A child welfare organisation on Thursday urged the government to offer professionals guidance before a mandatory reporting mechanism for suspected child abuse comes into effect. Against Child Abuse (ACA) said it handled about 1,000 enquiries between April last year and March this year, of which 185 involved child abuse fears. The organisation said …

Chief Executive John Lee has confirmed that a free-trade agreement between Hong Kong and Peru will be signed this week. Lee arrived in Lima on Wednesday evening local time, ahead of the Apec Economic Leaders’ meeting. In a Facebook entry, the CE said he was greeted at the airport by Peruvian energy minister Romulo Mucho Mamani and Chinese Ambassado…

Toraji left Hong Kong relatively unscathed, with commuters saying the storm was not as bad as they expected. At Admiralty Station many people were making their way to work as the observatory downgraded the T8 signal to T3 at 10.20am. Hotel worker Jana said getting to work wasn't a hassle, but she thinks the T3 announcement could have come earlier. …

The Observatory issued the T3 signal in place of T8 at 10.20am on Thursday as Hong Kong gradually returns to normalcy with the departure of Tropical Storm Toraji. The T8 had been up for more than 11 hours, with the SAR largely unscathed as the storm skirted around 130km south of the city. Forecasters said the T3 would remain in force for most of th…

Trading in Hong Kong financial markets opened as usual on Thursday morning despite the T8 typhoon signal - the first time since authorities scrapped trading suspension under severe weather in September. The Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing said securities and derivatives markets will remain fully operational. The Hang Seng Index opened down 1…

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau is on a mission in Lima as he seeks cooperation and investment opportunities with other economies in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or Apec. On his first full day in the Peruvian capital, Yau held bilateral meetings with his Thai and Indonesian counterparts on the sidelines of the…

The Hong Kong Observatory on Thursday said it would consider downgrading the T8 storm signal between 10am and noon, as Tropical Storm Toraji starts slowly moving away after coming within 130 kilometres of the territory. Wind gusts in excess of 80 kilometres per hour were recorded at Waglan Island and Tate’s Cairn as the storm inched its way past Ho…

Gale force winds buffeted some areas of Hong Kong early on Thursday morning as Tropical Storm Toraji slowly made its way towards the Pearl River Estuary. The T8 storm signal was issued at 11.10pm on Wednesday and will remain in force until 10am on Thursday at the earliest. By 3am, Toraji was centred around 140 kilometres south-southeast of Hong Kon…

Executive Council convenor and New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip on Wednesday said her party had fruitful exchanges with British government officials, think tanks and business leaders during a recent visit to the UK. "The key takeaways are that they are very interested in Hong Kong's development – in particular the development of our financia…

The government is determined to build an inclusive work environment for ethnic minorities (EM), Undersecretary for Labour Ho Kai-ming said as he officiated at the opening ceremony of a jobs fair on Wednesday. Ho told reporters that the Labour Department has been assisting non-Chinese people in landing government jobs, such as relaxing language requ…

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) on Wednesday said it is actively communicating with the catering industry on ways to enhance awareness among staff about anti-discrimination measures. Paralympian Ho Yuen-kei, who uses a wheelchair, recently complained that she was denied entry into a restaurant due to limited space. The restaurant apologise…

Bus company KMB has applied to put fares up by 6.5 percent while Citybus is seeking increases of nearly 10 percent, sources have told RTHK. The firms' ticket prices last rose in June last year, by four to five percent. KMB said on Wednesday that it's facing a number of issues such as fewer passengers, a rise in operating costs and unstable fuel pri…

Test events for next year's National Games will get underway in Hong Kong this month, a government official said on Wednesday. Hong Kong will co-host the Games for the first time next November, alongside Guangdong and Macau. The eight competitive events to take place in the SAR are fencing, track cycling, rugby sevens, golf, triathlon, beach volley…

Peru is keen to deepen its strategic partnership with China when it hosts President Xi Jinping for the Apec summit in Lima this week, while the Peruvian Chinese community says they are highly regarded by the locals because of their law-abiding and hardworking nature. China is already Peru’s largest trading partner, accounting for 53 percent of all …

Everyone is encouraged to become a hero of goodwill as Operation Santa Claus 2024 kicked off on Tuesday. Co-organised by RTHK Radio 3 and the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the annual charity campaign has been holding fundraising projects for over 35 years. Speaking at the launch ceremony, acting director of broadcasting Christine Wai said the ca…

A workers' rights representative on Tuesday said systemic issues in the construction industry were to blame for a drop in workplace safety. Siu Sin-man from the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims told a press conference that more than 100 workers, 11 of them from the construction industry, have died on the job since the start…

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) says it will consider issuing a T3 on Wednesday afternoon as Severe Tropical Storm Toraji continues to move towards Hong Kong. The forecaster said it expects Toraji will skirt around 200 kilometres to the south of the territory on Thursday morning. "Depending on the intensity of Toraji at that time, the distance of i…

Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Tuesday expressed confidence that Hong Kong's exchange traded-fund (ETF) market will continue to grow and reinforce the SAR's status as an international financial centre. At a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Tracker Fund, Chan said the city has established itself as a leading ETF hub, offering a wide ra…

Former National People's Congress Standing Committee member Tam Yiu-chung on Tuesday called for stronger communication between the SAR government and the city’s business community, saying officials could do more to support local enterprises. Tam, who's now vice-president of the think tank Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said tha…

The top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has told business leaders to show their love for the SAR and take concrete action to promote the economy, Chief Executive John Lee said on Tuesday. Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, held exchanges with 29 business and industrial representatives during a seminar…

Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday called for mutual respect from the United States in its relationship with Hong Kong, saying bilateral trade is "beneficial" to both sides. He also said no country should interfere in the city's internal affairs, in response to a question before his weekly Executive Council meeting relating to potential policies t…

Chief Executive John Lee plans to garner support for Hong Kong's accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) during a high-level summit in Peru this week. Lee, who is leaving for Lima to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference (Apec), also said on Tuesday that he is going to meet with other leaders to promote…

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to take tougher measures against misuse of political funds after he was re-elected by parliament on Monday following a major loss in the polls last month by his governing coalition. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost a majority in the 465-seat Lower House, the…