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North America
Fortune

How Dubai is using data and AI to build the city of the future

Dubai’s ambitions to advance technology-driven economic growth and government transformation are well known. Its Digital Strategy, launched in 2023, aims to digitalise all aspects of life in the emirate and establish a system that enhances the digital economy. Its D33 agenda, meanwhile, is a 10-year plan that focuses on doubling Dubai’s economy by 2033 and includes generating an estimated AED100 billion ($27.23 billion) annually through digital transformation. More recently, in April this year, the government announced an ambition for its AI-driven government initiatives to support more than AED10 billion ($2.72 billion) in GDP growth within two years of operation. Central to this transformation is Digital Dubai, a government entity that is increasingly harnessing data to transform how decisions are made, services are delivered, and innovation is accelerated. Its work supports Dubai’s broader vision of a digitally-driven economy, underpinned by integrated digital infrastructure that enables government entities, businesses, and residents to access more connected and seamless services. “Data acts as the glue of our cities,” says H.E. Younus Al Nasser, CEO of Dubai Data & Statistics Establishment at Digital Dubai. “Leveraging data from different verticals in the city to paint one holistic picture of how Dubai is performing is really what we are trying to achieve. “And an era in which AI provides trusted information is crucial, as it empowers us to analyse data more effectively and derive meaningful insights. This is the transformation we are driving through data, enabling faster, more reliable, and more informed decision-making across the city of Dubai.” Rather than treating AI as a collection of separate chatbots or pilot projects, Digital Dubai has established an integrated system in which data can flow between government entities, AI can turn that data into decisions, and digital services can respond more proactively to people’s needs. In April this year, Digital Dubai introduced its AI Integration Matrix Framework to coordinate AI adoption across government entities. It has applied the framework internally to guide the deployment of more than 100 AI systems with the aim of reducing duplicated projects and making AI deployments more consistent and reusable. Digital Dubai’s Dubai Population Now platform offers a compelling example of how this can work in practice. Combining AI, machine learning and predictive analytics, the platform generates continuously updated estimates of the number of people present in the emirate, capturing not only registered residents but also the wider population moving through the city.

How Dubai is using data and AI to build the city of the future
North America
Fortune

Current price of oil as of October 28, 2026

At 7 a.m. Eastern Time today, the price of oil sits at $116.25 per barrel, using Brent as the benchmark (we’ll explain what that means shortly). That’s an increase of $1.12 since yesterday morning and roughly $52 more than at this time last year. Nobody can predict the future path of oil prices with certainty. A range of factors influence how oil trades, yet supply and demand remain the main drivers. When fears of economic slowdown, conflict, or similar shocks rise, oil prices can move sharply. The price you see at the gas pump reflects more than just crude oil. Also built in are the costs of refining, distribution through wholesalers, various taxes, and the margin your neighborhood station charges. Crude oil is still the largest single driver of the final pump price, typically representing over half of each gallon’s cost. Spikes in oil prices tend to push gas prices higher in short order. But when oil prices decline, gas prices often ease down gradually, a behavior known as “rockets and feathers.” In the event of an emergency, the U.S. maintains a stockpile of crude oil known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Its main goal is to safeguard energy security when disasters strike—think sanctions, severe storm damage, or war. It can also do a lot to ease the pain of sudden price jumps when supply gets disrupted. It’s not a permanent fix, as it’s more meant to provide immediate support for consumers and ensure critical parts of the economy like key industries, emergency services, public transportation, and so on can keep operating. Both oil and natural gas play key roles as major sources of energy. A big change in oil prices can affect natural gas by proxy. If oil prices increase, some industries may swap natural gas for some segments of their operations where possible, increasing the demand for natural gas. Between the two, Brent is a better representation of global oil performance because it prices much of the world’s traded crude. It’s also often the best way to review historical oil trends. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration now leans on Brent as its primary reference in its Annual Energy Outlook. When you look at the Brent benchmark across multiple decades, you’ll see that oil has been anything but consistent. It has experienced spikes driven by wars and supply cuts, as well as crashes linked to global recessions and an oversupply (called a “glut”). For example: In short, oil’s historical performance has been far from steady. It’s massively affected by wars, recessions, OPEC whims, evolving energy initiatives and policies, and much more. Looking to stay up-to-date regarding the latest energy developments? Check out our recent coverage: The current price of oil per barrel depends largely on supply and demand, including news about potential future supply and demand (geopolitics, decisions made by OPEC+, etc.). In the U.S., prices also move based on how friendly an administration is to drilling, as it can affect future supply. For example, 2025 saw the Trump administration move to reopen more than 1.5 million acres in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing, reversing the Biden administration’s policy of limiting oil drilling in the Arctic.

