Global Headlines and Breaking Stories - October 29, 2025

Your headlines synthesized and verified. This is Neural Newscast. Welcome to Neural Newscast. I'm Andrew Lindbeck. On this October 29, 2025, we remember, on this day in 1969, a precursor to email was born, marking an early milestone in electronic messaging that would eventually shape how we send and receive digital communications. You are listening to NNC, Neural Newscast. Subscribe and listen wherever you choose, and be sure to listen to our archive for more content like this episode, published daily at NNewscast.com. Across continents, here's what's happening. The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Melissa batters Jamaica with life-threatening flooding and island-wide power outages. Ape reports crews race to clear debris and restore services as roads wash out and towns lose contact across the island. Here's Sarah Wheaton with more. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in eastern Cuba near Chivirico early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, with sustained winds around 120 miles per hour and dangerous surge and flooding rain. Cuba's civil defense orders evacuations in coastal Granma and Santiago de Cuba provinces, and state media say airports and ports suspend operations. Reuters reports power crews brace for widespread outages. The storm crosses the Caribbean after pummeling Jamaica on Tuesday, damaging homes and roads. Forecasters warn of life-threatening mudslides in mountainous areas. Stay off flooded roads, Cuba's Meteorology Institute says, urging residents to shelter and conserve supplies. This is Sarah Wheaton for Neural Newscast. Reuters reports Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 100 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, marking the deadliest day since this month's truce began. The Israel Defense Forces say the strikes target militant sites, and Israeli officials later say the ceasefire resumes. Gaza's health ministry reports dozens of women and children among the dead. The violence disrupts fragile talks on prisoner exchanges and aid deliveries as hospitals struggle with fuel and medicine shortages. Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations pressed to sustain the pause, warning renewed fighting, could deepen the crisis. This is Cassandra Joyce for Neural Newscast. Reuters reports Israel says a ceasefire in Gaza is back in place after overnight strikes kill at least 104 people, according to local health officials. Eight groups warn deliveries remain sporadic as hospitals struggle to treat the wounded. The Israeli military describes the strikes as hitting militant infrastructure. Officials say operations paused with the truces returned. Mediators in Qatar and Egypt push to lock in a longer pause and expand humanitarian access. The UN says, as civilians wait for guidance on evacuations and medical care. This is Daniel Grove for Neural Newscast. What's happening in government today? Reuters reports, President Donald Trump says he is ready to send more than the National Guard into US cities if he deems it appropriate. Now let's report on the economy. Economists polled by Reuters and Futures tracked by CME FedWatch indicate the Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point as the job market cools. Let's hear from Ethan Wells. Markets price in a 0.25 percentage point cut, according to CME FedWatch, as policymakers pivot toward a cooling labor market. The aim is to ease borrowing costs for mortgages, autos, and business credit, which could support hiring and spending. Inflation remains above the 2% target, but is slowing, Reuters reports. What to watch next? The statement and projections for clues on the path ahead as the Fed balances price stability with employment. This is Ethan Wells for NeuroNewscast. Reuters reports Amazon cuts 14,000 corporate jobs as it pours billions into artificial intelligence. In a company memo, executives say they aim to reduce bureaucracy and streamline layers to move faster. The reductions target non-customer roles across multiple divisions in the U.S. and abroad. Leadership says savings will fund cloud, retail, and generative AI projects, with hiring continuing in high-priority areas. Severance and transition support accompany the cuts. This is Cassandra Joyce for Neural Newscast. Innovation and tech trends are next. Reuters reports Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in AI infrastructure to export computing and services to global markets. Kara Swift has more on this. Saudi Arabia bets big on artificial intelligence to become a global exporter. The kingdom pours tens of billions into new data centers and chips, building hubs in Riyadh and Niamh. It partners with US giants like Microsoft and Nvidia while courting Chinese cloud firms, Reuters reports. The goal? Train massive models locally and sell AI services abroad. Saudi officials tell the Saudi press agency the strategy turns oil wealth into computing power and expands influence over regional digital infrastructure, data, and talent. This is Kara Swift for Neural Newscast. A look at research and innovation. The LIGO-VERGO-K-A-G-R-A collaboration reports black hole mergers that suggest some black holes are products of earlier collisions. I'm joined by Nathaniel Cohen. Astronomers spot two black hole mergers in late 2024 that involve second-generation black holes, according to the LIGO-VERGO-KAGRA collaboration. These objects already merged once, then collide again in crowded star clusters. One spins at an extreme rate, the other rotates backward relative to the orbit. Gravitational wave data reveal their unusual spins and masses, showing a cosmic recycling process. Scientists say repeated mergers can rapidly grow black holes and reshape cluster dynamics, helping explain unexpectedly massive black holes in the modern universe. This is Nathaniel Cohen for Neural Newscast. Updates on medicine and wellness are next. A new pill appears to slow Alzheimer's decline in people with the high-risk APOE4 gene, according to early results published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Turning to the environment now. AP reports salmon returned to Oregon's Klamath River headwaters, about a year after the last dam comes down. Fish had vanished from these upper reaches for more than a century. The Klamath River Renewal Corporation says the final barrier was removed in 2024 as part of the dam removal project. Biologists and tribal monitors spot adult salmon migrating upstream this fall. Tribal leaders and state officials call it a milestone for cultural and ecological recovery, and say the rebound suggests habitat improves quickly when flows run free. This is Samuel Green for Neural Newscast. A look at what's happening in entertainment. British photographer Sir Don McCullen turns 90 and reflects on seven decades of conflict photography, the BBC reports. Let's hear from Lucas Bennett. Legendary war photographer Don McCullen turns 90 and reflects on seven decades of conflict. He survives snipers, mortar fire, and capture, yet questions the impact of his work. He says, I feel overrewarded. noting national honors including his knighthood. McCullen documents wars, famines, and disasters, then seeks calm in still lives and Somerset landscapes. He voices despair over Ukraine and Gaza, telling the BBC the world has learned nothing. This is Lucas Bennett for Neural Newscast. Those are today's top stories. For more comprehensive coverage and exclusive content, visit NeuralNewscast.com and join our growing community of informed listeners. I'm Andrew Lindbeck. Thank you for listening. From deep dives to daily news, Neural Newscast has you covered. Explore more at NNewscast.com. Neural Newscast combines real voice recordings with synthesized voices to enable prompt production without sacrificing quality. All content is generated using advanced AI algorithms developed by a human and undergoes fact-checking and human review prior to release. While we strive for factual, non-biased reporting and actively work to prevent AI hallucinations, AI-generated content can occasionally contain errors. Listeners are encouraged to verify critical information from trusted sources. For more details on our AI transparency policies, visit nnewscast.com.