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Hong Kong's most deadly fire in decades was the result of a year-long safety complaint
The city's Labour Department informed residents of the housing complex that had been engulfed by the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in 70 years that they faced only "relatively small fire risks". This was after residents complained repeatedly about the fire hazards caused by renovation work. Residents of Wang Fuk Court, in the northern part of Hong Kong, had expressed concerns about maintenance activities in September 2024. They were concerned, for example, about the potential flammability the green mesh that contractors used to cover bamboo scaffolding around the buildings. The agency that enforces construction standards established by the Building Department, the Department, reviewed the safety certification of the mesh used to catch falling debris and informed residents that the "flame retardant performance" of the material met standards. Hong Kong Police said Thursday that exterior walls of buildings in the complex "had protective nets and membranes as well as waterproof tarpaulins and plastic sheets which were suspected to not meet fire safety standards." Prestige Construction, a renovation contractor, has been accused of manslaughter. It is not known what caused the fire that swept through Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Wednesday, which claimed at least 94 people's lives. The fire spread quickly through the exterior scaffolding, according to Jiang Liming, an expert in fire safety at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who reviewed the video footage. Prestige, the company that won a HK$330,000,000 ($42.4,000,000) contract to renovate the complex in 2024, has not responded to repeated phone calls. Authorities have not identified the three people arrested. They could not be contacted. When a reporter went to Prestige's offices on Friday morning, metal shutters had been removed from the entrance. When asked about the Labour Department reviewing the safety certification of the mesh, Hong Kong Police referred to an announcement from Thursday in which they said that it would "gather the evidence and conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of fire" after the fire was extinguished. When the Labour Department said that residents faced low fire risk as long as welding processes were avoided, it did not mean they were ignoring potential hazards. The department also stated that it reminded the contractor of fire prevention measures. The agency also stated that 16 safety inspections were conducted at Wang Fuk Court from July 2024 to November 2025. The department said it issued six improvement notes to the contractor for its work on the complex, and that three prosecutions were initiated. Could not determine whether the proceedings were successful or the response of the firm. HONG KONG GRENFELL? The fire that raged on Wednesday spread with shocking speed. The first fire alarm was received at Wang Fuk Court at 2:51 pm. In the five minutes that it took to get to the scene, the fire had spread across the scaffolding and into the interior of building, spreading to other towers within the complex. Seven of the eight 32-story buildings were in flames within four hours. First responders had difficulty reaching higher floors due to thick smoke. The complex houses 4,600 residents. Hundreds were moved into temporary housing. As of Thursday, almost 300 people were still missing. Jiang, assistant professor of the Polytechnic University department of building, environment, and energy engineering, likened the fire to London's Grenfell Public-Housing Fire in 2017, which killed 72 people. The investigation revealed that the British government and construction industry, as well as firms involved with the exterior cladding of the building, had failed to meet safety standards. He said, "It is a similar type of fire travel mechanism: the fire spread from the façade to the interior of the apartment." John Lee, the leader of Hong Kong has announced that the government will examine the use bamboo scaffolding. Separately, the Building and Labour departments announced Thursday that they will be conducting emergency inspections on renovation buildings to ensure that scaffolding and safety nets comply with fire-safety regulations. The police said that they also found foam in the complex, which could have caused the rapid expansion of the fire. Peter Leung, a Facebook user from September 2024 posted pictures of white material burning on the "Wang Fuk Court Resident Exchange Group" with the caption "the window insulation was flammable." Leung didn't respond to a message sent via Facebook. Chau Sze Kit of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union said that foam "burns rapidly and produces thick, poisonous smoke". He said that the material could help to prevent dust and damage to glass windows during construction. But "did management and site supervisors take into consideration this risk?" Foam installed near the windows of Tommy Au Wai Chi's parents prevented them from noticing giant flames and heavy smoking outside their home. The 58-year old truck driver said, "They didn't know there was a blaze until I called them." His parents have been rescued, and are currently in stable condition at the hospital. Chris Wong expressed her anger over the foam that was used to block her apartment windows. She believes her mother, 72, is still trapped and she has not heard anything. The government has laws but does it enforce them on safety and quality? "I have my doubts." Additional Fire Safety Concerns Reviewing the minutes from meetings between building management and homeowners over the last year revealed new concerns about fire safety. In October 2025, the management informed the homeowners' committee that the items in need of repair or maintenance included fire water inlets and hose components, such as fire nozzles. The committee also received a report in July 2025 that "some of the hoses within the fire tanks had shown signs of ageing and corrosion during waterproofing works." Participants in the meeting recommended that the hoses be replaced. In November 2024 the committee expressed concern about the possibility that the number solar panels on tower rooftops "could violate fire safety regulations." The committee suggested that the fire department be consulted. Could not determine whether any action was taken to address these concerns. The management at Wang Fuk Court has not responded to emails and phone calls. Residents have also complained that contractors smoke around scaffolding. Jacky Cheung sent a video that he claimed to have taken, showing a construction worker smoking near the scaffolding. The news agency confirmed that the video was taken at Wang Fuk Court but could not confirm the exact date. Cheung claimed that he complained to management about smoking incidents in February and sent the video, but they didn't do anything. Reporting by Clare Jim in Hong Kong, James Pomfret in Beijing, Antoni Slodkowski and Claire Fu in Singapore. Writing by Marius Zaharia. Editing by Katerina An.
