Day: December 19, 2025

Six years on, are we better prepared for the next pandemic?

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This week, exactly six years ago, as we were gliding cheerfully into the 2019 festive Christmas season, the Covid-19 virus was spreading in Wuhan, China. I was preparing for an important meeting in Australia in February (the last overseas trip I would make for three years), oblivious to the looming pandemic. The world in general had no inkling of the terrible three years that would follow, with death estimates ranging from 7 million to 36 million, over 700 million infections reported, an economic cost put at US$12.5 trillion and more…

UK Foreign Office victim of cyber-attack in October, says Chris Bryant

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The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, the minister Chris Bryant has said. Bryant, a trade minister in Keir Starmer’s government, told Sky News there was a low risk to “any individual” from the cyber-attack. Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack. However, Bryant told broadcasters it was “not clear” who perpetrated the attack and cautioned against speculation. “There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been…

How China cracked the US ‘super code’ that controls most power grids in the world

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China is no longer using American software to run its power grid. The Southern Regional Electricity Market (SREM) – the largest unified power market on Earth – has switched fully to Tianquan, a home-grown solver developed by Chinese engineers with speeds 14 per cent faster than American products, according to a recent report by official newspaper Science and Technology Daily. This follows recent reports that the State Grid, Huawei and many other leading Chinese companies have abandoned US solvers. If China no longer needs US code to run its critical…

China still targeting US-based researchers for ‘malign’ purposes, lawmakers warned

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China is still trying to recruit US-based researchers despite years of heightened scrutiny, members of Congress were told on Thursday at a hearing where multiple science agencies warned that tighter security measures must go hand in hand with efforts to retain foreign talent. “Just in the past week, I have received three emails that were forwarded to me from researchers in the community who had been approached for recruitment by Chinese malign foreign talent recruitment programmes,” said Rebecca Keiser, acting chief of staff of the National Science Foundation (NSF). “The…

EU turns to joint debt for Ukraine after botching Russian asset loan

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This article is an on-site version of our Europe Express newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday and fortnightly on Saturday morning. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters Good morning. Today we explain why — and how — the EU will loan Ukraine €90bn borrowed against the bloc’s budget, and why Germany’s environment agency is downplaying the impact of the EU diluting its combustion engine phaseout. Have a great weekend, and a wonderful winter break. We will…

China cuts US Treasury holdings to lowest level since 2008 amid debt ceiling fears

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China reduced its US Treasury holdings in October to its lowest level in 17 years, as mounting concerns over US debt sustainability and the Federal Reserve’s independence further eroded confidence in dollar-backed assets. The country’s stockpile fell to US$688.7 billion in October, down from US$700.5 billion in September, according to US Treasury Department data released on Thursday. October’s figure was the lowest level reported since November 2008, and marked a plunge of more than 47 per cent from the nearly US$1.32 trillion peak reached in November 2013, according to Chinese…