Page 7 - Hong Kong

Hong Kong closes schools as torrential rain floods streets, subway station

Hong Kong on Friday closed schools and halted trading on the stock exchange as torrential rain lashed the city overnight, flooding streets in parts of the city as well as an underground subway station. Heavy rains poured down on the city from Thursday night, with the government warning that the weather would last till noon Friday. The Hong Kong Observatory said it recorded 158.1 mm (6.2 inches) of rain in the hour between 11 pm on Thursday and midnight, the highest recording since records began in 1884. The highest black rainstorm warning, the first in nearly two years, was issued on Thursday night and remained in place Friday morning, with residents urged to seek safe shelter if they were outdoors. Videos circulating on social media showed a flooded underground subway station, as well as water rushing down the stairs and escalators of the station. Other videos showed cars caught in muddy water on flooded streets, including in the city's cross-harbour tunnel that connects Hong Kon

Hong Kong locks down, stock market shut as city braces for typhoon Saola

China's central bank said on Friday it will cut the amount of foreign exchange that financial institutions must hold as reserves for first time this year

Hong Kong grind to near standstill as Super Typhoon Saola edges closer

Most of Hong Kong and some other areas in southern China ground to a near standstill Friday with classes and flights cancelled as Super Typhoon Saola edged closer to the region. The typhoon could make a landfall in parts of southern China and many workers were forced to stay at home. Pupils in various cities had the start of their school year postponed to next week. Hong Kong's stock market trading was suspended and nearly 200 outbound flights for Friday were cancelled in the key centre for regional business and travel. China Railway Guangzhou Group said nearly 4,000 trains were suspended between Thursday and Sunday, state media CCTV earlier reported. The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city's weather system, early Friday. Its forecast said Saola with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers (127 miles) per hour would be rather close to the financial hub on Friday and Saturday morning, skirting within 100km south of the ..

Hong Kong court upholds minimum sentences for breaching Beijing-imposed law

A jailed university student who pleaded guilty to inciting secession in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence in a court ruling Tuesday that is expected to set the bar for other cases brought under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong. Lui Sai-yu pleaded guilty in April 2022 and admitted that content on a Telegram channel he administered incited others to separate Hong Kong from China or alter the legal status of the city unlawfully. But his timely guilty plea did not get him a one-third reduction in the length of his imprisonment like in many other cases under Hong Kong's common law system because the security law imposed minimum jail terms for serious offences. Lui is one of the some 260 people who were arrested under the security law as Beijing tried to crush dissidents following the massive protests in 2019. The top court's ruling on his appeal may guide sentencings in other national security cases, including for the city's most prominent ..

Hong Kong activists partially win to quash convictions over 2019 protest

Seven of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy advocates had part of their convictions quashed on Monday over their roles in one of the biggest pro-democracy protests in 2019. Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper; Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the city's Democratic Party; and five former pro-democracy lawmakers, including barrister Margaret Ng, had been found guilty of organising and participating an unauthorised assembly. Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung and Cyd Ho were jailed between eight to 18 months. Martin Lee, an octogenarian nicknamed the city's Father of Democracy," Ng and Albert Ho were given suspended jail sentences. Their convictions two years ago and their sentences were widely seen as another blow to the city's flagging democracy movement under an unprecedented crackdown by Beijing and Hong Kong authorities. Judge Andrew Macrae said he and other judges of the Court of Appeal unanimously quashed their convictions over the charge of .

French Stuntman, Remi Lucidi, dies after falling from a 68-story building

French Stuntman, Remi Lucidi died after falling from a 68-story building in Hong Kong. The man was last seen alive at 7.38 pm when he tapped on the window of the penthouse, startling a maid inside

Asia's richest families now fuelling race for lucrative finance jobs

"The talent gap is growing and becoming a problem," said instructor Dixon Wong, ahead of his lesson at HKU Space, a continuing education school affiliated with Hong Kong University

Cost of expat pay packages jumps in Singapore, drops in Hong Kong

Total pay and benefits packages for average expat middle managers in Singapore rose to $258,762, mainly due to higher rental costs

Fans gather in Hong Kong to mark 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death

Bruce Lee, born as Lee Jun-fan in San Francisco in 1940, was extremely famous as the most powerful martial artist of the 20th century

Schools, stock market closed as Hong Kong braces for Typhoon Talim

Schools and the stock market were closed in Hong Kong on Monday as Typhoon Talim swept south of the city. As the financial hub braced for rainy and windy weather, more than 100 people sought refuge at temporary shelters. Some government and ferry services were halted and various events were postponed. The city's airport authority said 16 flights were cancelled. The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city's weather system, at 12:40am on Monday. It was the first signal of its kind hoisted this year. The weather forecaster expects Talim with maximum sustained winds reaching 140 kilometres per hour to skirt within 300 kilometres to the south-southwest of Hong Kong on Monday morning. China's National Meteorological Centre forecast the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal regions of neighbouring Guangdong province and Hainan province on Monday night before entering the Gulf of Tonkin and making another landfall in the Guangxi

