Category: Local

Local

Co-location challenge dismissed by Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a lower court’s ruling that the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon express rail station is constitutional, dismissing an appeal from former lawmakers and activists. Disqualified legislators Leung Kwok-hung and Sixtus Leung, and activists Henderick Lui and Kwok Cheuk-kin, had lodged the appeal...
Local

Lawmakers rail against unvaccinated medical workers

Lawmakers on Friday complained to Health Secretary Sophia Chan about the low inoculation rate among medical workers, saying their reluctance to get vaccinated was “enraging” and describing the need for them to undergo regular tests instead as a waste of public money. Health officials had told the legislators that more...
Local

Activists arrested over ‘unauthorised assembly call’

Police on Friday said they had arrested two people on suspicion of promoting an unauthorised assembly and inciting others to join an unlawful assembly, in a case believed to be related to the anniversary of a major 2019 protest. The force identified those arrested as a 20-year-old man surnamed Wong...
Local

Censors to ban films that endanger national security

Hong Kong's film censors have been ordered to ban any movies deemed to be supporting or glorifying acts that could endanger national security. The government has gazetted changes to the Film Censorship Ordinance to enable the required changes, saying this is part of its duty under the Beijing-imposed national security...
Local

‘Jabs can’t be sole basis for full class resumption’

A secondary school principal has questioned the government's plan to let schools resume full-day classes if at least 70 percent of teachers and pupils get vaccinated against Covid, on the day appointments open for children as young as 12 to book BioNTech jabs. With schoolchildren allowed to get their first...
Local

US consul hits out over ‘foreign forces’ crackdown

The top US diplomat in Hong Kong said the imposition of the national security law had created an "atmosphere of coercion" that threatens both the SAR's freedoms and its standing as an international business hub. In unusually strident remarks this week, US Consul-General Hanscom Smith called it "appalling" that Beijing's...
Local

Film censorship guidelines ‘formalise red lines’

An academic said on Friday that new guidelines for film censors simply formalise “red lines” that have become increasingly apparent in Hong Kong. The government announced earlier on Friday that film censors will need to ban films that are deemed to be supporting or glorifying acts that could endanger national...
Local

Next Digital loses court bid over seized documents

Next Digital has lost its bid for a court order to get back documents seized by the police during their national security investigation into the company's founder Jimmy Lai. Scores of officers descended on the company's offices in Tseung Kwan O last August after the pro-democracy media tycoon was arrested...
Local

Children as young as 12 can book jabs from Friday

The government has announced that children as young as 12 will be able to book an appointment for the BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from Friday, with the first shots to be administered three days later. Officials also announced on Thursday that social distancing restrictions could be relaxed at schools where a...
Local

HK records two new Covid cases, both from overseas

Health officials reported two new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, with both patients believed to have brought the virus into Hong Kong with them from abroad. A 52-year-old man who flew in from Mauritania on Sunday was found to have the virus while in quarantine at a hotel in Tai Kok...
Local

Customs arrest four in HK$120m sea smuggling bust

Customs officers say they have seized goods worth HK$120 million in their biggest ever bust of a speedboat smuggling operation. Items including luxury bags and parts from endangered animals were being loaded onto a boat near Lau Fau Shan last Wednesday when Customs took action. The smugglers at the scene...
Local

Post-vaccination antibody tests unnecessary: experts

Medical experts have told RTHK that it is unnecessary for the general public who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to measure their immunity level by purchasing antibody tests – calling them a waste of money and warning that the results could be misleading. So-called vaccine efficacy tests can cost up...
Local

Firms urged to offer body checks instead of prizes

A patients' rights activist on Thursday urged Hong Kong businesses to help pay for grassroots people to have body checks to see whether they are healthy enough to receive Covid-19 jabs. Alex Lam, who chairs the group Hong Kong Patients' Voices, told an RTHK programme that he’s worried people who...
Local

Government hits out at UK report on Hong Kong

The government on Friday hit out at remarks contained in the UK's latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong, describing them as inaccurate. The UK report criticised Beijing's overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system, prosecution decisions made by the Department of Justice, and the national security law - which was imposed...
Local

EU’s claims on election overhaul ‘unfounded’: govt

The Hong Kong government on Thursday hit back at the European Union, saying the bloc had made what it called "unfounded accusations" on Beijing's overhaul of the SAR's political system. Earlier in the day, the EU released a statement denouncing the sweeping changes as a breach by China of its...
Local

Experts propose Grade 1 status for three reservoirs

The Antiquities Advisory Board on Thursday proposed classifying three century-old reservoirs around the Mid-Levels and the Peak as Grade 1 historic buildings, adding that creative ways are needed to publicise them as members of the public won’t have a chance to visit the operating cisterns. Board members said the underground...
Local

RTHK show purge affecting teaching plans: survey

The Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) appealed to RTHK on Wednesday to reinstate programmes it has deleted from the internet, saying the purge has had an impact on teaching plans. Around 85 percent of respondents to a PTU survey of 586 primary and secondary school teachers said they had used RTHK...
Local

Sung Wong Toi station to feature unearthed relics

The MTR Corporation said on Wednesday that archaeological discoveries unearthed during the construction of the new Sung Wong Toi station on the Tuen Ma line will eventually be displayed at the station, but one district councillor said he suspects the vast majority of relics that were uncovered won’t be exhibited...
Local

Appeal for Gay Games help riles up some lawmakers

An appeal for the government to do more to help the planned staging of the Gay Games in Hong Kong next year has provoked a strong reaction from some lawmakers, with one saying the pro-LGBTQ event would divide society and another saying it would “bring dirty money” to the city....
Close