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France continues to oppose nationalisation of ArcelorMittal sites
It said that the French government would continue to oppose any plans to nationalise French steelmaker ArcelorMittal's sites, as its workers are at risk of losing their jobs due to the tough market conditions. After the French lower chamber of parliament approved a motion to nationalize the sites, Finance Minister Roland Lescure issued a statement reiterating the government's goal to avoid any form of nationalisation. La France Insoumise, a far-left party, has put forward the motion that the French Senate will consider. The government has consistently opposed the motion. The bill was passed late Thursday night by 127 votes to 41 against in the lower chamber of the parliament. However, it will likely be blocked in the Senate by right-wing parties that oppose nationalisation. Lescure stated, "I am aware of the vote that was taken in Parliament to nationalise ArcelorMittal." He said: "We will continue our opposition to the nationalisation ArcelorMittal throughout the remainder of the legislative process while working on solutions for the company, its employees and the government." Market uncertainty surrounding ongoing tariff negotiations between the United States of America and Europe has affected the European steel industry. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger; Sudip Kar Gupta)
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Hokkaido Governor to decide Tomari nuclear power station restart
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki stated on Friday that the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan was considered a real option at this time. Suzuki said he would take a final decision about the restart of the project after completing on-site inspections, and collecting feedback from the surrounding communities. The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan approved a safety assessment for Tomari's 912-megawatt reactor No. The final step in the 12-year-long process of restarting Tomari's reactor No. Suzuki stated that, given the regulatory approvals, the new emergency response plan of the government, and the expectation of lower electricity rates after a restart "utilizing nuclear energy is considered to be a realistic option for the moment," he said. He said that after visiting the Tomari factory to confirm the safety measures on site and hearing the mayors from the four local communities, "I'll make a judgment based on this discussion," he stated. Hokkaido Electric aims to finish construction of the seawall in March 2027, and restart the reactor as quickly as possible after that. Since 2012, the No. The No. Hideyo Hanadazumi, the governor of Niigata, gave his approval last week for a partial restart at Tokyo Electric Power’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant. (Reporting and editing by Jacqueline Wong, Tom Hogue and Yuka Obayashi)
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Brent prices rise on Ukraine concerns, WTI is disrupted by CME failure
Brent crude oil futures rose Friday, as geopolitical risk remained elevated due to the prolonged Russia-Ukraine talks. Traders also kept an eye on the outcome from Sunday's OPEC+ gathering for any clues on possible output changes. The exchange operator CME group experienced a system failure that resulted in the freezing of U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures. The traders said that they were Inform yourself CME informed Globex just before 0300 GMT that trading on all futures and option contracts was suspended due to an issue with cooling at CyrusOne's data centres. Brent oil is traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Brent crude futures for the front-month, which expires on Friday, rose by 24 cents or 0.38% to $63.58 per barrel at 0452 GMT. They had risen 21 cents Thursday. The February contract, which is the most active, changed hands for $63.10 - up 23 cents. The price of U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude froze at $59,08 per barrel, an increase of 43 cents or 0.73%. Due to Thanksgiving in the U.S., there was no settlement Thursday. Prices are expected to fall by a combined total of 4% in the next month, which is the longest loss streak since 2023. This is due to expectations that global supply will increase. Oil prices fell sharply this week on signs that a deal could be near between Ukraine and Russia. However, they have since recovered as the negotiations continue. Brent and WTI will both close the week with gains greater than 1%. While a final agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU could pave way for sanctions on Russian oil producers to be loosened, increasing global supplies, this outcome appears still distant, said Sugandha Sahdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet in New Delhi, a research firm. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said that the outline peace proposals that the U.S., Ukraine and other countries discussed could be the basis for future agreements that end the conflict in Ukraine. If not, he added, Russia will continue to fight. Putin said that Steve Witkoff, Trump's special representative to Russia, plans to arrive in Moscow at the beginning of next week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukrainian and U.S. delegations will meet in this week to develop a formula, which was discussed during talks at Geneva, to bring peace to Kyiv and to provide security guarantees. In a research note, Tony Sycamore, IG Markets' analyst said that after several false dawns participants were reluctant to take aggressive positions until they saw concrete progress -or a breakdown - materialize. Two delegates and a source with knowledge of OPEC+ meetings said that OPEC+ will likely leave oil production levels unchanged on Sunday and agree on a method to measure the maximum production capacity of members. The rise in market bets on the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next week, which could boost economic growth and increase energy demand, has also boosted oil prices. The price of oil has also been supported by a drop in the number operating oil rigs in the U.S., which reached a four-year high this week. Reporting by Mohi N. Narayan from New Delhi, and Florence Tan from Singapore. Editing by Kevin Buckland and Lincoln Feast.
