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Europe
BBC Business

Crypto thieves attack man in home and threaten to kill pregnant wife's baby in 'horrific' robbery

A businessman was beaten with hammers by masked men who broke into his home and threatened to kill his heavily pregnant wife unless he transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency. Speaking to the BBC, the couple, who want to remain anonymous, described the attack as "horrific" and said they feared for their unborn baby's life. The attackers left in a car driven by a getaway driver after the man transferred his crypto savings. Crimestoppers are offering a £10,000 reward for information in the attack, which was captured on home security footage and is being investigated by the police. Experts say it is one of a growing type of violent theft known as a "wrench attack" targeting cryptocurrency investors. As crypto coins have risen in value, reports of these violent robberies linked to digital assets have emerged in the UK, France and the US. The man, who the BBC is calling James, said three intruders forced their way into their Solihull home before launching an assault which lasted 45 minutes. James tried to fight the men off but they hit him in the face, head and ribs with hammers. His wife, who was seven months pregnant, was held down on the sofa by one of the criminals. "He's got a pillow over her face," James said. "He's literally suffocating her on the sofa. I can hear her screaming, 'I can't breathe'." The couple still had no idea what the criminals wanted until one of the men demanded James unlock his phone and hand it over. James said the attackers appeared to know he owned cryptocurrency, but had little understanding of how to access it.

Crypto thieves attack man in home and threaten to kill pregnant wife's baby in 'horrific' robbery
Europe
BBC Business

Three takeaways from Trump's 'Super Intelligence' summit

US President Donald Trump hosted a meeting of top technology bosses on Tuesday for what he called "an extraordinary gathering" of the minds that are "building America's Golden Age". The guest list included leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, SpaceX, Meta and Google - all key figures in the US AI industry. The meeting came as some tech executives and experts have called for tighter oversight of AI and a slowdown in developing the technology, citing concerns about the potential risks it poses to humanity. Trump took questions from the media for around 30 minutes alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson and top tech leaders after the closed-door meeting. The president told reporters that the executives had signed a "morally binding" document that would serve as a "form of protection" from AI's potential risks. Under the agreement, which Trump posted on social media, the companies are responsible for ensuring the safety of their own technology. The firms also agreed to implement safeguards to keep models operating as intended and quickly detect and fix any issues, the document said. They will also work with "independent auditors" to assess whether their AI systems are working as intended and ensure their platforms do not "hack or access technical systems in unintended ways." The accord was signed by Trump, Google boss Sundar Pichai, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, SpaceX's Elon Musk and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. "It's almost like a constitution, in a way," Trump said, referring to the agreement. "And the biggest people in the world signed that, and I signed it as president." Trump added that he will set up a board to oversee the safety of AI tools. He did not specify who would be on that board. Zuckerberg said the accord gives the "American people and customers the confidence that the technology works" as intended.

Three takeaways from Trump's 'Super Intelligence' summit
North America
Yahoo Finance