Current price of oil as of October 28, 2026
Europe
The Guardian

Tech sell-off drives US markets down by nearly $1tn after subpar earnings reports

Futures-options traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on 30 October 2026. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersView image in fullscreenFutures-options traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on 30 October 2026. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersTechnologyTech sell-off drives US markets down by nearly $1tn after subpar earnings reportsBig tech stocks falter as investors question whether billions being poured into AI can generate returns quickly enough A sell-off of tech stocks that began earlier this month and gained steam with disappointing earnings from leading tech companies drove US markets down by hundreds of billions of dollars Friday. In total, the decline has knocked nearly $1tn in value off the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in one week and erased about $2tn in a month. The S&P 500, the index of the 500 most valuable companies in the US, fell by more than 1% Friday, losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. It was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the same month. The weakness for technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down even further, more than 3%, also erasing hundreds of billions in value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less. More than $2tn in market value is set to be wiped from the Nasdaq ⁠100 this month, as big tech earnings intensified investor scrutiny of whether the billions being poured into artificial intelligence can generate returns quickly enough. The wipeout would amount to slightly more than SpaceX’s entire market value. ⁠The index has fallen ⁠more than 5.8% so far in ​October as the AI trade ran into turbulence, with hyperscalers Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Amazon raising spending forecasts further as they race to expand AI infrastructure. Intel tumbled nearly 30% and is flirting with its worst day since 1974, even though the chipmaker reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the final three months of this year that fell far short of analysts’ expectations. Amazon fell 1.8% after reporting a weaker profit for the summer than analysts expected. The company also disclosed that it had spent more this year than anticipated. A day earlier, Alphabet’s stock dropped more than 12%, wiping $500bn from its market capitalization, to its worst day on record after telling investors that it burned through more cash during the summer than the spring because of similar, mammoth investments in AI. Worries are rising about whether all those hundreds of billions of dollars will produce enough profit and productivity to make AI investment worth it. At the same time, stocks of computer chip companies and other winners from the frenzy to build AI datacenters have come under pressure on concerns that high interest rates may slow the further build out of data centers. A drop of 3.1% for Nvidia, previously worth about $5tn, whose chips have made it the poster child of the AI frenzy, was the heaviest force pulling the S&P 500 downward. Such losses overshadowed an otherwise mixed day for the rest of Wall Street, with the S&P 500 roughly evenly split between gainers and losers. Expectations are high broadly for US companies’ ability to make bigger profits, even though people around the world are feeling discouraged about high inflation and high fuel prices. Such expectations are what drove the S&P 500 to its record earlier this month.

Tech sell-off drives US markets down by nearly $1tn after subpar earnings reports
Europe
The Guardian

North Korea is likely culprit behind $6.3bn crypto hack, ‘largest heist in history’

