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A nationwide public sector strike is planned for Tuesday, September 29, in France, involving teachers, healthcare workers, firefighters, and public transport staff. In Paris, a demonstration is set to march from Place de la République to Place de la Nation via Bastille. Travelers should expect disruptions, with RATP services likely affected, and check updated schedules before setting out.

Leading artificial intelligence researchers are calling for urgent government oversight of self-improving AI systems, according to a Wall Street Journal exclusive. The researchers warn that systems capable of enhancing their own capabilities could pose risks that current safety measures and regulations are not equipped to handle, urging policymakers to act before the technology advances further.

Google has announced Project Suncatcher, an initiative to place machine learning infrastructure in space, with details published on the company's research blog. The announcement is drawing attention among technologists debating the feasibility and costs of running data centers off Earth, powered by solar energy in orbit. Discussions center on how satellite-based compute could scale and whether the idea is realistic.

Israel's Supreme Court is expected to decide this week whether Arab parties can be barred from running in the upcoming elections. The attempt to exclude them has triggered anger and uncertainty among Arab citizens and their representatives, adding a contentious dimension to an already heated election campaign in Israel.

Open-source monitoring reports two jet-powered Ukrainian drone aircraft launched from Russia's Bryansk region heading toward Ripka in Ukraine's Chernihiv region. The alert, part of regular drone movement tracking during the war, signals continued cross-border UAV activity in northern Ukraine as air defense and observers watch the direction of flight overnight.

Ukraine is reported to be sending unmanned ground vehicles fitted with grenade launchers to attack Russian positions, replacing infantry in certain assaults. The deployment reflects Kyiv's growing reliance on robotic systems to conserve manpower and reduce casualties at the front. The development adds to ongoing discussion about how drones and ground robots are reshaping combat tactics in the war.

Researchers have concluded that there is no solid evidence linking daylight saving time to effects on mental health, the Guardian reports. The finding pushes back against widespread claims that the clock changes trigger depression, anxiety or other psychiatric problems, and may inform ongoing debates in several countries about whether to abolish seasonal time changes altogether.

Researchers have published a ranking of the risks posed by increasingly capable smart systems, placing potential catastrophes such as nuclear war, bioweapons development, and loss of control over advanced AI among the most severe threats. The work compares how experts weigh these scenarios and is drawing attention to how the field prioritises safety research as systems grow more powerful.

Stephen Richer appeared before a US House hearing examining claims of noncitizen voting in New Jersey. The testimony, highlighted by Harvard's Ash Center, puts election administration practices under congressional scrutiny. The hearing feeds into a broader national debate over election integrity and who should be allowed to cast ballots, drawing attention from both supporters and critics of stricter voting rules.

Cattle ranchers are warning that a tougher immigration crackdown could drive beef prices even higher, as farms already face labor shortages and rising costs. They say tighter enforcement risks reducing the workforce available for ranch operations, adding pressure to production and consumer prices at a time when beef costs are already elevated.

Researchers led by Dr. Jona Kayser at MPZPM report that physical processes within dense cell populations strongly influence the optimal timing of treatment cycles in cancer and antibiotic therapy. Treatment resistance is a central obstacle in both fields, and the findings suggest that scheduling therapies around these dynamics could improve outcomes. The work, associated with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, points to a greater role for biophysics in designing treatment schedules.

The Yuelu Conference 2026 took place in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, on September 23–24, bringing together artificial intelligence companies, robotics developers, researchers and investors. The event featured an opening ceremony and ten themed "AI+" forums, positioning Changsha as a growing hub for China's AI and robotics industries.

Researchers at Graz University of Technology have shown that file notifications in Linux, Android, Windows and macOS can be exploited to spy on users. By monitoring these notifications, an attacker could infer typing behaviour and which websites a person visits. Commenters discussing the findings note that Linux appears to come off as more secure than the other systems in the comparison.

Archaeologists in Chile have uncovered 13,000-year-old butchered animal bones, offering new evidence that humans were present in South America far earlier than once believed. The cut marks on the remains suggest early peoples hunted or scavenged there, adding to a growing body of finds that challenge the traditional timeline of when the first Americans arrived and how quickly they spread across the continent.

The EU is introducing two mandatory labels to make it easier for consumers to understand their rights when products like washing machines break down shortly after purchase. The labels are meant to clearly distinguish statutory warranty rights from voluntary commercial guarantees, so shoppers no longer have to guess what coverage applies when goods fail within weeks of buying them.

Archaeologists in Chile have unearthed 13,000-year-old bones of a gomphothere, an extinct long-tusked relative of elephants, bearing clear cut marks from butchering. The find adds to evidence that humans were present in South America far earlier than the traditional Clovis timeline, supporting theories of an earlier peopling of the Americas. Researchers say the discovery strengthens the case for pre-Clovis settlement across the continent.

Bob Mackie, the American fashion and costume designer famed for dressing stars such as Cher, Carol Burnett and Madonna, has died at the age of 87, according to ABC News. Mackie built a decades-long career known for glamorous sequined gowns and stage costumes, earning multiple Emmy Awards and an Oscar nomination. Tributes and remembrances of his most iconic looks are circulating widely.

Bleacher Report and WWE have signed an agreement covering the distribution of WWE highlights. The deal will bring wrestling highlight content to Bleacher Report's sports platforms, expanding WWE's reach among digital sports audiences. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed in the initial report.

Researchers at Stony Brook University have published a blueprint for artificial intelligence systems capable of improving themselves. According to the university's announcement, the work outlines a framework for AI that can iteratively enhance its own performance. Details on methods, results, and timeline have not been widely reported, and reaction from the broader AI community remains limited so far.

Boris Cherny, an engineer at Anthropic, argued that general-purpose AI models are a better bet than narrowly specialized ones, saying broad systems can adapt to new tasks as capabilities improve. The remarks have sparked debate among AI developers about whether targeted, domain-specific models still make sense as frontier models grow more capable.

The legal dispute over the US government's classification of AI company Anthropic as a supply-chain security risk remains unresolved, but a court has sided with the government for now, ruling the designation not unlawful. The Pentagon-related case centres on whether Anthropic can be treated as a supply-chain risk, and the latest decision means the classification stands while proceedings continue.