Nonfarm payrolls were expected to increase by 59,000 in October as the unemployment rate was expected to hold steady at 4.2%.
Big tech stocks slumped Thursday, putting them on track for their biggest decline since the "Liberation Day" rout last year, the most significant shakeout yet in what has been a punishing autumn for the AI trade. The Nasdaq 100 index was set for market-value declines exceeding $2 trillion on investor fears that the Democratic Party's sweeping midterm victorycould stall AI infrastructure expansion and force a chaotic reckoning for smaller firms whose capacity to raise funds has already been limited by higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions. Analysts and portfolio managers said declines in once-hot areas such as semiconductors and AI infrastructure weren't entirely surprising, given the scale of earlier gains in many of these stocks and the financing concerns that have shadowed the so-called neoclouds, smaller infrastructure firms such as Nebius and CoreWeave, since US interest rates rose late in the summer. But many said the scale of the declines for a second straight day suggest a change in sentiment that could portend further selling. "Despite the magnitude of today’s
The Democratic midterm sweep cemented a new front in the battle for media audiences: livestreaming, where left-leaning creators such as Hasan Piker are attracting viewers large enough to challenge established news outlets for attention. Television networks have long dominated live election coverage, but as audiences increasingly turn to online creators to make sense of major news developments, media companies are trying to turn their broadcast talent into digital personalities. That was on display Tuesday night when Comcast-owned NBC News launched the "Kornacki Cam," a nearly 11-hour livestream featuring data guru Steve Kornacki. Blending detailed analysis of incoming results with behind-the-scenes footage, it drew 29 million views across platforms and peaked at more than 300,000 concurrent viewers for nearly three hours. But some of the fiercest competition came from independent livestreamers, whose role in political coverage has grown over the past year. Chief among them was Piker, a self-described Marxist who has divided Democrats with remarks such as "America deserved 9/11." Abdul El
WASHINGTON — The United States is warning of an "ongoing cyber threat" to industrial refrigeration systems, saying in a statement issued Thursday that every organization that depends on cold storage should assume it could fall into the hackers' crosshairs. The statement said that unidentified "malicious cyber actors" were targeting vulnerabilities in internet-accessible electronic temperature and commercial refrigeration controllers in retail grocery and cold storage facilities. "If successfully exploited, the actors could change the temperature and possibly cause physical impacts such as fire hazards, loss of inventory and changes to the service life of the system," said the statement, which was issued by the FBI, the cyber defense agency CISA, and other government departments. "Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target," said Chris Butera, CISA's acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity.
PARIS — France’s Interior Ministry said more than 600,000 people rallied Thursday across France, including in Paris, to demand higher wages and school funding in nationwide strikes and demonstrations. After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere, most of which were peaceful. The Interior Ministry said the figures were still provisional. Hundreds of thousands of people joined nationwide strikes and demonstrations in France on Thursday to demand higher wages and support the student protest movement, piling fresh pressure on the beleaguered government. After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere. The Paris march began peacefully on Thursday afternoon at Place de la République. The large crowd included many students carrying signs reading, “Inequalities seriously jeopardize our future” and “We can’t spend our whole lives just trying to make a living.” They were joined by workers and retirees
NEW YORK — Another wipeout for stocks tied to the buildout of AI data centers is overwhelming Wall Street on Thursday and more than erasing all its gains from the day before, which was its best in three months. The S&P 500 fell 3.2 percent after opening with a loss that accelerated through the morning. It’s on track for its worst drop since President Donald Trump shook markets worldwide in April 2025 after announcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,146 points, or 2.1 percent, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 5 percent lower. Stock markets worldwide felt pressure from continued drops for companies that benefited from the boom for the artificial-intelligence technology industry, and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbled 5.3 percent. Such stocks have been swinging for months on worries that the construction of further AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money . Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections added another challenge. The nationwide victories by Democrats raised the possibility th
WASHINGTON — Korean American Rep. Dave Min (D-CA) of the U.S. Democratic Party won reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives, securing a second term in Congress, according to a race projection. The AP has called the race for Min over Republican Jenny Rae Le Roux in California's 47th congressional district as vote counting continued following Tuesday's midterm elections. With 62 percent of the vote counted, Min had secured 56.9 percent, leading Le Roux by 13.8 percentage points. Min, 50, was born in Rhode Island in 1976 to Korean immigrant parents. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School before working as an enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He later taught law at the University of California, Irvine, before entering politics. Min first ran for Congress in 2018 but finished third in the Democratic primary. He later won a seat in the California State Senate in 2020 and worked on legislation involving gun control and environmental protection. He made a successful second bid for the U.S. House in 2024, narrowly defeati