North Korea has a history of crypto hacking and was behind the theft of about $1.5bn from a different exchange last year. Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/ReutersView image in fullscreenNorth Korea has a history of crypto hacking and was behind the theft of about $1.5bn from a different exchange last year. Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/ReutersBinanceNorth Korea is likely culprit behind $6.3bn crypto hack, ‘largest heist in history’Binance exchange says it will cover customer losses as it scrambles to freeze affected assets, with about $3bn located so far The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by a record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack described as the biggest heist in history, with experts identifying North Korea as the likely culprit. Binance said it would cover all customer losses as it froze $3bn of the affected assets. Analysts said the exchange had been subjected to an unprecedented attack with “never-seen-before” laundering patterns as the hackers made off with assets worth billions of dollars. Researchers said the theft was the biggest ever, dwarfing a $1.5bn crypto raid last year and the $1bn taken from Iraq’s central bank by Saddam Hussein in 2003. “This is almost certainly the largest theft of any kind in history,” said Tom Robinson, chief scientist at crypto consultancy Elliptic. Experts attributed the attack, which happened late on Thursday, to North Korean state-backed hackers. North Korea has a history of crypto hacking and was behind the theft of about $1.5bn in virtual assets from a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange last year, according to the FBI, in the previous record crypto heist. TRM, a crypto analysis firm, blamed the attack with “high confidence” on TraderTraitor, North Korea’s elite hacking unit, as did Elliptic and another research outfit, Chainalysis. 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 unauthorised withdrawals, Binance said. The company added later that there had been “additional points of breach” in a sophisticated attack. Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8bn in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report. Richard Teng, a co-chief executive of Binance, said: “Bottom line – your money is safe, and we’re covering every loss.” Teng said Binance had set aside $6.34bn to cover stolen assets. The company was founded by the Chinese-born entrepreneur Changpeng Zhao, now a Canadian and United Arab Emirates citizen, who was jailed for four months in 2024 after pleading guilty to money laundering violations. Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. The company said: “As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure and trace affected assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners.”

North Korea is likely culprit behind $6.3bn crypto hack, ‘largest heist in history’
Europe
The Guardian

Fed holds interest rates steady in last decision before midterms

Kevin Warsh speaks during a news conference in Washington DC on 29 July 2026. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenKevin Warsh speaks during a news conference in Washington DC on 29 July 2026. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty ImagesFederal ReserveFed holds interest rates steady in last decision before midterms Fed chair Kevin Warsh said politics played no role in pause of interest rate hikes, despite inflation remaining above 3% The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday during its last board meeting before the midterm elections, keeping rates at one of the highest pre-election levels seen in over 20 years. Two out of 12 board members voted against the pause, preferring to raise rates by a quarter point this meeting, the Fed board said in a statement. Last month, Fed officials raised rates for the first time since 2023, citing rising inflation, bringing rates to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Inflation has hovered for years above the Fed’s target rate of 2%, and for most of this year, the annualized inflation rate has remained above 3%. Though inflation rose higher in September, going from 3.4% in August to 3.7%, the pause signals the central bank is taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of the midterms next week. During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, the Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, told reporters that the upcoming election played no role in deliberations. “Politics played no role in the decision,” he said. “I didn’t hear an utterance about politics.” The central bank is still focused on price stability, he said, but emphasized that “the information that we receive over the coming period will help us determine where want policy to be”. “The period right in front of us is information rich, there’s a lot that’s happening in the world, my colleagues and I are keen to take notice of it,” he said. September’s rate hike infuriated Donald Trump, who said that “interest rates in the United States should be 1% or less”. Warsh declined to comment on a remark from Donald Trump that, besides Warsh, the Fed board is full of Democratic-appointed members who “would like to see the country do badly”, but said that the latest meeting was “a heck of a family fight”. “I’m honored to be here, and I’m honored to be chairman of this group,” he said.

Fed holds interest rates steady in last decision before midterms
Europe
The Guardian

