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Scottish actor Jack Lowden has emerged as a leading candidate to play James Bond, with bookmakers placing him and Margaret Qualley at the top of the odds for the next 007 and Bond girl. Reports say final screen tests involving Lowden, Jacob Elordi and a mystery actor are due within days, and Amazon is expected to announce its choice soon.

Shoppers in Japan are searching for Amazon's Black Friday sales as retailers roll out early deals. Coverage of early discounts is already circulating, with publications highlighting menswear bargains ahead of the official shopping event, and consumers comparing offers across categories.

Actor Callum Turner is drawing attention as Amazon moves toward naming the next James Bond, with final screen tests reported to take place over the coming week. Reports name Jacob Elordi and Jack Lowden among the finalists, alongside a mystery candidate. Turner is also in the news for his relationship with Dua Lipa, with the pair photographed walking their dog in New York City. An official announcement on the new 007 is expected soon.

Rivet, a YC Winter 2023 batch company, has launched a platform for scaling and orchestrating AI agents built on Amazon S3. The open-source project is available on GitHub, and the launch is drawing attention and discussion from developers interested in new approaches to running agent infrastructure at scale using simple storage-based architectures.

Ticketmaster has hired Jim Freeman, a former Amazon Prime Video vice-president, as its new chief technology officer, tasking him with leading an 'AI-first' technology push. The news is drawing attention alongside other Ticketmaster headlines, including the cancellation of a Calgary concert that was to feature a hologram of the late Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Shoppers in Germany are already looking ahead to Black Friday 2026 and Amazon's expected deals. German outlet Hit Radio FFH notes that stores in Hesse will be allowed to stay open longer for the shopping event, letting people shop late into the evening. Interest in the date and discount plans is building months ahead of the event.

A Strands Agents blog post claims Amazon cut costs by millions of dollars by replacing Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 model with its own Strands Decider in parts of its AI pipeline. The item is drawing heavy attention among developers debating how big companies route work between frontier models and cheaper decision engines.

Several news about actor Nicholas Cage are circulating in Russian media. Vedomosti reports he is living in hotels because of a giant sinkhole that opened near his Malibu home. He also said he will no longer work with Amazon, rejecting the use of AI in his series Spider-Noir. In addition, it was announced that Cage will appear in the fifth season of True Detective.

Denzel Washington is teaming with filmmaker Chris McQuarrie on a new movie set up at Amazon, according to Dark Horizons. The project pairs the two-time Oscar-winning actor with the director best known for the Mission: Impossible franchise. Details on the plot, cast and release plans have not yet been announced, and reaction online is still building.

Amazon's Prime Video is drawing attention with two major launches. Michelle Yeoh stars in 'Blade Runner 2099,' the latest expansion of the sci-fi franchise, while a new TV adaptation of Stephen King's 'Carrie' arrives with fresh takes on the horror classic. Outlets including CNN, The New York Times and The Atlantic are weighing in, with early reviews debating how the new Carrie handles its source material.

Retailers have started rolling out early Black Friday promotions ahead of the main shopping event. Amazon has quietly cut prices by up to 59% on brands including Dyson and LEGO, while Lowe's is discounting hundreds off appliances from LG, Samsung and Frigidaire. Shoppers in the Netherlands and elsewhere are searching for the best deals as the discount season kicks off earlier each year.

Amazon has launched new Alexa-powered tablets that drop the long-standing Fire branding, and Ars Technica reports they are built to be more like standard Android devices than previous models. The shift is drawing attention because it suggests Amazon may be loosening its closed Fire OS ecosystem, potentially bringing its tablets closer to the Google Play Store experience.

Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has overturned Amazon's 2022 increase of the Prime subscription fee from 69 to 89.90 euros, siding with consumer protection groups who challenged the hike. Consumer advocates declared victory, saying the price rise was not adequately communicated to customers. In a separate ruling, the BGH also halted the Wirecard investor model proceedings against auditing firm EY.

Brazil's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has issued a statement clarifying federal actions to combat forest fires in the state of Amazonas. The government's remarks address ongoing firefighting efforts in the region, where blazes have drawn public concern. Further details about the scale of the fires or their causes were not provided in the statement.

Actor Henry Cavill is trending after news of an update on his Amazon action sci-fi series, which is based on a franchise worth an estimated $7 billion. Coverage notes the project, announced four years ago, is still moving forward. Fans have been waiting for concrete progress on the adaptation, so any fresh development draws attention.

Nicolas Cage is making headlines on multiple fronts. HBO confirmed he will lead True Detective season 5, with Antonio Banderas joining the cast and filming set to begin in 2027. Cage also spoke about losing himself while filming Face/Off, and discussed stepping away from Amazon's Spider-Noir over AI concerns. Interviews about his unusual hotel-hopping lifestyle are also circulating.

A Cloudflare employee has reportedly blocked Route 53 health checks, disrupting AWS's health monitoring service, and is being asked to undo the change. The incident has drawn attention because a single individual's action at Cloudflare appears to have affected Amazon Web Services customers relying on Route 53 health checks. No detailed public explanation from either Cloudflare or AWS has been provided yet.

Jeff Bezos is in the news on two fronts. Lauren Sánchez Bezos and Jeff Bezos have launched a $100 million mission with a reported Hollywood connection, drawing interest from entertainment and philanthropy watchers. Meanwhile, financial commentary is focusing on a potential Blue Origin IPO and what Bezos's space ambitions could mean for Amazon stock, keeping his ventures in both lifestyle and business headlines.

Actor Josh O'Connor is trending in the UK, US and Canada amid reports about the next James Bond. Screen tests for the role are reportedly taking place this week, with media outlets listing which actors are still in the running and who has been ruled out. The casting of the new Bond, following the producers' deal with Amazon, remains one of the most anticipated announcements in film.

German comedian Carolin Kebekus is taking over on Prime Video's hit show "LOL: Last One Laughing", replacing Michael Herbig, known as Bully. Bild reports the shake-up as a major surprise for the Amazon streaming format, which has been one of Germany's most-watched streaming shows. Fans are debating whether Kebekus can fill Herbig's shoes as host of the comedy program.

Amazon has announced Prime Big Deal Days, its fall discount event running October 6-7, offering Prime members early holiday-season deals across a wide range of products. The company is promoting it as its biggest deals event to kick off fall and holiday shopping, and the event is drawing attention across multiple countries as shoppers look for early savings.