By Ankur Banerjee, Rocky Swift and Summer Zhen SINGAPORE/TOKYO Oct 30 (Reuters) – Hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, in a record theft that analysts pinned on North Korea and said could shake faith in digital assets. Cryptocurrency prices fell on the news, while Binance halted withdrawals and said it would cover the losses. About half the stolen assets were quickly frozen ‌by stablecoin issuers such as Tether, Circle and the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial. “This was a complex attack, and we are doing all we can in coordination with law enforcement to resolve it,” Binance ‌said in a post on X. The exchange said customer funds were safe and that it was working with partners to freeze some of the affected assets, with about $3 billion located so far. It expects to resume withdrawal services in the next 45 hours. It did not mention ​the status of the remaining $3.3 billion. Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, a $1 billion bitcoin reserve designed to protect customer assets in the event of security breaches, according to its website. Co-CEO Teng said that “and company funds” would cover losses. The bulk of the heist unfolded in around 20 minutes beginning late on Thursday and bore similarities to previous large attacks blamed on North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. TRM said the attackers were able to order wallets that Binance uses to empty into hacker-controlled wallets, mirroring a 2025 heist at crypto exchange Bybit, which the US Federal Bureau of Investigation attributed to North Korea. “TRM attributes the attack to … North Korea’s elite hacking unit,” the firm said in ‌an analysis of the hack posted to its website. Both TRM and Chainalysis ⁠said they were highly confident North Korea was responsible. ‘BIGGEST HACK IN HISTORY’ North Korea has for years used state-linked cyber units for espionage, financial theft and revenue, according to US and South Korean authorities as well as cybersecurity experts. North Korea routinely denies that. Its mission in Geneva and embassy in China did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. “Your money ⁠is safe and we’re covering every loss,” Teng said on X. “Our investigation has not attributed responsibility to any individual.” “It’s the biggest hack in history,” Aravind Srinivasan at market maker GSR said as crypto prices fell broadly. Bitcoin hit a six-week low of $76,368 and ether fell more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178 before markets stabilised. BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5% over the past 24 hours at $709.70, according to CoinGecko, while shaky ​confidence ​hit listed crypto exchange shares. Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global, which said it was unaffected, slid 4.8%, while those of bitcoin buyer ​Strategy fell nearly 6% in extended US trading. COMPROMISED LAPTOP An initial investigation suggested the breach ‌may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of Binance’s engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorized withdrawals, Binance said. “Our security team is tracing the full attack path through the compromised computer which may be the entry point of the incident,” Binance said. Later, the company added it had uncovered additional points of breach. Mark Karpeles, former chief of defunct Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, which collapsed a dozen years ago after $500 million in bitcoin was stolen, said attackers probably accessed private keys for at least two Binance wallets. “Binance appears to have split its assets across multiple systems, ensuring a hack can only affect a part of the assets, but even so a single hack is a large loss,” he said. Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for the crypto sector, which had already been under pressure ‌due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said. “It may further dampen risk appetite and ​prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges,” said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, based in Hong ​Kong. HACK SIZE TOPS BINANCE SECURE ASSET FUND Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, ​has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of its 2025 annual report. Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets ‌linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million. World Liberty Financial said it ​worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds, and Binance co-founder ​Yi He said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen. Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said. The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. Last year, attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, Bitget said roughly $350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry’s ​vulnerability to hackers. “The broader credit and industry implications will depend on the ultimate ‌losses, affected counterparties, asset recovery, and importantly, whether the incident leads to wider disruption or loss of confidence across the digital-asset ecosystem,” said Cristiano Ventricelli, vice president, digital assets at Moody’s Ratings. (Reporting by ​Tom Westbrook, Ankur Banerjee and Rae Wee in Singapore, Summer Zhen in Hong Kong, Rocky Swift in Tokyo, Vallari Srivastava and Anusha Shah in Bengaluru and Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City, Elizabeth ​Howcroft in Paris; Writing by Scott Murdoch and Tom Westbrook. Editing by Stephen Coates, Jan Harvey and Mark Potter) This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/tether-circle-freeze-2-38-222607515.html

