Tag: government

Local

No need to completely close border yet: Sophia Chan

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, said on Tuesday that the government may require inbound travellers to stay longer at quarantine camps upon arrival to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, but said there’s no need to close the border completely at the moment. Chan made the...
Local

Retired police officer jailed over home loan fraud

A retired police superintendent was on Monday sentenced by the District Court to a year and a half in prison for deceiving the government and a bank into granting him housing and mortgage loans worth about HK$6 million. Lung Siu-chuen, 55, was earlier convicted of two counts of fraud after...
Local

Public views sought over changes to copyright law

The government has revived a plan to reform copyright law, five years after it was withdrawn amid filibustering in the legislature and opposition from some concern groups. Officials on Wednesday launched a three-month public consultation exercise on the latest proposals. The government said it is time to change the law...
Local

Restaurants welcome mandatory app: federation chief

The president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants said on Wednesday that the sector largely supports mandatory use of the Covid location-recording app. Simon Wong made the comments on RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme, a day after the administration confirmed that the LeaveHomeSafe app would be compulsory at all...
Global

Romania’s Ciuca designated PM to defuse crisis

Romanian Prime Minister-designate Nicolae Ciuca addresses the media in Bucharest, on Oct 21, 2021. (ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI / AFP) BUCHAREST - Romania's centrist Liberals and the leftist Social Democrats finalized their grand coalition on Monday and the country's president nominated retired army general Nicolae Ciuca as prime minister, hoping to end...
Local

Mainland Covid experts in SAR for four-day visit

A team of mainland experts on epidemics arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday for a four-day visit to study the SAR's measures to tackle the pandemic. The visit was organised by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the National Health Commission. The group attended...
Local

US condemned over NSL report

The Hong Kong government has rejected a US report which said the National Security Law (NSL) had eroded the SAR's judicial independence and curtailed freedoms. The report by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission also criticised the overhaul of the electoral system, and accused Beijing of having "mainlandised"...
Local

Children as young as three can take Sinovac: advisers

Government expert advisers have agreed to recommend lowering the age limit for the Sinovac vaccine to children as young as three years-old. The Advisory Panel on Covid-19 Vaccines made the recommendation after meeting to discuss the safety and efficacy of administering the Sinovac and BioNTech vaccines to younger children. A...
ACN Newswire

Money, Inflation, and Debt

Washington, D.C., Nov 11, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Congress just passed a $1.2 trillion spending package, aimed at mending the US roads and transport infrastructure.Democrats claim the bill pays for itself through a variety of sources without raising taxes. But the Congressional Budget Office reported that the...
Local

Budget deficit could be smaller than expected: FS

Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Sunday that this year’s budget deficit will likely be much smaller than the original estimate he made at the start of the year, due to recovery in the economy, better-than-expected land sales and other sources of revenues. Chan had in February predicted a budget...
Local

CE eyes February for fuller border reopening

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday said she is hopeful of a "larger scale" reopening of the border in February next year. She told a forum this would allow the SAR government to organise some big events, including a seminar to mark the third anniversary of Beijing's outline development plan...
Local

Reach out to people for Covid booster shots: expert

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung said on Thursday that the government should actively contact people eligible for a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccines to make sure they know booster shots are now available. Speaking on an RTHK programme, Ho said people may not know whether they belong...
Local

Govt working on changes to LeaveHomeSafe app

The government says it is studying various ways to enhance its LeaveHomeSafe Covid app, including alternatives to users scanning QR codes to record their entry into various buildings. Deputy Government Chief Information Officer Tony Wong said on Wednesday that the authorities want to simplify the app to make it easier...
Local

People will sleep better in my metropolis: Carrie Lam

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Wednesday that she hopes her planned Northern Metropolis will give residents more time to spend with their families and more quality sleep. In a speech to the Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, Lam said the government will try to ensure that...
Local

Quarantine exemptions to disappear from Nov 12

The government has confirmed that it will end Covid quarantine exemptions for all but a handful of groups from November 12, in a bid to resume quarantine-free travel with the mainland as quickly as possible. At the moment some travellers from overseas, such as senior finance executives, can avoid the...
Local

New Covid app rule sparks rush for cheap phones

Some smartphone retailers said on Monday they had sold out of cheaper models as customers rushed to buy mobiles to comply with a new rule making use of the LeaveHomeSafe app compulsory at government buildings. A shopkeeper surnamed Chan in Mong Kok's Sin Tat Plaza said she sold around 20...
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