Why the Nasdaq Refuses to Break Even With Treasury Yields Above Five Percent

The ten-year Treasury yield just hit levels that should be crushing growth stocks, yet the Nasdaq-100 keeps refusing to fall. The reason comes down to six companies whose balance sheets are rewriting the rules of how rate pressure actually transmits. This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. The long end of the Treasury curve pushed to fresh highs, with the ten-year yield at 5.18% and the thirty-year at 5.47%, yet the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) closed the session at $741.10, down 0.01%. The Dow slipped while the Nasdaq-100 held. Standard valuation theory says the index most exposed to long-duration cash flows should have taken the largest hit. Instead, a handful of megacap names carried the session, which is why QQQ refuses to crack and why it is thinner than the flat close implies. Every Treasury maturity from five years to thirty was above 5.00% on 2026-09-24, with the twenty-year at 5.53%. The five-year sat at 5.03% and the seven-year at 5.10%. QQQ carried a 3.37% one-week gain and a 20.64% year-to-date advance. The VIX at 14.21 on 2026-09-22 signals almost no hedging demand, unusual against a curve this high. These firms generate more cash than they need to fund operations, so a higher cost of capital hurts competitors more than it hurts them. Balance-sheet quality explains why the index held while long rates rose. When six names carry these weights, you own concentrated exposure to a handful of businesses rather than a diversified technology position. The two Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) share classes add another 3.27% and 3.02% on top of that. These companies commit enormous amounts to AI capital spending, precisely the activity a higher cost of capital hurts (the power, cooling, and networking suppliers absorbing that spend are the subject of a free report we put together here: seven AI infrastructure names that aren’t chipmakers). Concentration is the engine on days like this and the fault line when one of these names disappoints. Real yields, which strip out inflation, have kept climbing. The ten-year real yield reached 2.85% on 2026-09-24, up from 2.44%. Higher real yields lift the discount rate applied to distant cash flows, which is what a growth index depends on. Mortgage rates, tied to the long end, transmit the same pressure into household budgets before it reaches earnings. The Federal Funds target upper bound sits at 4% as of 2026-09-24, so this long-end move reflects the market repricing of the term premium and inflation risk without policy help, rather than Fed action.

Why the Nasdaq Refuses to Break Even With Treasury Yields Above Five Percent
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

NIA to probe mid-air cockpit attack on Captain Smit Machchhar aboard flydubai flight

NIA registers a case to probe and unearth the larger conspiracy behind last month’s mid-air attack on Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit of an Israel-bound flydubai flight. | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA Anti-terror agency NIA has registered a case to probe and unearth the larger conspiracy behind last month's mid-air attack on Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit of an Israel-bound flydubai flight, officials said on Saturday. It was reported that on September 30, 2026, the Omani first officer of flydubai flight no. 1073 stabbed the Indian pilot, Captain Machchhar, mid-air "in an apparent attempt to hijack or cause it to crash", according to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 9. The NIA has invoked Section 3 (hijacking) of the Anti Hijacking Act, 2016 and Section 16 read with Section 15(1)(a) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, officials said. The Section 15(1)(a) details punishment for terrorist activities for "whoever does any act with intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, security, (economic security) or sovereignty of India or with intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people or any section of the people in India or in any foreign country, (a) by using bombs, dynamite or other explosive substances or inflammable substances or firearms or other lethal weapons or poisonous or noxious gases or other chemicals or by any other substances (whether biological radioactive, nuclear or otherwise) of a hazardous nature or by any other means of whatever nature..." Captain Machchhar sustained critical injuries after he was stabbed by the Omani co-pilot inside the cockpit of the flydubai flight heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The incident occurred in the "Saudi airspace while flying near the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border". The case was filed on the direction of the Home Ministry, considering the gravity of the offence and the need to unearth the larger conspiracy, the officials said. "The Central government has received information that flydubai flight no 1073, which was being piloted by Indian national pilot Captain Smit Machchhar and an Omani first officer, departed from Dubai on September 30, 2026 at 7.05 am (GMT) with 174 passengers and six crew members and dived rapidly and turned back into Saudi airspace while flying near the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border at around 9.21 am (GMT)," the FIR states. "And whereas passengers reported that the first officer stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar during the flight in an apparent attempt to hijack or crash the plane but was overwhelmed and restrained by passengers and crew. However, Captain Smit Machchhar sustained deep cuts to the head and hands as a result of the attack," it said. The other flydubai pilots on board then landed the plane safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia at 10.45 am (GMT), leading to the arrest of the first officer by Saudi authorities, the FIR reads. The Central government is of the opinion that a scheduled offence under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, has been committed and the case is related to an attack on an Indian national pilot with an apparent attempt to hijack or crash the plane, and "having regard to the gravity of the offence, its grave national and international ramifications, and the need to unearth the larger conspiracy, the matter requires thorough investigation by the National Investigation Agency," it said. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

NIA to probe mid-air cockpit attack on Captain Smit Machchhar aboard flydubai flight
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Festive sales kick off with strong demand from smaller towns, premium buys gain traction

