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Hong Kong has experienced its hottest October since records began in 1884, with the city’s Observatory recording an average temperature of 27.3 degrees Celsius for the month, 1.6 degrees higher than normal. “Mainly attributable to the weaker northeast monsoon over southern China, October 2024 was much warmer than usual in Hong Kong,” the Observatory said […]

Hong Kong will impose security screenings in magistrate court buildings, the Judiciary has said following a man’s attempted knife attack on a judge in a courtroom. The Judiciary said in a statement on Monday night that it would strengthen security measures from Tuesday, including by introducing screenings and increasing manpower, in magistrate courts. Police will […]

A Taiwanese radio host and his wife have been charged with receiving $2.3 million from “overseas sources” including China in exchange for attempting to influence the island’s elections and referendums. The man surnamed Chang and the woman surnamed Hung were charged Monday with violating Taiwan’s anti-infiltration law, the district prosecutors’ office in southern Chiayi city […]

A Hong Kong legal body has issued warning letters to lawyers linked to a defunct fund set up to help protesters arrested during the 2019 protests. In a Chinese statement on Monday, Law Society of Hong Kong President Roden Tong said the group had completed an investigation into 16 lawyers in relation to the 612 […]

Fewer Hong Kong primary school students have reached basic levels in Chinese, English and maths for the second consecutive year, according to a citywide assessment, with the figures dropping to a 20-year low. The Education Bureau on Monday said it had received the 2024 Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) report from the Hong Kong Examinations and […]

The Hong Kong government should display baby photos in its offices to create an “atmosphere” that would encourage civil servants to have children, a lawmaker has suggested. Hong Kong authorities should combat the city’s record-low birth rate by boosting the birth-giving sentiment among government employees, legislator Bill Tang said at the Subcommittee to Study Population […]

A man has been arrested after charging towards a magistrate in a Hong Kong courtroom while wielding a knife. Police said on Monday that the incident took place at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts in the morning, when a man seated in the public gallery in an eighth-floor courtroom charged towards the magistrate while taking […]

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will travel to key ally China this week, both countries said Monday, in his first known trip there since seizing power in a 2021 coup. China is a major ally and arms supplier of the junta and analysts say Beijing also maintains ties with Myanmar ethnic armed groups which […]

By Mary Yang China’s top lawmakers gathered Monday to hash out a major stimulus package that analysts say could grow even bigger if former US president Donald Trump wins the White House this week. Beijing has in recent months heeded calls to step up support for the economy after years of inaction, announcing a raft […]

Former lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun has revealed a cancer diagnosis after undergoing surgery to remove half of his stomach. The pro-democracy ex-lawmaker, who was convicted of public nuisance-related charges related to the 2014 Umbrella Movement and jailed for eight months in April 2019, revealed his stomach cancer diagnosis on Sunday. In a social media post, the […]

Three Hong Kong men have been jailed for 28 days over firing water guns at police and reporters from local broadcaster TVB during a Thai water festival last year. A magistrate judge sentenced Tsang Wai-shing, Ip Ka-kin and Yuen Tsz-kin at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court on Friday. They were earlier found guilty of assaulting a […]

Tens of thousands of Tung Chung residents were left without water on Sunday night, with the Water Supplies Department (WSD) racing to fix a 1.2 metre diameter burst pipe. The supply is expected to resume on Monday morning. At least ten housing estates, hotels and a hospital were affected as a section of Lantau’s Cheung […]

The chief of Hong Kong’s correctional services has said the department would not be intimidated by threats of violence, after an officer was attacked outside a prison by a group of men with triad links. Commissioner of Correctional Services Wong Kwok-hing on Sunday visited a prison officer who had been hospitalised after being attacked outside […]

Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out “long-distance” training flights. China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island. The Chinese aircraft were spotted from […]

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will visit China next week, Beijing said Friday. The visit will take place from Monday to Thursday, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing. Anwar was elected in 2022 and has visited China twice since then, describing the country as “a great friend” as he […]

Little more than six months since Hong Kong passed new security legislation, known locally as Article 23, the courts heard the first legal challenge brought against it by an inmate who was denied early release from prison under its provisions. Also in October, the 52nd month since Beijing’s national security law took effect in Hong […]

The tax cuts on “premium liquor” have some claim to be the most inconsequential part of the recent policy speech by Hong Kong’s leader. Liquor in this context means the hard stuff: whisky, gin, etc. Premium means the most expensive versions of the hard stuff. Even the government announcement admitted that this would only be […]

Beijing hopes the US will maintain “consistency” in its climate policy and continue bilateral cooperation regardless of next week’s election result, a Chinese official said Friday. The two countries have expanded climate policy cooperation since Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in San Francisco nearly a year ago. But the US […]

Most Hong Kong restaurants have made the switch to green alternatives since a ban on single-use plastics came into force last month. And while some have complained of extra costs, others have found unexpected savings in ditching disposable tableware. Under the first phase of the ban, which officially took effect on October 22 after a […]

By Jing Xuan Teng Dressed in a pristine white knit top, Robyn Qiu cut an incongruous figure in her parents’ dusty, hangar-like metal hardware factory in eastern China as she gestured excitedly while an assistant filmed her on a smartphone. The 29-year-old is one of many second-generation factory owners fighting to elevate the country’s manufacturing […]

Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris in Taiwan on Friday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the island in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing wind speeds of 184 kilometres an hour (114 miles per hour) when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting […]

Hongkongers who do not want children cited the city’s education system and political situation as among the main reasons behind their decision, a survey has found, as the government seeks to raise the fertility rate. According to World Bank data in 2022, each Hong Kong couple had 0.7 children on average, making its birth rate […]

A Hong Kong man has been jailed for two years for inciting violence against the police by leaving anonymous comments online following the stabbing of a police officer on the city’s Handover anniversary in 2021. Deputy District Judge Amy Chan put Yung Cheong-ming, 25, behind bars on Friday, after convicting him at an earlier hearing […]

The Hong Kong government has been urged to consider suspending a migrant worker scheme a year after it was expanded to more job sectors. Six members of the Labour Advisory Board, a non-statutory body that advises authorities on labour issues, urged the labour and welfare chief Chris Sun to introduce a mechanism that would allow the […]