency turned the insult into a marketing opportunity to promote its designer bathrooms. Trump criticized Norway at a rally in Michigan on October 25 because he didn’t receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Disparaging the Nordic nation with a term he’s previously used for Haiti, ​Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, Trump said he didn’t want immigrants

MGM’s Most Underrated 4-Part Horror Show Is Dominating on Netflix Now
Culture

MGM’s Most Underrated 4-Part Horror Show Is Dominating on Netflix Now

MGM’s hit horror series From climbs Netflix’s Top 10 charts as viewers discover its first three seasons on the streaming platform.