This afternoon's briefing covers 28 stories selected from issue 26 of Biguan (毕观天下), weighted towards Asia. South Korea's third-quarter growth beat forecasts on chips, China's industrial profits rose at their fastest pace since June, manga artist Tetsuya Chiba died at 87, hackers leaked data from Japan's GMO, and Chinese brands dropped Mbappé. Elsewhere, the Oleshky ceasefire took effect, Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or, James Comey was charged for a third time, Mexico's electoral chief resigned, and Jordan struck Syria after a church attack.
Servers of the foreign exchange business of Japan's GMO group were earlier breached by hackers, leading to unauthorised trades. The group's president said on Oct 26 that the hackers first demanded US$50 million, and NHK reported they later demanded US$1 million with a deadline of Oct 27 while threatening customers. Shortly after noon on Oct 27, the hackers posted one person's personal data online, saying GMO had refused to negotiate; GMO had told account holders to back up data, shut down and unplug their computers before noon that day.
The Bank of Korea said on Tuesday, Oct 27, that third-quarter GDP grew 1.0% from the previous quarter, up from 0.6% in the second quarter and well above the 0.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters and the bank's own August estimate of 0.3%. If fourth-quarter GDP holds at the third-quarter level, full-year growth would reach 3.7%, against the bank's August forecast of 3.3%. A bank official estimated that about half the growth came from semiconductors; government spending rose 1.9%, facility investment 4.1% and exports 2.3%, while domestic demand remained weak.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that manga artist Tetsuya Chiba died on Oct 22 of myelodysplastic syndrome at the age of 87, and a family funeral has been held. Born in Tokyo in 1939, he moved with his family to Manchuria in 1941, returned to Japan in 1946 and made his debut in 1956 while still in high school. His boxing manga 'Ashita no Joe', serialised from 1967 to 1973, became a social phenomenon; he was the first manga artist to receive Japan's Order of Culture and also led the Japan Cartoonists Association.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, Oct 27, that profits at industrial firms above a designated size rose 14.4% year-on-year in September, the fastest pace since June, while profits for the first nine months grew 15.5%, slightly below the 15.7% for the previous period. CNBC reported that industrial profits fell for three straight years before a modest recovery in 2025, and turned to double-digit growth this year thanks to Beijing's curbs on price wars and soaring demand for AI-related equipment. Upstream miners, chipmakers and raw material suppliers have benefited, while downstream manufacturers face rising input costs and weak domestic demand.
In a written reply to a South Korean lawmaker, the Bank of Korea modelled a pessimistic scenario in which US tech giants slow AI capital spending next year and Korean chip unit prices fall 10%. In that case, semiconductor exports could come in US$50 billion to US$100 billion below forecasts, next year's GDP growth would be cut by about 0.4 percentage points, and the current account surplus would fall well short of the bank's US$430 billion forecast for 2027. Chips account for about half of South Korea's exports.
South Korea's Supreme Court on Oct 27 rejected the appeal of the former commander of the Marine Corps 1st Division and upheld his three-year prison sentence for professional negligence causing death and injury and for violating military criminal law. He was found to have ordered an unreasonable in-water search at a flood site in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, on July 19, 2023, where a marine corporal was swept away and killed and other marines were hurt. Two other former officers in the case each received 18 months' imprisonment, and the bereaved family said through a military human rights group that the ruling fell far short of expectations.
A Hokkaido Shimbun correspondent based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was arrested by Russia's FSB on Oct 13, the day before he was due to return to Japan, and taken to Moscow. Japan's chief cabinet secretary said on Oct 27 that embassy staff had held a consular visit with him the day before and that his health was fine, two weeks after his arrest. Russia accuses him of collecting information, including on troops mobilised for the war in Ukraine, on the instructions of Japanese intelligence, and a court ordered him held until Dec 12; Japan's prime minister has denied the allegations, and Tokyo is demanding his immediate release.
Singapore this month issued legal notices under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to 10 overseas companies and 10 Singapore-registered companies. Sustainability and Environment Minister Grace Fu said on Oct 27 that the government is studying ways to strengthen the law, or enact a new one if needed, to close enforcement gaps and improve accountability. She said the two main hurdles are gathering evidence and securing cooperation from companies outside Singapore, and that the government is prepared to use broader legal, regulatory and economic levers.
China Central Television aired footage on Oct 25 taken by high-precision satellites showing the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Taipei Dome, saying 'every street is clearly visible'. Taiwan's defence chief said on Oct 27 that Beijing had clearly chosen the day Taiwan calls Retrocession Day to conduct cognitive warfare. He said the military will monitor closely, take appropriate early warning and response measures, and practise concealment and dispersal to keep operations secure.
Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data confirmed it received data breach notifications this month from Hong Kong Airlines, retailer Yoho and Broadway, involving personal data of more than 1,600 people, and has opened investigations. The Hong Kong Airlines case involves 815 passengers who departed between Sept 29 and Oct 22, with names, phone numbers and flight details exposed, while the Yoho case involves 790 customers who ordered between Sept 29 and Oct 12. The office received the Broadway notification on Oct 26 and has received 23 complaints over the three incidents.
South Korea's Fair Trade Commission ruled that Samsung Electronics engaged in deceptive advertising by promoting the gaming performance of Galaxy smartphones without disclosing key limits, and fined it 20.1 billion won. Its Game Optimizing Service (GOS) locked performance at preset levels when certain high-end games ran, capping CPU speed at as little as 31% and GPU at 27% in some games, affecting 82 games on the Galaxy S21 series and 47 on the S22. Samsung let users disable the limits via a software update after the controversy erupted in March 2022.
KBS, citing Reuters, reported that the Swiss government said Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis will leave for North Korea on Thursday, Oct 29, to attend the opening of a Swiss diplomatic office in Pyongyang, and will then meet South Korean officials. At Friday's ceremony he will discuss with North Korea the possible resumption of foreign ministry consultations and security on the Korean Peninsula. The office resumed operations on Oct 19 after Switzerland's humanitarian cooperation office closed in 2020 during the Covid pandemic; it is Switzerland's first political and diplomatic post there since ties were established in 1974.
Independent federal MP Helen Haines was seriously injured after being hit by a car last week. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Labor caucus on the morning of Tuesday, Oct 27, that the government will accelerate a review of MPs' security that was originally due to report next year, calling last week a turning point, and said options including emergency alarms are being considered. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that MPs from all parties met intelligence agencies after the attack, many complaining that security requests were processed too slowly, and that the government is weighing a large-scale upgrade of security at MPs' homes.
Tokyo's Chiyoda ward on Oct 27 asked Mitsubishi Estate Residence and other companies to include a clause banning resale for five years in a planned new condominium project, to stop speculative buyers driving up prices, the first time the ward has made such a request for an individual property. The request, which also bans buying multiple units under one name, has no legal force. According to Tokyo Kantei, the resale rate of condos within five years of completion averaged 2.49% across Tokyo's 23 wards in 2025 and was highest in Chiyoda at 4.92%, with resale prices averaging 62.6% above original prices.
Shares of K-pop agency JYP Entertainment rose as much as 10% on Tuesday, Oct 27, after local media reported that Nexroc Group and affiliate SVCV plan a tender offer for 25% to 50% of JYP's shares at a 30% premium; half the company is worth about 700 billion won (about US$528 million) at current market value. JYP said it had not received an offer, and Nexroc did not immediately respond. JYP's groups include TWICE, Stray Kids, ITZY and DAY6.
Hong Kong Free Press reported that Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé was dropped by two major Chinese brands on Tuesday, Oct 27, after a video circulated in which he said the funniest meme he had seen was his face edited onto 'someone, I think a Chinese dictator', seen as a joke about the late leader Mao Zedong. Dongpeng Beverage said it has zero tolerance for anything that hurts national feelings and ended all cooperation with him, and dairy giant Mengniu also ended its partnership with immediate effect.
A local ceasefire around Oleshky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River, took effect at 1am GMT on Tuesday, Oct 27, or 9am Hong Kong time. Brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump and announced on Oct 23, with Pope Leo XIV also involved, it is meant to allow residents to leave and supplies to get in. Russia's defence ministry said it had suspended strikes on Kherson region to prepare for a humanitarian mission later this week. Oleshky had about 24,000 people before the war and up to 2,000 remain.
Britain's chancellor, Healey, who presents the Budget on Wednesday, Oct 28, previewed 'everyday fixes' including scrapping import tariffs on more than 100 household favourites such as marmalade and gherkins; together with earlier suspensions on pasta, juice and tuna, households could save up to £21 a year. Marmalade had faced a 20% tariff plus £19 per 100kg. The British Retail Consortium said the same day that shop price inflation rose to 2.1% in October from 1.4% in September, with food inflation up from 2.5% to 2.9%, while the Conservatives called 'cheaper gherkins' an insult to families hit by tax rises.
