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Hong Kong Olympians made history in the first week of the Paris Games, winning two gold and two bronze medals – doubling the city’s Olympic gold medal tally while they were at it. Fencers Vivian Kong and Edgar Cheung won gold in the women’s individual épée and men’s individual foil, while swimmer Siobhan Haughey secured […]

When Hong Kong nurse Krystal So and five other Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff set foot in Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza in early May, they saw broken doors, shattered windows and numerous dead bodies on the blood-stained floor.  Odour filled the unlit complex as some technicians moved away hospital beds that had been damaged […]

One of the boxers at the centre of a gender controversy at the Olympics comfortably reached the quarter-finals Friday, as fellow fighters and public figures weighed into the furore. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting beat Sitora Turdibekova from Uzbekistan on a unanimous points decision in the women’s 57kg class in her opening bout in Paris. The 28-year-old […]

By Xinqi Su Hong Kong has emerged as a fencing powerhouse at the Paris Olympics, topping the sport’s medal table with two gold medals, but the seeds of success were sown half a century ago. Brought in by Portuguese settlers after World War II, the sport did not take off until the 1970s when it […]

The death toll from a highway bridge collapse in northern China after heavy rains two weeks ago has climbed to at least 38 with 24 still missing, state media said Friday. The bridge partially collapsed on July 19 “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods” in Shangluo in the northern province of Shaanxi, state […]

The Hong Kong government has provided newly established ethnic minority care teams HK$1.45 million per year, more than has been allocated to care teams in the city’s 18 districts. The Home Affairs Department announced on Sunday that eight ethnic minority care teams had already been set up, with another two teams coming by the end […]

Detained Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung has filed a legal challenge after four books were kept from her by correctional services, including one on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, on the grounds that they “could provoke anti-authority sentiment.” Chow, who has been detained for almost three years under the national security law, submitted her application for […]

The number of registered voters in Hong Kong has fallen for a third consecutive year to almost 4.21 million, according to provisional government figures published on Thursday. According to the Registration and Electoral Office (REO), around 18,900 new registration applications were received for the geographical constituencies in the 2024 voter cycle, along with 138,000 applications […]

Torrential rains in China have killed at least 30 people and left dozens more missing, state media said Thursday, as the country grinds through another summer of extreme weather. Confirmation of the deaths came the same day that weather authorities said July was China’s hottest month since records began six decades ago. China is the […]

Hong Kong Olympic fencer Edgar Cheung has defended the referees who oversaw his gold-medal win at the Paris Olympics, saying that they were “professional” and unbiased after the Italian fencing body lodged a protest against his win. A large crowd waited to greet Cheung, who returned from the French capital early on Friday morning, at […]

A Vietnamese coast guard vessel is en route to the Philippines for joint training exercises, Hanoi said, the first such exchange between the countries in dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea but the Philippines, Vietnam and several other nations claim various islands, islets, reefs and […]

Migrant domestic workers rights’ advocates have met with Hong Kong government representatives to call for a “living wage” of HK$6,300 per month, plus food allowance of HK$2,700. Leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU), as well as those from other migrant groups and NGOs, visited the Labour Department’s headquarters in […]

Hong Kong’s social workers’ registration body has begun reviewing social workers’ records following the introduction of a new rule that bars anyone convicted of endangering national security from the sector. No one has been stripped of their license for this reason yet, the head of the body has said. Herman Hui, the chairperson of the […]

The political ideology of China’s leader Xi Jinping could soon be taught to Hong Kong secondary school students, according to curriculum guidelines for new subject Citizenship, Economics and Society. The new subject, which will be introduced to first-year secondary students when the school year starts next month, highlights the teaching of national security and national […]

By Matthew Walsh Chinese weather authorities said Thursday July was the country’s hottest month since records began six decades ago, as extreme temperatures persist across the globe. China is the world’s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say are driving climate change and making extreme weather more frequent and intense. Heatwaves this summer […]

The Hong Kong government has rejected an opinion article published by US publication Forbes Magazine, which claimed that the city had become a “far risker place to do business” following the enactment of two security laws. In a statement released in the early hours of Thursday, the government said the commentary titled “Hong Kong’s Economy […]

A Hong Kong pollster has suspended three tracking surveys, including one that recorded people’s attitudes to the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, a year after it stopped publishing the results of certain polls. Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) last month announced the “indefinite suspension” of three surveys “due to zero download.” They tracked the popularity […]

Hong Kong star swimmer Siobhan Haughey has won a second bronze at the Paris Olympic Games, as badminton duo Tse Ying-suet and Jordan Tang bowed out following a defeat in the mixed doubles quarter-finals. The 26-year-old Hong Kong swimmer came in third in the women’s 100-metre freestyle event on Wednesday night Paris time, bagging a […]

China sanctioned US lawmaker Jim McGovern on Wednesday for “interference” over his support for Tibetans. The US Congress adopted a bipartisan law last month that strengthens support for Tibet, where China is accused of human rights abuses. McGovern, a Democrat, was one of the authors of the bill. The foreign ministry in Beijing said McGovern […]

The Hong Kong government should review its Heat Stress at Work Warning system to better reflect the effects of sweltering heat on street cleaners and other outdoor workers, an NGO has said. Changes should be introduced to the three-tier warning system that aimed to help employees and workers assess the level of heat stress when […]

The government has issued taxi fleet licenses to five companies, including local taxi operators and new joint ventures in the transport industry, with an aim of enhancing taxi services amid criticism. Transport chief Angela Lee told the press on Wednesday afternoon that the five companies had scored highest among the 15 applications received, and that […]

Hong Kong’s economy grew by 3.3 per cent from April to June, the Census and Statistics Department has said, led by growth in exports. “According to the advance estimates, GDP [gross domestic product] increased by 3.3% in real terms in the second quarter of 2024 over a year earlier, compared with the increase of 2.8% […]

Factory activity in China shrank for a third straight month in July, official data showed Wednesday, a day after Beijing pledged more state support to boost activity in the country’s stuttering economy. A key measure of factory output, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.4 in July, down slightly from 49.5 in June, […]

China on Wednesday said it condemned the “assassination” of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Tehran, warning it could lead to further instability in the region. “We are highly concerned about the incident and firmly oppose and condemn the assassination,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. “We are deeply concerned that this […]