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Asian shares finish November with a strong performance, helped by Fed cuts
Asian shares will end a difficult November on a more stable footing as renewed hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut have helped calm valuation fears and Treasuries are rallying for the fourth consecutive month. The U.S. market, which was closed for Thanksgiving overnight, is due to have a shorter session on Friday. This means that activity will be more muted across all major asset classes than usual. The majority of European stocks were higher while currencies were more calm. In Asia, European stock futures rose by 0.1% while FTSE Futures rose by 0.2%. Wall Street futures, however, were affected by the data outage that occurred at CME Group, which affected trading in currencies, futures, and Treasuries. The MSCI broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan fell 0.3% on Friday but still rose 2.7% over the course of the week. This was the first increase in four weeks. It was down 3% for the month. Nikkei, the Japanese stock market index, was not moved much and was heading for a rise of 3,2% per week. It was down 4.3% for the month. South Korean shares fell by 1.5% following the central bank's announcement that it would end the current easing cycle. The index has still gained 1.9% this week. The global equity markets were unusually volatile in November, as fears about the sky-high valuations of tech stocks shook markets. Meanwhile, a U.S. shutdown ended after 43 days. Bitcoin, the risk-barometer, fell 16% in November. Federal Reserve officials are cautious due to the lack of data from the shutdown, but Fed Governor Christopher Waller, and New York Fed president John Williams, have expressed support for a cut in rates next month. This has helped stabilize the sentiment. CME FedWatch shows that Fed funds futures indicate an 85% probability of a rate reduction next month. This is a dramatic change from the 30% chance a week ago. Vincenzo Vedda is the chief investment officer of DWS. He said: "I think we are not quite there yet, if you compare valuations to past bubbles, for instance." "We think that the inflation is generally under control... In general, we expect a decent growth in the coming 12 months... You have a benign climate for risky assets. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 0.2%, while the blue chips index in China rose 0.2%. BOJ HIKE IS IN VIEW The data showed that Tokyo's core consumer prices rose by 2.8% from November of last year, which was above the forecasted 2.7% increase. This is just one of a number of data points that has kept the bets on a Bank of Japan rate hike alive. Markets are now pricing in a rate hike as early as next month. As the yen fell and political pressures faded, more BOJ board members have signalled a rate hike. The yen was unchanged at 156.37 to the dollar after rebounding from a 10-month-low of 157.9, which was hit last week. Investors await the Japanese authorities' intervention after weeks of verbal browbeating to stop the currency's steady decline. The dollar's performance on the currency market was stable against its major counterparts, but it was expected to suffer a loss of 0.7% per week, the largest since July. Markets bet on the end of policy easing cycles for both countries. The Aussie is up by 1.1% this week and the Kiwi 1.8%. The minutes of the European Central Bank meeting show that policymakers were also not in a hurry to lower rates. The prospect of Fed policy easing in December boosted the rise in Treasuries. The CME outage affected Treasury futures, but the prices of these contracts were still set to rise for a 4th straight month. The U.S. continued to push for a peace plan in the Ukraine conflict, despite the fact that oil prices were up on Friday. The spot gold price rose 0.6%, to $4,182 an ounce. This brings the monthly gain up to 4.5%. However, they are still a long way from the record high $4,381.
