Crypto hack, tech stocks dip, remembering Patrick Stewart (Updated)

Hi, I'm Kim Vannell in Wonganoi, New Zealand. And I'm Christopher Walgesburg in Chicago. It's Friday, October 30th, today. The crypto world is shaken by what could be the biggest crypto hack in history. Tech stocks sell off despite strong US GDP growth. A cardiologist, a chemist and a basketball player meet the contenders hoping to be Serbia's next prime minister and Sir Patrick Stewart into Galactic's space captain dies aged 86. This is Reuters World News bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in ten minutes seven days a week. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange says more than six billion dollars worth of crypto assets have been stolen in what could be the biggest crypto hack in history. Binance says it will cover all the losses, but crypto investors are still spooked and are moving their money out. For more here's Financial Markets Editor Tom Westbrook in Singapore. Binance has suspended deposits and withdrawals in response. The issuers of those coins are able to freeze them and basically prevent whoever's taken them from using them. So something like half of the total that's missing here is frozen. But at the current moment, this looks like by far the biggest crypto hack that we've ever seen. Some says some analysts are already claiming to have found the source of the hack. Reuters couldn't verify the findings. A blockchain analysis firm called TRM has published a blog on this attributing North Korean hackers to the fifth. They're saying that these hackers have basically taken control of some Binance wallets and pretty much runner program that sweeps them emptying their contents into the hackers control. People are saying that it seems as though the hacker got access to their systems through an engineer's laptop. The market is telling us that it's further eroding trust in cryptocurrency prices have fallen. And if you sort of delve a bit deeper into the market and into how stable coins are trading, basically the takeaway is that people are pulling money out of cryptocurrencies altogether trying to get them into other assets, safer assets. U.S. markets tumbled on Friday as tech investors hit the brakes on AI optimism. The Nasdaq fell to a three month low after Amazon signaled another jump in AI spending and Intel warned it would burn cash this year due to weak PC demand and heavy manufacturing costs. Intel plunged more than 30%, its worst day on record. It dragged chip stocks down with it. The sell-off comes despite strong economic data showing U.S. GDP grew more than 3% last quarter. That's its fastest pace in a year. It's driven partly by a surge in AI-related business investment. And investors are now questioning the timeline for returns on that spending as borrowing costs rise. A writer's Ibsar's poll found President Trump's approval rating among rural Americans fell to 45% in October. That's a new all-time low, according to the poll. And one lobbying group, which says it represents farmers and meat companies, is seizing the moment. The political arm of the American Meat Producers Association is spending nearly $3 million on attack ads against Republicans in some of the most competitive midterm races that criticizing the party's candidates on cost of living and animal welfare issues. Reporter Leah Douglas has more. The farm economy has really struggled over the past year under some of President Donald Trump's policies. And the rural economy are really at the intersection of so many Trump administration policy outcomes. Rural health care cuts, higher tariffs, higher fertilizer costs, higher fuel costs. And what struck me about this at campaign is that it is unusual to see farmers speaking out against the Republican Party. Farmers generally vote Republican, not everyone, but generally speaking. These ads, though it's a small campaign in the grand scheme of things, are a really good example of some of the ways that farmers are expressing just content with how the Republican Party is governing. Pope Leo has cast a ballot in the U.S. midterm elections. It's the first for any pope. The Vatican has confirmed that the American-born pope submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago under his birth name, Robert Francis Prevost. Leo has clashed with President Trump over the Iran War and immigration policy. Trump has called the pope weak and terrible on crime. A Reuters investigation has uncovered the secret network Iran created to bring in military supplies, evading Western sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade. More than 5,000 agencies are part of this network, some tied to Iran's revolutionary guard and business groups controlled by the country's elite. The network uses frontmen and foreign shell companies. Supplies have come from around the world, including from China, Russia and even Germany. China said it was unaware of the situation and rejected attempts to link it to regional hostilities. Russia's defense ministry, the German government, the White House and the U.S. Central Command did not respond to requests for comment. The agencies were identified by Reuters in collaboration with Israeli-American Risk Consultancy 240 Analytics. A link to the full investigation is in the show notes. The sources are telling Reuters that the Trump administration won't back Flavio Bolsonaro's claim that he's Brazil's rightful leader, that's despite allowing him into the U.S. after he lost Sunday's election. Bolsonaro is the son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro and left Brazil just before a court ordered him to surrender his passport, as a part of a money-laundering probe. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recommended admitting him and U.S. officials granted him and his family humanitarian parole, a temporary status given to individuals with urgent humanitarian concerns. Trump has called the election rigged, but says he gets along with Brazil's re-elected president, Luis Inacio Lula de Silva. In Serbia, the frontrunners to take over from longtime leader Alexander Vuchich, are looking like an unconventional group. A student-led protest movement switched to victory in Sunday's parliamentary election with a list of 250 candidates, including professors, actors and farmers. The movement has no single leader, and it's still unclear who will take the top job. Reuters, Greece and Balkans, pure chief, Ed McCallister has more. Serbia could have a cardiologist, a chemist, a banker, or even a basketball player running the country. The interesting thing about all of these candidates is that none of them have any political experience. The most prominent candidate is former central bank governor, Dejan Shoshkic. He seems to many like a leading candidate and the most serious political possibility. The next possible frontrunner is a cardiologist named Ilia Sardanovic. He has been the leading candidate that the students chose to run, and he has very strong opinions about the domestic reform that is required in Serbia. Another potential frontrunner is a chemistry professor called Radimir Saichich. His policies are interesting. On some cases, he's talked about being pro-Russia energy ties. Russia is a big energy supply to Serbia. Finally, probably the best known, but least politically experienced, is a former basketball star, Dejan Podiroga, former member of the Yugoslav national team. He took them to a Olympic silver in 1996 in Atlanta, so really, really well-known, really loved, as a saying in Serbia. We have a god, and his name is Dejan Podiroga. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived. After all number one, we're only mortal. Tributes are pouring in. After renowned British actor, Sir Patrick Stewart died at the age of 86. His family says he passed away at home in Los Angeles after a brief journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Stuart won millions of fans globally as Captain John Luke Picard in Star Trek, the next generation, and as Professor X in the X-Men films. Raised in a working class Yorkshire in Northern England, Stuart won a scholarship to drama school and gained a claim as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis and news shaping our world, check out roises.com or the roises app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. 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