Hong Kong stocks have plunged more than six percent to their lowest level since the global financial crisis in 2009, on fresh concerns about the mainland economy. The Hang Seng Index gave up 1,030 points, or six and a third percent, to close at 15,180 on Monday. Tech firms were among the hardest hit. Alibaba and Tencent each tumbled 11 percent and JD.com dived 13 percent. The head of research at Kingston Securities, Dickie Wong, told Damon Pang that market sentiment was fragile:

The mainland economy rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in the third quarter of 3.9 percent, helped by a raft of government measures. That out-performed the expectations of many analysts and was much better than the 0.4 percent growth recorded in the previous quarter. Altis Wong reports:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority says guests attending a financial summit in the SAR next month can choose to leave Hong Kong by chartered flight if they test positive for Covid-19. That is one of the Covid measures set by the HKMA for some 200 representatives from leading global financial institutions, who are expected to fly in for three days from November 1 for the event. Kenny Hodgart reports:

Teachers hoping to work at any government-funded schools and kindergartens will have to pass tests on the Basic Law and National Security Law, starting from the next school year. Officials say the move will help enlighten pupils on Hong Kong's constitutional order. Damon Pang reports:

The Chinese University of Hong Kong has stopped using a new emblem on its website and social media pages, ahead of a university council meeting on Tuesday to discuss the matter. The abrupt change in its emblem had sparked controversy, as Wendy Wong reports:

Police say fraudsters have been using people's fears over the Covid-19 pandemic to their advantage, as the number of phone scams surged by 130 percent on year, from January to September. Con artists have swindled people of about $721 million during the period. Aaron Tam reports:

The government has been urged to require doctors to notify health authorities of all cases of an infectious bacterial disease - a number of cases of which have recently been found around a Sham Shui Po housing estate. Microbiologist Ho Pak-leung said making it notifiable would improve knowledge of the disease and its spread, as Violet Wong reports:

A specialist in infectious diseases, Dr Joseph Tsang, has echoed calls for doctors to be required to inform health authorities of any melioidosis cases found in Hong Kong. He said it was important to be able to count the exact number of cases found and whether any of them were linked. Dr Tsang urged the Centre for Health Protection to continue with its environmental sampling nearby where cases had been found. But he told Janice Wong about the difficulties of finding the source of the outbreak:

The Transport Secretary, Lam Sai-hung, says the government is looking at innovative mass transit technology to improve transport in the hilly interior of east Kowloon. He made the comment as he confirmed that plans to build an MTR line for the area had been scrapped. Ada Au reports:

A survey points to a widening skills gap in the banking industry as demand for staff with IT knowledge increases. The Hong Kong Institute of Bankers spoke to more than 900 people in the industry, as well as academics and human resource professionals from May to July. It found that more than 90 percent of respondents saw the skills gap in fintech as a major problem, up from 82 percent in a similar survey last year. 85 percent of those questioned were also concerned about a skills shortage in green and sustainable finance, up from 73 percent a year ago. Carrie Leung, the institute's CEO, told Kelly Yu that the widening skills gap highlighted the need for greater resources:

Rishi Sunak is to become Britain's third Prime Minister in just seven weeks, following Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. He will be the UK's first British Asian Prime Minister, and at 42, the youngest person since the 18th century to be given the keys to 10 Downing Street. RTHK's UK correspondent, Gavin Grey, says details of Sunak's cabinet can be expected as early as Wednesday. He told Samantha Butler that Sunak heads a governing Conservative party, without MPs or members having voted for him, after his rivals quit the race: