This afternoon's briefing covers 28 stories selected from issue 18 of Biguan (毕观天下), weighted towards Asia. Typhoon Champi shut offices, schools and the stock market across most of Taiwan, Japan's core inflation rose to 2.1%, its highest this year, Australia sanctioned North Korean individuals and entities over fraudulent IT workers, and Hideki Matsui was named the next manager of the Yomiuri Giants. Elsewhere, a Houthi attack on Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia killed two, Trump said Musk had restored Ukraine's Starlink access, and a study estimated about 50,400 heat-related deaths in 854 European cities this summer.
US President Trump said on Oct 22 that Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's Starlink access, declining to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that he had phoned Musk to ask for a slowdown to be lifted. Ukrainian President Zelensky said earlier the same day that military-grade Starshield connectivity had not yet fully recovered and that he was waiting for Secretary of State Rubio to reply within about 48 hours. The White House had denied ordering SpaceX to restrict access, and Musk said last week that Starshield is ultimately controlled by the US government.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on the evening of Oct 22 killed a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident and injured eight people; the airport has resumed operations. The energy ministry said a drone aimed at an Aramco processing facility in the Shaybah oil field was intercepted earlier that day and its debris killed a Filipino and a Nepali resident. The Houthis said they had also struck targets in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu and Abha airport within 48 hours; Saudi authorities say Houthi attacks on Saudi airports have killed at least 21 people since early October.
A BBC investigation found that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces systematically destroyed the health system of El Fasher in Darfur during their long siege and capture of the city about a year ago, documenting at least 43 attacks on hospitals and clinics between May 2024 and October 2025. Between April 2023 and October 2025 at least 55 health workers were killed, 120 injured and 10 missing or abducted. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the attacks may amount to war crimes; the RSF's health minister denied the findings, and the RSF has denied reports that more than 460 patients and companions were killed at a maternity hospital on Oct 25, 2025.
BBC reported that the death toll from flooding caused by Storm Adam in southern France on Oct 21 rose to at least four, with one injured. Two women aged 86 and 26 were found drowned in a cellar in Bouches-du-Rhône, and local media in Corsica said a man died when an off-road vehicle was swept away. Dozens of residents of Mouriès and Saint-Martin-de-Crau went to emergency shelters, and France's weather service issued orange wind warnings for five north-western departments as Storm Austen moves in from the Atlantic.
South African police said a crowd of about 50 people beat to death a foreign man believed to be in his 30s or early 40s in Durban; his identity has not been released and the motive is under investigation. Anti-immigrant protests have spread across South Africa this year, some turning violent, and earlier this month shops and cars were set on fire in Durban and in Soweto near Johannesburg. Xenophobic attacks in 2008 killed more than 60 people.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Oct 23 that Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on two North Korean individuals and two entities accused of placing North Korean IT workers in remote jobs overseas and sending the earnings home to fund nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, in breach of UN Security Council resolutions. The two men, Sim Hyon Sop and Yu Py Ung, have been identified by US authorities as key financial intermediaries. The action was coordinated with partners including the European Union.
As of about 12:00 Hong Kong time on Oct 23, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.01%, the KOSPI 1.03%, the Shanghai Composite 1.20% and the Shenzhen Component 1.60%, while Singapore's Straits Times Index slipped 0.11%; the Hang Seng Index rose 0.56%. The Taiwan Stock Exchange was closed all day because of Typhoon Champi. Nikkei Asia reported that SK Hynix had abandoned plans for an IPO of its US unit.
Japan's core consumer price index, excluding fresh food, rose 2.1% year on year in September, the highest this year; headline inflation was also 2.1%, and the 'core-core' measure excluding energy stayed above the 2% target. Rice prices fell 20.6%, but durable goods and utilities pushed goods inflation to 2.8%. The Nikkei 225 fell more than 1% on Friday and the yen strengthened to about 156.15 per dollar; the BOJ raised rates to about 1.25% in September, the highest in about three decades, and the lower house began debating a bill to cut the consumption tax on food from 8% to 1% for two years.
The board of the UN Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage agreed at a special meeting on Oct 22 to set aside a US$20 million grant for Nepal, the first time it has earmarked money for any country. Floods and landslides triggered by a climate-linked ice and rock avalanche in Nepal in August killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000 missing; the government puts reconstruction at about $4.78 billion, so the grant is under 0.5% and is the maximum for a single request. Nepal must still submit a plan for approval with no set timeline; rich countries have pledged about $822 million to the fund, which had never disbursed money.
SCMP reported that Hong Kong's Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) signed agreements on Oct 22 with a seventh batch of 18 companies in fields including artificial intelligence, health technology and advanced manufacturing, which pledged more than HK$10 billion (about $1.28 billion) of investment. About half come from mainland China and half from elsewhere, including Nasdaq-listed fintech firm Solana and Johnson & Johnson. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the aim was to connect finance, research, talent and industry more effectively.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix said on Oct 23 that its subsidiary Solidigm would stop evaluating potential pre-IPO funding and an initial public offering, citing recent capital market conditions and share price moves, and was looking at other funding options for a new US fab to meet AI memory demand. SK Hynix shares fell about 3% in early trading before turning to a gain of about 3.2%, CNBC reported.
Data from Singapore's Housing and Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority showed HDB resale prices fell 0.1% in the third quarter of 2026, a third straight quarterly decline, while resale transactions rose 19.5% to 7,645, the most since the third quarter of 2024. The private home price index rose 1.4%, the fastest in nearly two years, but private transactions fell 16.3% to 5,146 units and developers sold 1,183 new homes excluding executive condominiums, down 44.7%. A record 596 HDB flats resold for at least S$1 million, according to ERA.