LONDON — Russell Brand, the risque comic who bragged for years of his sexual exploits, was convicted Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others on allegations dating back years. The British actor-comedian faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced Monday, Judge Joel Bennathan said. Brand had been free, but he was taken into custody after the judge rejected a bail request to let him see his kids because of the possibility he might flee. “I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” the judge said. “But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.” Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator," prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones said at trial. The 51-year-old father of three denied the charges and testified that he was obsessed with sex as a young man and once led a promiscuous life but had never forced anyone to do something against their will. He was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted inde
PARIS — The world is on track for 2026 to be the second-hottest year on record as an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern turbocharges human-driven global warming, the EU's climate monitor said Friday. This year still has a "20 percent chance of tying or exceeding" 2024 as the warmest ever seen, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a monthly bulletin. Global temperatures are now "virtually certain" to exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in 2026, Copernicus said. The four-year average from 2023 to 2026 is also expected to top 1.5C, the preferred limit set in the Paris Agreement to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The world experienced its warmest October on record, with average global surface air temperatures 1.75C above pre-industrial times, an era defined as 1850-1900, Copernicus added. "October has continued the pattern of remarkable global warmth, with record global and surface ocean temperatures," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus. "An exceptiona
WASHINGTON, United States, Nov 6, 2026 (AFP) - A US federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's massive triumphal arch project on Thursday, casting doubt over the future of the project hours after it was green-lit by a public commission. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, ruled that the Trump administration cannot start construction on the arch for two weeks while the court considers challenges to its legality. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) had voted 8-4 to approve the project earlier Thursday, despite hearing hours of testimony from dozens of furious opponents who questioned its legality and purpose. Chief among the complaints was the location of the 250-foot (76-meter) tall structure: adjacent to the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of American service members. The giant arch would be much taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, its inspiration. It would also tower over the Lincoln Memorial, directly across the Potomac River. The four dissenting commissioners had called for the decision
SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley bosses who spent two years cozying up to U.S. President Donald Trump now face a Democratic Congress already threatening subpoenas, after midterm elections in which antipathy toward artificial intelligence swayed voters. "AI company CEOs should be called to testify under oath," Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Tuesday. Senator Ed Markey, for his part, warned tech executives they would need to "plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing." It is a cold shower for tech bosses who rallied behind Trump after his 2024 win, with Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and others front and center at his January 2025 inauguration. Musk went furthest, spending more than $250 million to help elect Trump and then taking charge of his DOGE cost-cutting drive. He poured nearly half a billion dollars more into backing Republicans in the midterms. Once they take control of both chambers on January 3, Democrats will control the committees that can compel an executive to testify or hand over internal do
NEW YORK — Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal about $129 million have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said Thursday. Over more than a year and a half, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, targeted thousands of companies across the world in their AI scheme, according to the indictment filed in a U.S. District Court in New York. Their victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida, according to court documents. The defendants, from Spain, the UK, Israel and United Arab Emirates, were also charged with money laundering, according to the indictment. The case docket, which typically lists information on defense lawyers, was still listed as sealed in online court records as of Thursday evening. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately res
NEW YORK — Four men named in a former Cornell University student’s lawsuit are joining a co-defendant’s effort to block New York’s attorney general from leading a reopened criminal investigation into the woman’s gang rape allegations, according to court filings on Thursday. The co-defendant’s lawyers said the men agreed to be added to a court petition that seeks Attorney General Letitia James' removal from the case because of social media posts she made prior to her involvement in which she condemned the alleged assault and expressed support for the accuser. The development comes a day after James appointed Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw sex crimes cases against music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs , as outside counsel for the investigation. She and a team of lawyers and investigators will be responsible for evidence gathering, witness interviews and other investigative steps. They will report to James. A judge heard arguments last week on one of the accused men’s request to remove James but said he wouldn't rule without knowing if the six other la
Tesla to wind down Cybertruck production in Texas next year to ramp Cybercab, Musk says
Market sell-off hits hard: Advisors say 'stay the course with an eye on buying'
Kenya Cult Leader Handed 200 Year Prison Sentence for Mass Murder
A long-term Elon Musk backer is cashing out of Tesla — and cutting its SpaceX exposure
Nasdaq drops into correction territory — here’s what typically happens next
Dan Ives says tech rout is 'golden buying opportunity' just like during Covid, tariff sell-off
Europe bomb hoaxes spread to media, more flights hit
2026 on track to be second-hottest year in history
Ukraine raises Zaporizhia aid strike death toll to at least 50