India’s festive shopping season opened on a strong note across e-commerce platforms, with Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and Meesho reporting a sharp increase in orders, customer participation and demand from smaller towns, as shoppers combined value-led purchases with premium upgrades across categories. Flipkart recorded 6.3 million concurrent users in a minute during the opening hour of its 13th Big Billion Days sale, while sessions crossed 287 million during early access. New customers grew 34 per cent, with nearly half of visits in the opening hour coming from Tier-3 towns and beyond. Non-metro customers accounted for around 60 per cent of demand. Amazon said the opening of its Great Indian Festival was the biggest in the event’s history, with the number of products ordered rising more than 100 per cent year-on-year. Customers from every pin code placed orders, with premium Android smartphone sales growing 70 per cent year-on-year, and fashion sales reaching seven times the level of a regular day. Myntra’s Big Fashion Festival, which began on October 8, recorded a four-fold surge in demand over business-as-usual levels in its first 24 hours. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities contributed more than half of first-day orders, while the average order value was higher than on the opening day of last year’s edition, indicating a shift towards premium purchases. Meesho’s Mega Blockbuster Sale also saw strong traction, with Day 1 orders rising around 75 per cent year-on-year and transacting customers growing about 60 per cent. Orders peaked at more than 75,000 per minute within 15 minutes of the sale going live. The early trends point to festive demand spreading beyond metropolitan centres, while shoppers continue to seek discounts and financing options alongside aspirational products. The electronics, fashion, beauty and home categories featured prominently across platforms. On Flipkart, large appliance sales grew 30 per cent year-on-year in the opening hour, while tablets grew 73 per cent. Beauty sales increased 42 per cent, driven by men’s grooming and personal care. Amazon reported strong demand for premium electronics and home upgrades. Sales of laptops, premium wearables and large appliances rose sharply over regular-day levels, while televisions measuring 55 inches and above accounted for 65 per cent of TV sales. Fashion sales reached seven times a regular day, with demand for footwear, denim and ethnic wear. On Myntra, men’s T-shirts, jeans, sneakers, women’s tops and dresses were among the most sought-after products. The platform also reported strong demand for occasion wear, beauty and premium brands. In the eastern markets, demand during BFF rose seven-fold over business-as-usual levels, with West Bengal, Assam and Bihar contributing to the surge ahead of Durga Puja. Meesho saw demand for sarees, kurta sets, children’s clothing, beauty products and home essentials. Orders on its branded shopping proposition, Meesho Mall, grew more than 200 per cent year-on-year, while customers from Tier-3 and smaller markets nearly tripled. Affordability remained central to purchases. Flipkart said one in four mobile shoppers opted for exchange and one in three chose no-cost EMI. Amazon reported that one in two customers shopped using EMI. Quick commerce also gained traction as platforms extended rapid delivery beyond everyday essentials. Flipkart Minutes recorded a 3.5-fold increase in order volumes over regular days during its opening phase, while new customers grew 11-fold in the first hour. Purchases included premium electronics, grooming products and wearables, with an iPhone 17 delivered to a customer in New Delhi in 3.4 minutes.

Festive sales kick off with strong demand from smaller towns, premium buys gain traction
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Phones, ACs, fridges in demand as festive shoppers plan big-ticket upgrades on Flipkart's TBBD

