News 4 u.

Technology

Apple blocks compromised eMudhra certificates but warns some Mac command-line tools remain exposed

Apple says private keys for eight eMudhra intermediate certificate authorities were compromised, allowing six TLS authorities to issue certificates that could impersonate websites. Apple devices already block the affected certificates in Safari, Mail and apps using its networking frameworks. However, macOS and Xcode command-line tools such as git, curl, Python and OpenSSL may continue trusting them through /etc/ssl/cert.pem until a future software update. Administrators can remove relevant root certificates sooner, but the change may affect legitimate sites and require repetition after updates.

AI

xAI offers to buy Mississippi homes amid datacenter noise lawsuit

The Guardian

xAI has offered to buy homes in a Mississippi neighborhood near its datacenters, with contracts reportedly requiring sellers not to join a lawsuit over noise from gas turbines powering the sites. The company may seek as many as 418 properties, while five purchases have been recorded since October 9. Residents describe persistent noise and health concerns; regulators have found turbines operating without required federal permits. xAI denies the lawsuit’s claims and says it is addressing the impact.

AI’s rapid advance in science is exposing a growing trust problem

BBC

AI is accelerating research, but its use is also straining the safeguards that make scientific results trustworthy. A disputed OpenAI mathematics announcement illustrates unresolved questions about data access and review, while examples from materials science, peer review and citations show how AI-generated claims or references can spread. Researchers and publishers are developing screening and accountability measures, yet the article argues that humans must understand and take responsibility for an agent’s work rather than treating model output as validated science.

Study finds LLMs often concede under pressure without reliably detecting manipulation

arXiv

A study of seven language models examines how they respond when users challenge correct and incorrect answers. Citations made five models more willing to concede and worsened discrimination in four, while stronger wording had little effect. In a customer-support setting, most models still respected verification rules, showing that conversational concession does not reliably predict unsafe actions. The authors argue evaluations should measure both epistemic discrimination and real-world policy compliance, rather than relying on concession rates alone.

Markets

Meta plans $95bn stock offering to fund its expanding AI infrastructure push

The Guardian

Meta plans to raise up to $95bn through two stock offerings to finance continued AI infrastructure spending and what it calls personal superintelligence. The plan combines a $35bn underwritten offering, with interest from major chipmakers, and a future $60bn sale of non-voting shares. It comes as highly leveraged AI data-center providers face funding pressure and investor concern. The account includes market reactions and analyst commentary, but some claims about sector distress remain forecasts or assertions.

Economy

UK budget combines household relief with energy, AI and defence investment

gov.uk

The UK government says its 2026 budget will provide near-term relief on energy and fuel costs while directing investment toward housing, industry, AI security and defence. Measures include a £100 household energy payment, a temporary bank-tax increase, £700 million for AI initiatives and additional public financing for strategic industries. The package also raises some taxes and relies on spending reprioritisation. These are announced government plans, not independently verified outcomes.

Deals & regulation

Delaware plan for AI-run companies draws scrutiny over liability and accountability

Ars Technica

Delaware is developing a proposed corporate form that would let AI agents manage companies, sign contracts and conduct other business under a 30-month regulatory sandbox. The draft would generally shield the human or entity funding an Artificial Intelligence Company from liability for the agent’s acts, with exceptions for fraud, unlawful conduct and inadequate capitalization. A congressional investigation now questions whether the plan could enable regulatory evasion, while legal scholars warn it may create an overly generous liability shield and encourage a race among states.

World

Spain investigates deadly high-speed crash after control-system failure claim

BBC

At least 60 people were confirmed dead after a high-speed Renfe train struck a stationary Iryo train south of Madrid, with dozens more injured and the toll still rising in the report’s latest update. Officials said a computer failure had halted several trains before a control centre allowed them to move without speed restrictions, but the cause remained under investigation. Rail service was suspended, hospitals cancelled procedures and Spain mounted a large emergency response.

Policy

Israel election leaves both major blocs short of a majority as coalition choices narrow

Al Jazeera

With nearly 80% of votes counted, Israel’s election left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc with 54 seats and the opposition bloc with 49 in the 120-seat Knesset, according to preliminary figures. Arab-dominated parties held 17 seats that could theoretically give either side a majority, but both blocs have resisted such an alliance. President Isaac Herzog will consult parties before assigning a coalition mandate. If coalition efforts fail, Israel could return to the polls, while disagreements over military service and an inquiry into October 7 remain central obstacles.

Listening room

Token counts can badly exaggerate AI costs, but cheaper inference also changes how developers work

Theo - t3.gg

Theo argues that viral estimates of an engineer’s AI token spending misprice aggregate usage by ignoring cached reads, cached writes, model choice and negotiated rates. He presents lower personal estimates and cites benchmark comparisons suggesting that comparable model intelligence has become dramatically cheaper. The transcript also contains a serious qualification: applied tasks may not cost less when newer agents perform more work, use tools and replace human effort. The claims remain largely the speaker’s own calculations and examples.

THE BACK PAGE

Sports in brief

NFL

Colts launch rebuild with Buckner and Nelson trades

ESPN

Indianapolis traded DeForest Buckner back to San Francisco and All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson to Seattle after falling to 2-5 and firing general manager Chris Ballard. The deals bring the Colts draft capital and formally begin a rebuild.

Soccer

Harry Kane wins his first Ballon d’Or

ESPN

Harry Kane won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or, completing a long climb to the game’s highest individual honor. The Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals in 65 matches during the voting period, won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and German Supercup, and helped England reach its best World Cup finish in 60 years.

Real Madrid close on Barcelona after Clásico win

Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou, ending Barcelona’s run of 19 straight LaLiga victories and cutting the gap at the top of the table to three points. Kylian Mbappé scored the late winner after Aurélien Camavinga’s substitute appearance created the decisive chance, strengthening José Mourinho’s side in the early title race.

NBA

Tatum’s buzzer-beater caps 40-point night for Celtics

Jayson Tatum hit a 17-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer to give Boston a 125-124 win over Brooklyn, finishing with 40 points. It was his first 40-point game since returning from a torn Achilles and made him the first NBA player to combine 40 points with a game-winning buzzer-beater before November, according to the supplied report.

Elsewhere in sport

Amanda Serrano to end career with January farewell fight

Seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano will end her professional career in January with a homecoming fight against Australia’s Skye Falzon in Puerto Rico. Serrano will defend her WBA and WBO featherweight titles in San Juan, seeking the knockout that would give her the women’s record. She is the only Puerto Rican boxer to become an undisputed world champion.