Czech customs data show declared low-value items from outside the EU fell to 2.6 million in September, 81% below June's 13.6 million, with 3.6 million in July. Since July 1 the EU has charged a €3 duty per item on non-EU parcels worth up to €150, and the Czech Republic has collected 660 million koruna so far. Czech imports of such goods rose from about 3 million items in 2023 to 105 million in 2025, more than 90% from China, and from Nov 1 the EU will add a €2 handling fee per item imported via non-EU e-commerce platforms.
At the Ballon d'Or ceremony held in London for the first time on Monday, Oct 26, Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane won the men's award ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, the first English winner since 2001. The 33-year-old scored 73 goals in 65 games for club and country last season, helping Bayern win the league and cup double, and scored 6 at the World Cup. Midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or for a third time after leading Barcelona to the Champions League and then moving to London City Lionesses.
Federal prosecutors charged former FBI Director James Comey on Monday, Oct 26, in a criminal complaint in federal court in Washington, DC, unsealed at his request, the third time the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against the longtime Trump critic. The three-page filing lists two counts, wilfully communicating national defense information to people not entitled to receive it and conspiracy, over disclosures of classified material to The New York Times in October 2016 while he was FBI director. Comey denied wrongdoing in a video posted on Substack, calling the charges an outrageous abuse of the Justice Department.
President Lula beat right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro by more than 4.4 million votes in Brazil's runoff on Sunday, Oct 25. The Guardian reported that a Supreme Court justice barred Flávio from leaving the country and ordered him to surrender his passports hours after the result, citing a federal police investigation into possible money laundering. Flávio said the ruling stemmed from his brother urging him in an interview to leave Brazil if he lost. The president of his Liberal Party said on Monday that it accepts the result declared by the electoral court.
Guadalupe Taddei Zavala, head of Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE), resigned on Monday, Oct 26, amid allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest and abuse of power over contracts awarded to a company owned by a businessman close to her to supply election materials. She is the first head of the institute to resign since it was created in 2014. Mexico holds large midterm elections next June for more than 20,000 federal, state and local posts, including all 500 lower house seats and 17 governorships, seen as a key test for President Sheinbaum.
An attack on a funeral at an Orthodox church in a village in Jordan's Karak governorate on Friday, Oct 23, killed 9 people and injured dozens. Jordanian jets struck southern Syria late on Monday, Oct 26, saying they hit 'terrorist hideouts' and that the operation was coordinated with Damascus, which Syria denied. Syria said 8 civilians were killed, including women and 3 children, while Al Jazeera reported at least 7 deaths; Syria closed the Nasib crossing with Jordan to all passenger and cargo traffic and opened an investigation.
Arab News, citing Lebanese security officials who were briefed, reported that Hezbollah has spent three months preparing for a possible resumption of hostilities after receiving tens of millions of dollars from Iran to rearm, focusing on buying explosives and producing drones to attack Israeli positions. Founded in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the group has been badly weakened in two wars since 2024, losing thousands of fighters, several leaders and most of its arsenal. Israeli forces occupy villages in its southern heartland and Beirut faces growing pressure to disarm it, but it has used the lull in fighting since June to rearm.
A director at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) told Al Jazeera at the World Investment Forum in Doha on Monday, Oct 26, that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran must be resolved as soon as possible. She said fertiliser prices have risen sharply and many countries have decided to use less, which will hit next year's harvests and food supply and prices. Several African trade ministers said higher fuel and fertiliser costs from the Middle East conflict threaten the region's food security; a fifth of global oil and LNG trade previously passed through the strait.
Cloudflare said in an incident report that from Aug 27 to Sept 9, the GLM-5.3 model hosted on its Workers AI platform had a tenant isolation problem in which a small number of customers received responses containing data from other customers' recent requests to the same model. A total of 155 responses were affected, all for prompts longer than 681,280 tokens. Security researcher Gadi Evron of Knostic reported the issue on Sept 8, the model was restored on Sept 9 after a fix, other models were unaffected, and the company found no evidence of deliberate exploitation.
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that the Australian jumping spider Portia fimbriata has at least two sleep stages, including one resembling rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, with video capturing subtle eye twitches and leg curling. Co-author Daniela Rößler, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Bonn, said the similarity of the spiders' sleep structure to key features of vertebrate sleep was far greater than anyone expected. The team is now studying how the spiders sleep in the wild.