Festive sales have long been the time Indian households plan their big-ticket purchases, and the opening hours of Flipkart's Big Billion Days (TBBD) show shoppers doing exactly that, with mobiles, large appliances and electronics seeing strong demand ahead of Diwali. Large appliances grew 30 per cent year-on-year in the first hour of the sale, led by air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. Tablets grew 73 per cent, pointing to an appetite for personal tech upgrades. In mobiles, premium and flagship smartphones saw strong traction. One in four customers opted for product exchange and one in three chose No Cost EMI, offers that bring down the upfront cost of an upgrade. Entry-level 5G models, held at last year's prices, also drew strong purchases on value. For shoppers who plan such purchases around the festive season, the sale window is typically when exchange values, EMI options and bank offers come together, making it a natural time to replace an older phone, an ageing refrigerator or an AC ahead of next summer. Speed is part of the pitch for electronics. Orders on Flipkart Minutes, the company's quick commerce service, rose 3.5 times over regular days in the opening hour, with new customers on the service growing 11 times. During Early Access, an iPhone 17 reached a customer in New Delhi in 3.4 minutes. Laptops and external hard drives were also among the popular purchases on Minutes, which is currently used for mobiles and electronics rather than large appliances. Across the platform, nearly one in two first-hour visits came from Tier 3 towns and beyond, with non-metro customers accounting for about 60 per cent of demand. Shoppers looking to upgrade can check the exchange value of their old phone on the Flipkart app, compare No Cost EMI options at checkout and browse sale offers across mobiles, electronics and large appliances. Popular models tend to move quickly during festive sales, and customers planning a purchase before Diwali may want to order early. The 13th edition of the sale began with Early Access on October 8 for Flipkart Plus, Black and co-brand card members. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Phones, ACs, fridges in demand as festive shoppers plan big-ticket upgrades on Flipkart's TBBD
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Apple set to debut touch-screen MacBook and new iPad mini in late October

Apple Inc., already set to introduce a revamped smart home strategy next week, is planning a second launch in October to introduce its first touch-screen MacBook and a new iPad mini. The product launch is scheduled on or around Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The end-of-month announcements will also include versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac with M6 chips, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t yet public. Like its smart home event on Oct. 13, the next launch will include an online video presentation and in-person component for the press. The Mac and iPad debut will be geared toward creative professionals who work in video production, photo editing and music production. Apple last held such a showcase around new products in Los Angeles in 2024. The unveilings are part of a record-setting slate of fresh products under Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, who took the helm last month. He’s aiming to steer the tech giant into new markets and bolster revenue from related services. The company’s home event next week will include its first smart home hub with a display, a new HomePod mini and an updated Apple TV set-top box — all with the Siri AI assistant at their core. And Apple will introduce a home ecosystem that will include accessories from LG Electronics Inc. and Schneider Electric SE. Apple is looking to reverse its fortunes in the home market and better challenge Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Amazon, for its part, launched a major new tablet line this week built around the Alexa+ platform. The Mac and iPad event will mark Apple’s long-awaited move into touch-based computers. The new MacBook Pros, code-named K114 and K116, will be lighter than current models and offer OLED screens, a sharper display technology that’s short for organic light-emitting diode. The devices also will have the Dynamic Island on-screen interface that’s familiar to iPhone users. Bloomberg News first reported on the project in 2023. The new M6 Macs — code-named J804 and J833 — will look like their current versions, while the new iPad mini — code-named J510 — will also include an OLED screen, a videoconferencing camera that moves to the landscape side and a revamped speaker system. The company is planning several other new Macs and iPads for the first half of next year, Bloomberg has reported. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Apple set to debut touch-screen MacBook and new iPad mini in late October
Europe
The Guardian