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Orban will meet Putin to discuss energy and Ukraine peace efforts
Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow to discuss crude oil and gas supplies to Hungary as well as peace efforts in Ukraine. Orban maintained close ties with Moscow despite war in Ukraine. Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian energy despite European Union attempts to reduce dependence. Orban announced his plans to meet Putin via a Facebook video. He added, "I'm going (to Moscow), to make sure that Hungary's supply of energy is secure for the winter and in 2019." Orban replied, "We cannot avoid it." When asked whether peace efforts in Ukraine will also be on his agenda, Orban responded, "We are unable to avoid that." After Orban made a strong case for relief during an amicable meeting with Donald Trump, the United States granted Hungary an exemption to sanctions in order to use Russian gas and oil. Hungary and the United States also signed a nuclear cooperation pact. The agreement calls for Hungary to purchase U.S. nuclear technology and fuel to store spent fuel in a Russian nuclear plant called Paks I. Rosatom, the Russian nuclear company, is currently building an extension of this plant. This project, originally planned to be completed in 2014, has been significantly delayed. Orban said that he wanted to revive plans of a "peace meeting" between Trump and Putin in Budapest on Ukraine. This plan was put aside this year. Orban, in contrast to many NATO and European Union leaders has maintained cordial relations with Russia whilst questioning the logic behind Western military aid to Kyiv. In a Friday statement, the foreign ministry of Hungary said that Hungary imported more than 7 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 8.5 million tonnes crude oil from Russia in 2018. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Krisztina than)
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The end of a torrid month is tepid for the morning bid in Europe
Ankur Banerjee gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets Investors are experiencing a CME Group outage that affects currencies, commodities, and equity futures. This is a welcome addition to what had been a rather tepid trading session. CME Group platforms are very popular with currency traders, even though they can trade on other platforms. The newsroom has been flooded with conflicting comments. Either it's a "nightmare", or everyone should "calm down". If the outage extends into European hours expect more people to be concerned, especially those who are trying to balance their monthly books. Investors are letting go of their worries about an AI bubble. They're more excited by the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate reduction next month. The stock market has been generally positive this week, although it is still on track for a decline for the month. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar is heading for its worst weekly performance in four months because markets are convinced that a rate reduction is imminent. Investors are unlikely to make major bets on Friday as the U.S. market will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and only have a brief trading session. (An outage could also help). For now, the markets are focused on what Fed will do next. The economic calendar also includes inflation data from France and Germany. Traders are interested to see where prices are heading. CME FedWatch shows that traders have priced an 85% probability of a December cut, compared to 39% one week ago. The dovish tone of some policymakers has shifted the market pricing. Who is to say that it won't be changed if the hawks show up? The following are key developments that may influence the markets on Friday. Data on Germany's imports and exports for October and November, and data on France and Germany's inflation.
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CME Trading halted because of cooling issues at data centres
CME Group, the exchange operator, announced on Friday that it had halted currency, stock futures, and commodity trading due to an issue with cooling in data centres. This has frozen major market benchmarks. CME issued a statement saying that markets were currently suspended due to an issue with cooling at CyrusOne's data centres. Support is working on a solution to the problem in the short term. Clients will be informed of Pre-Open information as soon as it becomes available. CyrusOne has not responded to a comment request immediately. CME's notice stated that the EBS foreign exchange platform was also shut down due to a problem. CME informed traders just before 0300 GMT that the trading of futures and options on Globex was halted. It's a nightmare, said a trader who refused to be identified as he wasn't authorised to talk to the media. CME derivatives serve as benchmarks for markets ranging from commodities to stocks. According to LSEG, prices for the S&P 500, Nasdaq100, and currency pairs on EBS were not updated following 0344 GMT. Tony Sycamore, IG's markets analyst, said: "It has been a slow day in Asia following the Thanksgiving holiday. This hasn't really helped. (Reporting from Ankur Banerjee in Singapore, Florence Tan, and Rae Wee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger & Shri Navaratnam).
Shanghai copper gains weekly on US rate cuts optimism
Shanghai copper finished the week higher on the Friday. This was boosted by weak U.S. data, which raised expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract closed the daytime trading session up 0.41% to 87,430 Yuan ($12,352.71) a metric ton. This ended the week with 1.41% more. The benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange increased 0.50% at $10,994 per ton by 0700 GMT. It is expected to finish the week with a 2.01% gain. London's contract faced resistance around $11,000 per ton. This shows that there are no major catalysts for breaking this level. The Fed is expected to cut rates in November due to the weak September retail sales in the United States and the sluggish consumer sentiment. The U.S. Dollar weakened this week but slightly recovered on Friday. The weaker dollar makes commodities that are traded in greenbacks cheaper for investors who hold other currencies. This supports metal prices.
Analysts and traders have said that the decision by China to stop the expansion of its copper smelting capacities is largely symbolic at this time.
Years of unrelenting capacity growth has intensified competition for limited concentrates, driving treatment costs to negative records. Beijing has launched a campaign to reduce industrial overcapacity. However, analysts say the market impact will depend on whether or not tougher measures, such as production caps or forced cuts, are taken.
Aluminium, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc all posted gains.
Aluminium rose by 0.58% on the LME, while zinc gained 0.73%. Lead also increased 0.18%. Nickel advanced 0.18%. Tin gained 1.81%.
(source: Reuters)