Hankyoreh reported that a Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade study released on Oct 23 estimated that the seventh maximum price for regular petrol, cut by 150 won to 1,784 won per litre from June 27 and held until Oct 16, kept pump prices about 239.48 won per litre lower than they would otherwise have been. Without the policy average retail prices would have been about 2,017.43 won, against an actual 1,867.95 won. The ceiling on refinery supply prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene was revived on March 13 this year for the first time in nearly 30 years, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia pushed up oil prices.
HD Hyundai said on Oct 23 it had signed an agreement with US contractor Kiewit to begin building an advanced shipyard in the United States next year, expected to start operating in 2029 and create about 3,000 jobs; the two will form a joint venture to explore commercial ships and naval support vessels. South Korea has pledged $150 billion for US shipbuilding as part of about $350 billion of investment in the US in exchange for tariff relief.
Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that the colonel commanding a Taipei military police unit was accused of long-term verbal abuse and bullying of personnel, with several injuries in the unit not reported as required. The Military Police Command said on Oct 23 that it had set up a task force after receiving complaints, found improper leadership and internal management, and removed the commander from his post pending investigation, adding that it would pursue administrative, criminal and disciplinary liability.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong announced on Oct 23 a S$143 million (about $112 million) initiative to develop industrial decarbonisation technologies, part of a S$800 million decarbonisation grand challenge; industry including its electricity use accounts for about 65% of Singapore's emissions. Up to S$100 million goes to company-led research under the DRIVE programme, open for applications now, and S$65 million to five low-carbon energy research projects, while a S$62 million testbed on Jurong Island has IHI, Amogy and Metha8 as first users. Keppel Energy, Sembcorp Utilities and Tuas Power Generation were approved to import biomethane.
BBC Chinese and The New York Times reported that most Taiwanese cities and counties suspended work and classes on Oct 23 as Typhoon Champi approached. Taipei's closure decision led the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Taipei Exchange and the futures exchange to shut for the whole day, with settlement postponed. Some local leaders' description of the closure as a day off for everyone prompted public debate.
The Hong Kong government said on Oct 23 that Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) had set up a corporate treasury centre in Hong Kong to serve as the group's offshore fund management platform. It is the latest case of a large central state-owned enterprise placing regional treasury functions in the city.
Asahi and NHK reported on Oct 23 that the Yomiuri Giants will appoint Hideki Matsui, 52, as their next manager, his first return to the club since his playing days 24 years ago. The previous manager resigned after being arrested in May on suspicion of assault, a case later dropped without charge; the Giants finished second in the regular season and went out in the first round of the playoffs. Matsui joined the Yankees in 2003, was World Series MVP in 2009, retired in 2012 with 2,643 hits and 507 home runs, and received the People's Honour Award in 2013.
BBC reported that Bukangi, a dusky shark about 3 metres long that had been seen in a canal in Busan since last month, was guided towards the sea with nets on Wednesday in a livestreamed operation lasting more than eight hours, watched by hundreds of fans. On Thursday it broke back through a net and was freed after being trapped between two nets; authorities reinforced the barrier and ended the operation, with the shark still lingering near the river mouth. It has reportedly drawn more than 1.6 million visitors over the past month.
Hankyoreh reported that Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, went on sale in South Korea on Oct 23, with SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ shipping pre-orders and opening general sales. SK Telecom's first batch of pre-orders guaranteeing launch-day delivery sold out in about a minute, KT's first and second batches of 256GB and 512GB models also went within about a minute, and LG U+ said its first allocation was exhausted and it was negotiating more supply. White was the most popular colour at all three carriers.
The Guardian reported that the Australian government has proposed to the European Space Agency that astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, 2026 Australian of the Year, join an International Space Station mission around 2028. If it goes ahead she would be the first qualified astronaut to fly to space under the Australian flag. She has trained within the ESA system; the timetable and final crew still need confirmation by ESA and Australia.
Asahi reported that Japan will award the Order of Culture, one of its highest honours for cultural achievement, to game producer Shigeru Miyamoto and architect Toyo Ito, among others. Miyamoto is known for Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda and has long led game production at Nintendo.
The Guardian reported signs of a marked recovery of the bogong moth in several states along Australia's east coast, with sightings and numbers recorded on citizen science platforms well up on recent lows. Comparable surveys led by ecologists have not yet been published. The species has been listed as endangered, and its migration is an indicator for alpine ecosystems.
CNBC's All-America Economic Survey of 1,000 registered voters, less than two weeks before the Nov 3 midterms, found 65% disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, a net rating of minus 31 and the worst across both his terms; overall approval was about 40% against 59%. Eighty per cent rated the economy fair or poor, the highest since December 2023, and voters preferred Democratic control of Congress by 52% to 45%, a gap three points wider than in July. The margin of error is 3.1 points.
BBC reported that El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said a military operation had been launched in Haiti to rescue four air force personnel missing since Sunday, warning that Wednesday's strike would be 'nothing' if they did not return alive. El Salvador's armed forces said the four were ambushed by heavily armed criminal groups in Croix-des-Bouquets and lost contact, stressing they were not combatants. They serve with the multinational Gang Suppression Force.
El País and AP, citing research by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, reported about 50,391 heat-related excess deaths from June to August 2026 in 854 large cities across the EU's 27 countries plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland, home to about 173 million people. That is above about 29,480 in 2022 and about 28,462 in 2003 under the same framework, roughly double the 24,572 of summer 2025, and the deadliest summer in at least 26 years; about 32,619 deaths (65%) were attributed to human-caused climate change. Spain's roughly 90 cities accounted for an estimated 6,824.
ABC News reported that British actor Dame Judi Dench said the macular degeneration she has had for more than a decade has worsened to the point that she can no longer perform on stage or screen. Dench, 91, has had an acting career of more than 70 years.