The American dream remains elusive in the valley that inspired East of Eden

‘This will be a valley of great richness one day,’ Steinbeck wrote in East of Eden. ‘And happy people will live here, thousands and thousands.’ Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Monterey countyView image in fullscreen‘This will be a valley of great richness one day,’ Steinbeck wrote in East of Eden. ‘And happy people will live here, thousands and thousands.’ Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Monterey countyCaliforniaThe American dream remains elusive in the valley that inspired East of EdenJohn Steinbeck’s hometown of Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, a recent Brookings Institution analysis found Nestled between two mountain ranges at the crook of central California’s coastline sits a valley known as the “salad bowl of the world”. Farm workers stoop over neatly lined rows of crops off Highway 101 to harvest more than half of the nation’s supply of lettuce and nearly a third of its strawberries. The soil here is so rich that author John Steinbeck made the Salinas valley the promised land in his literary depictions of people chasing the American dream: immigrants, farm workers, westward-moving hopefuls, hungering for a better life. It’s a story that continues to capture the American imagination: Netflix has adapted Steinbeck’s 1952 blockbuster novel, East of Eden, into a limited series starring Florence Pugh, released 1 October. “This will be a valley of great richness one day,” Steinbeck wrote of the farmland in East of Eden. “And happy people will live here, thousands and thousands.” View image in fullscreenThe Salinas valley in California. Photograph: Pgiam/Getty Images/iStockphotoBut Steinbeck also understood just how difficult it can be to achieve that elusive American dream. Even after some his characters found their way to Salinas and other parts of California’s agricultural valley, many remained stuck in low-paying jobs, making barely enough to scrape by, let alone own their own land. That reality persists in the Salinas of today – an area at the sharp edge of a national affordability crisis that is reshaping politics across the US, and much of the rest of the world. A recent Brookings Institution analysis found that Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, defined as the middle 60% of income earners. Nearly 60% of the middle class in the Salinas area – which spans households making $38,000 to $193,000 – can’t afford basic necessities, double the national average, according to the analysis. And for Salinas’s Latino middle class, which make up 40% of all middle-class households, three-quarters struggle to afford everyday life. Residents specifically say that homeownership, the modern symbol of the American dream, is out of reach. It’s an issue that is playing out across the country: half of all renter households and about a quarter of homeowner households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the latest data from the US census. “It really calls in question: what is the middle class?” said Andre Perry, a senior fellow at Brookings who oversaw the study. Many towns like Salinas that served as havens for the middle class are now out of reach. “People go to Salinas as a reprieve from San Francisco and some of these high-priced cities, but in actuality, they’re finding it more difficult to live,” he said. Solutions are not easy to come by. The rising cost of living has torn Salinas apart. New housing has grown at a snail’s pace, and a rent-stabilization policy has bitterly divided residents. If life in places like Salinas becomes too expensive for American families, where do they go next?

The American dream remains elusive in the valley that inspired East of Eden
Europe
The Guardian

G7 to release up to 100m barrels of emergency oil and diesel reserves

Emmanuel Macron said ministers had agreed to release stocks from their strategic oil reserves after crisis talks. Photograph: Jeanne Accorsini/Sipa/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenEmmanuel Macron said ministers had agreed to release stocks from their strategic oil reserves after crisis talks. Photograph: Jeanne Accorsini/Sipa/ShutterstockOilG7 to release up to 100m barrels of emergency oil and diesel reservesLeaders agree a coordinated drawdown after surge in prices and Donald Trump’s threat to cut off US supplies Leaders of G7 nations are to release up to 100m barrels of their emergency diesel and crude oil stockpiles after Donald Trump threatened to cut off supplies of US diesel. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said ministers from some of world’s largest economies had agreed to release stocks from their strategic oil reserves after crisis talks on Friday. Macron convened the leaders’ video call to discuss the global surge in diesel prices, and Trump’s threat to cut off US diesel exports unless Europe tapped their own stockpiles to help cool global markets. Under proposals reportedly drawn up by Macron, the current G7 chair, members will release 50m barrels of diesel and 50m of crude oil into the global market to ease prices. The agreement suggests European countries will avoid being cut off from vital supplies of US diesel after coming under pressure from the White House in recent days to release their emergency supplies or face a US diesel export ban. Trump said he was considering a ban on diesel exports after the surge in sales to overseas buyers pushed US diesel prices to record highs in a blow to the economy before the US midterm elections in November. Macron said G7 nations – which also includes the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan – wanted to “work in a coordinated manner to help bring down the prices of petroleum products, particularly diesel”. He added that the G7 members and partners would front-load a substantial diesel release within the first 20 days and that ministers would discuss the “possibility of additional diesel releases as necessary” in the coming days. “We have all committed together to releasing these strategic reserves in the proportions I mentioned, with a focus on diesel, and we are all committed to ensuring there are no export bans, and President Trump, in particular, was very clear on this point,” Macron said. 9:37Diesel export ban: will Trump push global energy prices even higher? - The LatestTrump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Europe had “agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil” and that the process would start “immediately”. The threat of a US export ban presented a considerable challenge for Europe, which produces about 70% of the diesel it consumes from domestic refineries but relies on imports to make up the shortfall.

G7 to release up to 100m barrels of emergency oil and diesel reserves