Disney star and pop singer Coco Lee dies at 48 after attempting suicide

Chinese American pop singer Coco Lee dies at the age of 48 after attempting suicide on Sunday. She was the first Chinese American to sing at Oscars

Hong Kong's reopening brings scant gains for financial hub despite push

Hong Kong, led by former policeman and now Chief Executive John Lee, has been pushing hard to revive the city's reputation with high-level events

Air India cancels flight to Hong Kong due to 'suspected technical issue'

Taking off after a long delay for Hong Kong, an Air India flight carrying more than 200 passengers on Monday returned to the national capital due to a "suspected technical issue" and later, the flight was cancelled, according to officials. Many of the passengers were accommodated on another carrier's flight, some were provided hotel accommodation in the national capital, and a full refund was also offered to people who preferred that option, an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. An official in the know said the flight AI 314 was originally scheduled to operate to Hong Kong late on Sunday night, but due to some engineering issues in the Boeing 787 aircraft, the flight was rescheduled for Monday morning. Finally, the flight took off at around 7.40 am but returned in less than an hour to the national capital. There were more than 200 people on board, the official added. "Flight AI 314, operating Delhi to Hong Kong on July 3 air-returned to Delhi after a suspected technical ..

11 injured evacuating Cathay Pacific jet after aborted takeoff in Hong Kong

A Cathay Pacific jetliner aborted its takeoff at Hong Kong International Airport early Saturday, and 11 passengers were injured while evacuating the aircraft, the airline said. Flight CX880, bound for Los Angeles, returned to the gate after a technical issue caused the crew to abort the takeoff and a precautionary passenger evacuation was initiated, the airline said in a statement. It said those on board used five escape slides to exit the plane. Cathay Pacific gave no details on the problem. Public broadcaster RTHK reported one of the plane's tires had overheated, causing it to burst, citing police. The flight was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew members. We understand that 11 passengers are being treated at the hospital with injuries sustained during the evacuation process, Cathay Pacific said. Our priority is to look after all affected passengers and crew. By 10:30 a.m., nine of the injured passengers had been discharged from the hospital, the airline said later. Using a ..

Hong Kong protest song disappears from music streaming sites, social media

A popular Hong Kong protest song was no longer available on Wednesday on several major music streaming sites and social media platforms, after the government sought an injunction to ban the tune. Glory to Hong Kong rose to popularity during the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and became an unofficial protest anthem. In 2020, the government outlawed the protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times over secessionist and subversive connotations, and the song was widely considered to be banned in the city as its lyrics contained parts of the slogan. Hong Kong, once a bastion of free speech and expression, has come under tighter scrutiny by Beijing after the unrest in 2019. Since then, its political system has undergone a major overhaul to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office. More than 250 people have been arrested under a sweeping national security law passed in 2020 that critics say is aimed at suppressing dissent. The song rose to the top of Apple .

Hong Kong to ease entry rules for foreign workers to stem manpower crunch

When we have a serious labor crunch, if we do nothing about that, the entire community will be affected, Lee said, warning of risks to the city's economy and competitiveness

Mumbai costliest city to live for expatriates in India: Mercer Report

Hong Kong retained the top position as the costliest city for expats globally

Hong Kong journalist wins in rare court ruling upholding media freedom

An award-winning Hong Kong journalist won an appeal quashing her conviction related to work on her investigative documentary Monday in a rare court ruling upholding media freedom in the territory. Bao Choy was found guilty in April 2021 of deceiving the government by getting vehicle ownership records for journalistic purposes after she had declared in her online application that she would use the information for other traffic and transport related issues. The investigative journalist was trying to track down perpetrators of a mob attack on protesters and commuters inside a train station during the massive anti-government protests in 2019 for her documentary. Choy was fined 6,000 Hong Kong Dollars (USD 765) for two counts of making false statements at that time and called it a very dark day for all journalists in Hong Kong. That ruling also sparked outrage among local journalists over the city's shrinking press freedom. On Monday, judges of the city's top court unanimously ruled in

Would not recommend books featuring bad ideologies: Hong Kong leader

Hong Kong's leader said on Thursday the city's public libraries would not recommend books featuring bad ideologies" to residents after they pulled titles related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and certain political figures, further shrinking the city's freedoms. Chief Executive John Lee was addressing a lawmaker's question about dozens of books in public libraries that were taken down without a clear explanation. Those include publications about the bloody crackdown and others written by pro-democracy politicians and political commentators. Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China's rule in 1997, promising to retain its Western-style freedoms. But the city's cultural and creative sectors said the city's freedoms have shrunk since Beijing imposed a tough national security law following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. Critics said the book pulling would further undermine Hong Kong's reputation for having free access to information and freedom of ..

China opens new channel giving access to $3 trn swap market with Hong Kong

China has set a 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) daily limit for net trading under Swap Connect, and instruments eligible include swaps referencing the seven-day fixing repurchase rate