Trump says government to ‘terminate’ Biden-era methane emissions rules

Donald Trump at the rally in Lubbock on Tuesday. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump at the rally in Lubbock on Tuesday. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty ImagesTrump administrationTrump says government to ‘terminate’ Biden-era methane emissions rulesCritics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions Donald Trump said his administration was “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening. “Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators. The change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil, he said, which is equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption. In a press release, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Lee Zeldin, praised what he called Trump’s move “to end the war on oil and natural gas” by revising oil and natural gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. The proposal is expected to produce an estimated 210m additional barrels of oil and 1.41tn cubic ft of natural gas, according to the EPA. The EPA’s proposal violates the Clean Air Act’s duty to protect public health and welfare and would seriously harm communities near oil and gas development, as well as the wider public, said Darin Schroeder, the methane legal and regulatory director at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “EPA’s crusade against limits for emissions scientifically proven to harm public health and the environment must stop, and the agency must rescind this unlawful proposal and implement the 2024 rule without delay.” Curbing pollution from the oil and gas industry is critical to protecting public health, said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “This not only carries environmental consequences, but leaks can also release harmful pollutants like volatile organic compounds that worsen air quality and carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde,” he said. “If finalized, this proposal would help polluting industries avoid cleanup and harm the communities who bear the brunt of dirtier air and a warming planet.” At a Trump rally in Corpus Christi earlier in the day, Trump shouted out Harold Hamm, saying the founder of Continental Resources was in the audience. In April, Continental Resources wrote a letter to the EPA pushing back against measures in the methane rule that prohibit routine flaring of associated gas. Although some oil and gas executives spoke publicly in favor of the landmark methane rule, industry trade groups and corporations worked behind the scenes to gut the methane regulations, according to trade association materials and records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by Fieldnotes, an oil and gas watchdog organization. The 2024 methane rule required oil and gas operators to eliminate and minimize leaking, flaring and venting of methane and of volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to human health. It was the first time the federal government had set nationwide requirements to limit methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. An earlier rule finalized under the Obama administration in 2016 applied to new and modified sources. Under the rule’s super emitter program, companies had to investigate major leaks near oil and gas facilities detected by third parties using EPA-approved remote sensing technology. In March 2025, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency was reconsidering the Biden-Harris regulations “to ensure that they do not prevent America from unleashing energy dominance and continuing our trajectory as a leader in clean energy and emissions reductions”. Last year, the US emitted more methane from its oil and gas sector than any other country in the world. Methane is responsible for at least a quarter of today’s warming.

Trump says government to ‘terminate’ Biden-era methane emissions rules
North America
Yahoo Finance

S&P 500, Nasdaq Jump On Chipmaker Strength As Investors Eye October Fed Decision — ORCL, HOOD, JBLU, RIVN, SMCI In Focus

U.S. stock indices ended higher on Tuesday for the second consecutive session, driven by strong gains in chipmaker stocks as investors await the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision due on Wednesday. The S&P 500 ended Tuesday 0.6% higher, the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat. The Russell 2000, which tracks small-cap stocks, added 1.2%. Meanwhile, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were also hovering near the flat mark at the time of writing. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY, DIA and QQQ was ‘bearish’ with ‘high’ message volumes. These recent advances build on momentum from the previous trading session, led by Anthropic’s submission of documentation to launch an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. This would be the second high-profile listing this year following SpaceX. “The period of a rising market lifting all stocks has started to shift,” he said. “Future expectations are more focused upon execution risk and how much future success is already embedded in the current stock price.” Chris Brigati at SWBC told Bloomberg. Meanwhile, central bank officials are expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, choosing to wait before deciding on any future policy tightening. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, having avoided specific forward guidance, traders would look for particular cues for the discourse of future rate hikes, with one fully priced in for December. Robinhood Markets (HOOD) share price dropped after-hours on Tuesday after the stock broking firm missed revenue expectations even as income from trading activities hit a record. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) share price gained about 4% on Tuesday after announcing a host of agreements around its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Google, OpenAI and Cerebras. Shares of Rivian Automotive (RIVN) rose over 3% on Tuesday after a commercial van wrapped in Walmart+ livery was spotted on a car hauler in Indiana, raising hopes of a potential new fleet customer, a day after the stock hit a fresh 52-week low. JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is actively pushing back against market skepticism regarding its financial stability, with Chief Executive Officer Joanna Geraghty stating to Reuters that the carrier is neither holding talks with creditors nor evaluating any form of debt restructuring.

