Binance's record crypto theft
Today is Saturday, October 31, 2026
Player controls
Story 1 of 27: Weather
weatherWeather
Stories
- Good morning, and welcome to Hark News. Here's what the world got up to while you slept. First, the weather in New York. A high of 60 and a low of 43, with clear skies.
- Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, lost more than $6 billion to hackers on Thursday, the biggest crypto theft on record. Investigators point to North Korea and to a single compromised engineer laptop.
- October has been a brutal month for computer security. A private key for an internet certificate authority turned out to be the number four, and PHP, used by about 70% of websites, has a serious flaw.
- Alphabet shares fell more than 12% on Thursday, their worst day on record, wiping out roughly half a trillion dollars. Investors worried about ad revenue and heavy AI spending.
- More than 43 million Americans have already voted early or by mail, nearly 10 million more than at this point in 2022. Texas is up 50 percent over four years ago, and South Carolina is up 83 percent.
- Trump cancelled weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa, then reversed course and will hold them Sunday. Officials had reportedly hoped he would stay out of the way.
- An appeals court has again turned down a Justice Department demand that California election officials set aside ballots from about 20,000 people. The administration says a data-matching program flagged those voters as possible noncitizens.
- Pope Leo XIV submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago, the Vatican says. He is believed to be the first pope to vote in a US election, and Axios notes he has voted in both Democratic and Republican primaries over the past two decades.
- The Pentagon now puts the Iran war at $47.1 billion, not counting up to $15 billion in damage to US bases, according to the AP and the Wall Street Journal.
- US officials reportedly warned Gulf Arab countries to prepare for renewed strikes on Iran as early as November 4. Oil is above $116 a barrel after more tanker attacks, and some American energy executives pulled out of an Abu Dhabi oil conference.
- Democrats are hammering Republicans over the Iran war but have no plan for constraining Iran afterward, Politico Magazine reports. One former aide said it is not their problem for two years.
- Democrats may win big Tuesday, but CNN polling shows their brand is weak. Only 38 percent of registered voters view Democrats favorably, against 35 percent for Republicans.
- Democrats need a net gain of only three seats to take the House. Analysts say a bare majority is 218 seats, and anything above 230 is solid.
- Axios walks through what to watch on Tuesday. Florida's 14th and 25th districts close early, then South Carolina's Senate race. Alaska and Maine may not be called for days.
- Michael Bloomberg put another $36 million into House, Senate, and governor races this week, on top of $80 million announced last week. Much went to House Majority PAC and Everytown for Gun Safety.
- Senate Republicans have asked the FEC to investigate whether Mary Peltola's campaign helped recruit a second Dan Sullivan to split votes from the incumbent. Alaska's governor has ordered a criminal investigation, and Democrats call it a sham.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is setting up a post-election war room to counter any effort by Trump to steal the election, he wrote in a letter to Democrats.
- Elon Musk has poured nearly $475 million to $500 million into elections, making him one of the largest disclosed donors in modern American politics. He said he worries Democratic control would mean a one-party state.
- Wage growth looks weaker than it is because employers are spending more on health benefits. Health costs rose 6.4 percent, while wages rose just 3.1 percent.
- France's economy unexpectedly contracted 0.1 percent in the third quarter, while inflation rose to 3.8 percent. Its 10-year bond yield came close to a 24-year high, and Lagarde's early departure from the ECB is stirring speculation about French politics.
- Intel expects worldwide PC shipments to fall about 12 percent this year and roughly 10 percent next year. Its stock dropped more than 25 percent, and Dell, HP, and Lenovo fell too, as AI demand pushes up PC prices.
- A new Axios-CivicScience index finds Americans think AI will help the economy but not create jobs. Economic growth scored positive, while job creation scored deeply negative.
- Democrats weighing 2028 bids are increasingly talking about AI, with tech mentions on X nearly quadrupling. Republicans are split between voter concern and Trump's embrace of the industry.
- The Trump administration plans to send more than 150 Afghan immigrants to Afghanistan through Pakistan, including people who could face Taliban persecution. The New York Times reported it.
- The New York Times reports that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in a relationship with Christian influencer Tracy Duhon, who has stayed largely out of his Senate campaign.
- Final results in Israel leave no bloc with a majority. Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats and Eisenkot's has 48, with two Arab parties taking 19.
- And that's your world for today. The full stories and the links are waiting in the app. Tap through, bookmark what matters, and share what's worth sharing. And if you want to see what stuck, take today's quiz in the app: five quick questions. And if Hark is making your mornings a little better, share it with a friend. It's the best way to help us grow. I'll see you again tomorrow morning. Until then, have a great day.