House Democrats are probing the State Department’s role in facilitating former Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s escape from Brazil to the U.S. amid ongoing criminal investigations into him and his family.A group of House Democrats, including many prominent members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday night with a list of questions about the State Department’s involvement in Bolsonaro fleeing Brazil and the process it underwent to approve a U.S. visa for him as he departed.In the letter, shared first with POLITICO, the Democrats ask Rubio to clarify how the State Department coordinated with other agencies to grant the visa, whether officials were aware of the pending probes against Bolsonaro and the degree to which the State Department and its officials helped Bolsonaro leave Brazil and come to the United States.“The American people and Congress have a legitimate oversight interest in understanding whether U.S. diplomatic and immigration resources were used to facilitate the travel of a foreign political figure under these circumstances,” the lawmakers wrote. “Transparency is particularly important where the reported events implicate a foreign judicial proceeding, sensitive bilateral relations, and the consistent application of U.S. immigration and diplomatic policies.”The letter, led by Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), was signed by 25 members in total.The State Department did not respond to a request for comment about the letter.Bolsonaro, the scion of a right-wing political dynasty in the South American country with close ties to key Trump administration advisers, is under investigation in Brazil for alleged money laundering. After he lost the second round of the presidential election to incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, a Brazilian judge ordered that he surrender his passport and remain in Brazilian territory. Instead, he fled the country with his wife and children, traveling first to Argentina and then Miami.POLITICO has not been able to independently confirm those reports. The White House directed a request for comment about administration involvement to the State Department as well as Customs and Border Protection.The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, did not address reports of administration involvement directly, but did say in a statement that “Bolsonaro arrived in South Florida with his family and were met and inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in accordance with applicable immigration laws and procedures. At the conclusion of the inspection, Mr. Bolsonaro and his accompanying family members were released.”This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/30/democrats-demand-answers-bolsonaro-01141553

Patrick Stewart, the revered English actor best known for his work on Star Trek and the X-Men movie franchise, has died. He was 86.According to a post on his X account, Stewart died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.”He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” the post read. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre. He explored the human condition in all its poetic complexity and brought hope not only to the far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but into science fiction’s most iconic final frontier aboard the Starship Enterprise,” the post continued. “His professional accomplishments were humbly matched by his philanthropy and activism on behalf of human rights, survivors of domestic violence, global refugees, veterans’ mental health services, and animal welfare, particularly his cherished foster puppies.Read more from Yahoo: Live reaction and tributes to the life and legacy of Patrick Stewart”He was a Knight, Chancellor, motor sport enthusiast, and lifelong Huddersfield Football fan,” the post added. “He will be remembered for the dignity, compassion, and humanity he brought to every role — in his art and life.”In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund   https://t.co/luC5CdcWDyAlzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources    https://t.co/zvNptfyuNdPhoto Credit: Tommy Garcia pic.twitter.com/XNncEVq56X— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) October 29, 2026 In a recent interview with TV Insider, published in July, Stewart said of his career, “I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring.’ I’ll always and forever be an actor.”Born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, Stewart grew up in poverty. He recalled in an interview with the Guardian in 2023, that the house he grew up in had no indoor toilet or central heating.He dropped out of school at age 15 to work as a reporter at a local newspaper and then furniture salesman before enrolling in drama school in 1957.He made his professional theater debut in 1959, eventually joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. He spent the next two decades performing in both classical and contemporary productions — Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra — alongside fellow stage greats such as Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren.In the mid ’80s, Stewart moved to Los Angeles to star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Also see: From Shakespeare to Picard and Professor X, Patrick Stewart was a legend long before Hollywood. See his life in photos. He later reprised the role on the big screen for a series of Star Trek films, including Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He later starred in the sci-fi TV series Star Trek: Picard, which ran from 2020-2023.Stewart had more than 160 credits as an actor, according to IMDB, most recently as the voice of Avery Bullock on the animated comedy series American Dad!. He will also appear posthumously in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday on Dec. 18, as Professor Charles Xavier, a role he played in several previous X-Men films.Related: Patrick Stewart will return as Professor X in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ nearly 2 months after his deathStewart was just as well known for his stage work, earning three Olivier awards for “Antony and Cleopatra” (1979), his one-man “A Christmas Carol” (1994) and “Hamlet” (2008). He appeared alongside longtime friend and X-Men costar Ian McKellen in “Waiting for Godot” on Broadway in 2014.In 2010, Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and given the title of Sir in honor of his contributions to TV, film and theater.McKellen was among those to pay tribute to his close friend, writing in a post on Instagram, “He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.” “We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today,” Hugh Jackman, who starred alongside Stewart in X-Men, wrote in an Instagram post. “And, in my book, a tremendous friend and man. I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.”The Royal Shakespeare Company wrote on Instagram that Stewart was “a colossus of both stage and screen and one of the finest classical Shakespearean actors of his generation.”And William Shatner, who preceded Stewart as captain of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, honored the talent and humanity that Stewart brought to the role of Picard.”Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him,” Shatner wrote on Instagram. “I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work.”Patrick Stewart poses in his dressing room at the Lyceum Theater in New York in 2008 during a production of “Macbeth.”AP Photo/Rick MaimanStewart had a son, Daniel, and daughter, Sophie, with his first wife, Sheila Falconer, who he married in 1966. They divorced in 1990.In his 2023 memoir, Making It So, Stewart revealed that he had an affair with his Star Trek: The Next Generation costar Jennifer Hetrick during his marriage to Falconer, which led to their divorce and his estrangement from their children.”We don’t have relationships,” Stewart told the Irish Independent during his book tour. “I never thought that this would happen, but both my children are in their 50s — they’re not children anymore, they’re adults. And my relationship with them is practically non-existent.”Stewart and Hetrick dated and were later engaged, but never married.In 2000, he married Wendy Neuss, one of the show’s producers. They divorced three years later, after Stewart had an affair with actress Lisa Dillon, his costar in a stage production of The Master Builder. At the time, Stewart was 62 and Dillon was 23.”And so, another divorce. I felt stupid and responsible,” Stewart wrote in his memoir. “I had cheated on my wife with a younger woman — again.”Patrick Stewart and his wife Sunny Ozell arrive at Vanity Fair’s Oscar party in 2024.AP Photo/Evan AgostiniIn 2008, Stewart met singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell at a restaurant in Brooklyn, where she was working as a waitress. Stewart was performing in a sold-out production of Macbeth, and gave her his phone number so he could arrange tickets for her.”[I] said ‘Call me, I can get a ticket.’ And that’s what we did. And she came backstage afterward and we had dinner and here we are,” Stewart told People magazine.They were married in 2013 in Ozell’s home state of Nevada in a ceremony officiated by McKellen.This article originally appeared on Yahoo Entertainment at https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/article/patrick-stewart-star-of-x-men-and-star-trek-dies-at-86-195431969.html

Juneau, Alaska — Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola told supporters Thursday she is “not interested in tricking voters,” after two days of intense questions about how a man with the same first and last name as her Republican opponent ended up on the ballot.The state’s toss-up Senate contest has drawn nationwide scrutiny since The New York Times reported Wednesday that operatives linked to Peltola’s campaign helped recruit a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan — who has the same first and last name as GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. The Justice Department has sued to potentially block the election from being certified if the senator loses due to “voter confusion,” and it issued subpoenas in a separate criminal probe.In a rally at the state capital of Juneau on Thursday, Peltola offered some of her fullest public remarks on the controversy, denying any connection to Daniel J. Sullivan.”I just want to clear the air. I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters. I know I can beat Dan Sullivan,” she told supporters.Peltola decried the “smears and attacks” she said she has faced.”I just feel like I’m dodging bullets left and right, you know? Just, you know, with all the nonsense,” said Peltola, who previously represented Alaska in the House. “And when did The New York Times become the National Enquirer? Inquiring minds want to know.”She vowed to “stay focused on affordability, affordability, affordability.”Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on Alaska’s ballot has frustrated Republicans for months, with Sen. Sullivan calling him a “sham candidate” intended to confuse voters and siphon votes away from the incumbent Republican. The other Sullivan, a retired teacher, has denied those allegations in the past, insisting he is genuinely interested in running.State courts in Alaska allowed the other Sullivan to stay on the ballot. The Justice Department filed suit last week, asking a federal court to intervene.Then, the Times reported on the alleged effort by Democratic operatives to get other candidates on the ballot in Alaska, including Daniel J. Sullivan, citing a former Peltola campaign manager and text messages reviewed by the newspaper. Spokespeople for the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied that they had any hand in recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan. President Trump reacted furiously, saying Peltola and Daniel J. Sullivan should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted. “The Democrats cheated!” he said.In addition to the Justice Department’s investigation, Alaska’s Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a separate probe into “whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted.” He later said in an interview that the probe could impact whether a winner is certified in next week’s Senate race.A Peltola campaign spokesperson said in response: “Dunleavy’s threat to overrule the will of Alaskan voters exemplifies what Alaskans hate about partisan politics and shows why he’s the least popular governor in the country. Mary won’t be intimidated by Dunleavy, Sullivan, or any of their DC allies who are trying to steal this election from Alaskans before votes are counted.”This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peltola-she-knew-nothing-dan-sullivan-ballot-controversy-alaska-senate-race/

President Donald Trump, who has campaigned at 25 rallies in the past month, has admitted that the blitz hasn’t been easy. (Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty)President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is canceling his rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend, where he had been set to stump for GOP candidates in competitive races, opting instead to do tele-rallies.The rallies were to have been part of his planned midterm blitz, in which he said he would travel to 35 places across the country to help raise turnout for Republican candidates.Trump has repeatedly touted what he believes is the positive impact of his rallies on GOP candidates, going as far as to suggest that his presence in battleground states has boosted Republicans in the polls.But his tune appeared to change Thursday after his cancellations. Trump said he didn’t “feel I have to go to Kansas,” adding that he thinks Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s locked in a tight race with Democrat Adam Hamilton, “is doing well.” Concerns over high costs connected to the war in Iran have helped turn the race into a toss-up in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate for nearly a century.Trump, who has campaigned at 25 rallies in the past month, has admitted that the blitz has not been “easy,” saying through a hoarse voice Monday that “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”But he insisted Thursday that he felt “perfect” and lashed out at a reporter who pressed him about whether the rally cancellation in Kansas was tied to his health.“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell,” Trump said to the journalist.He canceled in Iowa hours after that interaction, after a White House official and a person familiar confirmed that Trump’s appearance was off. The Republican National Committee said in a news release that the rallies were canceled with the goal of “maximizing opportunities for President Donald J. Trump to speak to voters across the country.”GOP operatives in Iowa, where all congressional races this year except one are competitive, told NBC News that in-person rallies would have been helpful. Trump’s rally Saturday would have been in Dubuque, in the contested 2nd Congressional District.“A tele-rally will be helpful in boosting turnout, but an in-person rally would have been really helpful,” an operative said.Another operative said he “would love to have the president,” but he said, “Iowa’s in pretty good shape.”Trump is aiming to hold “more than 20” tele-rallies by Election Day, two White House officials said Thursday.He is still scheduled to hold an event in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday. He will be campaigning for Republican Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Ashley Moody, who are running in races rated solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. No events have been announced for Monday.This article was originally published on NBCNews.comThis article originally appeared on NBC News at https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/trump-cancels-weekend-rallies-iowa-kansas-favor-holding-numerous-teler-rcna606487