S&P 500, Nasdaq Jump On Chipmaker Strength As Investors Eye October Fed Decision — ORCL, HOOD, JBLU, RIVN, SMCI In Focus
Europe
The Guardian

The staggering $446m Elon Musk has spent on the US midterms – visualized

Elon Musk has poured so much money into US politics this midterms election cycle that his donations could fund half a dozen SpaceX rocket launches or buy thousands of Tesla Cybertrucks. At the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, Musk could order more than 31.9m cheeseburgers with the money he has spent on the midterms. Musk, the world’s richest person, has funnelled at least $445.77m into Republican-aligned political action committees (Pacs) and groups since last year, according to US Federal Election Commission data as of 29 October. The contributions have made him the Republicans’ most prominent financial backer and the largest single-cycle political donor in modern US history. Musk’s spending is a staggering example of the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s political influence, as he seeks to help Donald Trump’s administration retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, though current polls predict Democrats achieving a majority. The contributions are at a scale that is difficult to fathom and dwarf efforts from big name megadonors like George Soros or Michael Bloomberg, setting a new precedent for how the rich and powerful attempt to shape politics. View image in fullscreen Photograph: The GuardianOnly last year, Musk claimed he would step away from making large scale political donations after putting nearly $300m towards Trump’s 2024 presidential election campaign. FEC data since then shows he has not only leaned back into financing campaigns, but that his spending has dramatically ramped up as election day approaches, increasing by about $200m in the final two months of campaigning. Musk’s money has primarily flowed into several Republican-aligned Super Pacs, with his largest contribution of $216m going into his own America Pac. The Pac has targeted 43 House and Senate races across the US, blanketting voters with television commercials, digital ads, text messages and mailers. America Pac made 839 independent expenditures in House races and 623 in Senate races in 17 states across the country. The spending varies greatly depending on the state, however, with campaigns in battlegrounds such as Michigan and Arizona receiving more of the Pac’s support. Musk’s Pac has spent the most in his home state of Texas, where a closely fought Senate contest between Democratic candidate James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton has turned into the most expensive race of the midterms. America Pac has overall poured more than $33m into efforts to elect Paxton, while Musk also made a $168m contribution to the Senate Leadership Fund which supports the Paxton campaign. A large portion of America Pac’s output focuses on attack ads against Democratic candidates such as Talarico, often accusing them of being radical socialists or targeting them over supporting transgender rights. The Pac has spent $28m on anti-Talarico content, including between $300,000 and 350,000 in October on a single Google ad targeting the Texas Senate candidate. “James Talarico supports parents being charged with child abuse if they do not support transitioning their children,” stated the ad, which was shown more than 10m times over an eight day period. Musk has also reposted America Pac’s content to his more than 200m followers on X, the social media platform he owns. One of Musk’s posts in October amplified an America Pac attack ad and claimed: “Talarico wants to trans your kids and destroy the border.” The nearly $446m that Musk has donated this election cycle far exceeds his contributions in the 2024 presidential race, when the tech mogul also held rallies and appeared on stage next to Trump during the campaign. While Musk has been a less visible presence in the midterms, potentially reflecting the US public’s dislike of him, behind the scenes he has greatly upped his financial support for Republicans. Musk’s spending far outpaces all other donors in the elections, including fellow tech and finance moguls like Marc Andreessen, who also started his own Super Pac. Musk has put more money into this election cycle than what every top Silicon Valley donor, including himself, spent on the 2024 presidential election combined.

The staggering $446m Elon Musk has spent on the US midterms – visualized
North America
CNBC Finance

FTC and 20 states sue Dollar General, alleging retailer overcharged shoppers

The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that it filed a lawsuit along with 20 states accusing Dollar General of charging customers more than the prices it displays on shelves, price tags and in advertisements. The complaint alleges that thousands of Dollar General stores have "taken advantage of vulnerable shoppers by extracting millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges with insufficient safeguards to prevent the practice." It also argues that Dollar General has received "tens of thousands" of complaints from consumers about charging higher than advertised prices, but that it has not implemented policies to address the problem. The states joining the FTC in the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. "Dollar General has betrayed the trust of millions of American consumers and imposed significant financial harm on communities and consumers who are already struggling to make their paychecks last," said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The suit comes as shoppers look for discounts while they face elevated food and gas prices. Officials across the political spectrum also aim to show their efforts to protect consumers from high costs ahead of the midterm election next week. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

FTC and 20 states sue Dollar General, alleging retailer overcharged shoppers