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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said hackers who stole $6.3bn used "fake job interviews" to steal funds. An engineer was contacted through a legitimate job-hunting platform and invited to bogus job interviews with fake company representatives. "Advanced and deceptive" methods were used to build trust, and the job applicant was instructed to download an "assignment" that deployed malicious code. The engineer's compromised computer and a compromised internal AI tool were then leveraged to gain control over two other engineers' laptops and execute the next steps of the attack. The FBI has traced the theft to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group with links to the government. 

 

Nikkei Asia

BBC News

The Guardian

NBC News reports that when Democrats take control of the House and the Senate in January, they will face the “tricky challenge” of carrying out aggressive oversight of the Trump administration while needing the President's signature to advance most legislative goals. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has warned Republicans to “lawyer up.” Rep. Peter Aguilar (D-CA) told NPR: “there will be a host of investigations . . . there is plenty to investigate, but I’ll tell you what the American public wants us to investigate are the grift and the corruption, the self-dealing, the no-bid contracts.” The Financial Times says investigations could uncover communications between officials and executives after alleged corruption emerged as a campaign theme in the midterms.

 

Financial Times

NBC News

NPR

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday night announced its largest election monitoring effort in history, deploying approximately 1,000 monitors across all 50 states. Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, said: “Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division . . . I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized the deployment, calling it a “baseless and dangerous attack” on state election processes.

 

The Hill

Rising food prices, fuel costs, and persistent inflation emerged as decisive factors in the U.S. midterm elections, with Democrats winning control of both the House and Senate amid widespread dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump's economic policies. At 07:00 EST, the Democrats had 54 Senate seats, compared to 44 for the Republicans, and 228 against 139 in the House. A national survey of more than 79,000 registered voters for the Associated Press and all the major TV and cable news networks found that approximately 90% considered the cost of living a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote, while roughly 60% were very concerned about food prices and a similar proportion about gasoline and diesel costs. Nearly two-thirds blamed Mr. Trump's policies for worsening inflation, while 75% described the economy as poor or not particularly good. Almost two-thirds believed Mr. Trump's tariffs had damaged economic conditions.

 

AP News

Fox News

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

U.S. construction spending fell 1.9% in September, reversing much of August’s upwardly revised 2.0% increase and missing economists’ expectations for a 0.3% gain. Spending declined 2.7% year over year, reflecting weakness in residential construction amid elevated material costs and rising mortgage rates. Private construction spending dropped 2.4%, driven by a 5.5% decline in residential projects, particularly renovations, while single-family housing investment remained unchanged. Mortgage rates have increased by at least 125 basis points since late February, adding pressure to housing demand and investment. Meanwhile, private nonresidential construction spending rose 1.1%, supported by a 1.2% increase in power plant projects. Public construction spending edged down 0.1%, as a 0.3% decline in state and local government investment offset a 2.5% increase in federal construction outlays.

 

Reuters

Oracle has canceled a $7bn chip leasing contract with Tencent - the Chinese tech giant's largest overseas leasing deal - after ​bowing to pressure from the ‌Trump administration, the Financial Times reports.

 

Financial Times

Google has agreed to let labor union Prospect organize among about 7,000 employees across its U.K. operations, including YouTube but excluding DeepMind. The union has a similar access agreement with Meta, covering about 5,000 U.K. employees across Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Both arrangements comply with new Employment Rights Act rules allowing unions to contact non-members, encourage recruitment and hold workplace sessions. Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said tech workers deserved a stronger voice on pay, flexibility, AI deployment and culture.

 

The Guardian

Amazon is facing increasing competition from AI-powered shopping agents, particularly Meta Platforms’ newly launched Muse assistant, which could disrupt the retailer’s nearly $70bn annual advertising business by allowing consumers to discover and purchase products without browsing traditional online marketplaces. Meta’s Muse attracted more than 10m users across the U.S. and Canada within its first six weeks, prompting Amazon to block the agent from accessing its platform over safety concerns, while competitors Walmart and Shopify have partnered with Meta to integrate the technology. The emergence of AI shopping agents threatens Amazon’s lucrative sponsored advertising model, as automated purchasing decisions could reduce brands’ incentives to pay for product visibility. However, chief executive Andy Jassy has downplayed the immediate impact, highlighting that Amazon’s own Alexa for Shopping assistant has been used by more than 400m customers over the past 12 months and that its advertising business has not yet been materially affected. 

 

Wall Street Journal

European supermarket operators have reported widespread refrigeration system failures across Sweden and Belgium, resulting in millions of euros worth of spoiled food, just weeks after similar incidents affected hundreds of supermarkets in France. Freezer temperatures at stores operated by Ica and Coop in Sweden reportedly surged to as high as 55°C, while supermarkets belonging to Ahold Delhaize in Belgium experienced comparable disruptions. The incidents follow suspected cyberattacks on French retailers, where refrigeration temperatures reportedly reached 80°C at one location. Affected Swedish stores have reported losing control of freezer temperatures, leaving significant quantities of food unsalvageable. Ahold Delhaize has confirmed an IT incident affecting refrigeration systems at several Delhaize stores and is assessing the impact. Despite the widespread nature of the attack, EU officials have said that Europe’s overall food security remains unaffected.

 

Dutch News

France 24

Financial Times

Reuters

Chinese regulators have reportedly instructed major securities firms and banks to slow initial public offering (IPO) activity and prioritize stabilizing the stock market amid economic weakness and concerns over slowing artificial intelligence investment. The China Securities Regulatory Commission is expected to continue processing existing IPO applications while temporarily suspending new submissions and discouraging large-scale shareholder sales. The measures follow a decline of more than 9% in the Shanghai Composite Index over two months, alongside significant share price falls at recently listed technology companies. To support market confidence, China's central bank has provided more than $10bn in liquidity-related operations and reduced certain lending rates from 1.25% to 1%. Regulators are also proposing more flexible share-buyback rules, while major technology companies, including DeepSeek and Yangtze Memory Technologies, continue preparing for potential listings.

 

Wall Street Journal

European Central Bank (ECB) ​Vice President Boris Vujcic has said countries in the euro zone are integrating faster with the United States than with each other. Referencing ECB research, Vujcic said estimated barriers to cross-border equity investment between the euro zone and the U.S. have fallen by a quarter ​since 2014, more than twice as much as barriers ​within the euro area, and suggested that Europe's fragmented capital markets make the continent less resilient. "In a fragmented Europe, investment becomes the margin of ⁠adjustment ​whenever a shock hits," he said. "That ​is a resilience problem before it is a growth problem."

 

Reuters

India has defended its $1.2bn tax demand against German automaker Volkswagen in a Mumbai court, claiming the company never provided mandated information in time. Volkswagen, which has a roughly 2% market share in the world's third biggest car market, says the demand came years too late. India has since 2024 alleged the firm ​undervalued auto imports for years and paid below the full tariff rates. Volkswagen denies the allegations and has previously described the case as a matter of "life and death" for its business in India, and is "impossibly enormous." The carmaker is currently in talks with India's JSW to sell a stake in its India operations. 

 

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