27 m. ago Welfare chief can not rule out deaths of 13 missing households in Hong Kong blaze

Thirteen households from the Hong Kong estate devastated by the inferno in Tai Po remain uncontactable more than 10 days on from the blaze, with the city’s labour and welfare chief not ruling out that all may have died in the fire. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the Wang Fuk Court blaze had prompted the government to consider expediting legal amendments to ban smoking at construction sites within around two months and to introduce a fixed penalty ticket system for the...

Events

63 m. ago Hong Kong blaze may have started on scaffolding between first and second floor

The fire that tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po and killed at least 159 may have started on scaffolding between the first and second floors of one of the blocks, according to preliminary investigations by Hong Kong fire services. The city’s fire services director also said a life-size replica of the floors in question might be built to help determine the exact ignition point. Andy Yeung Yan-kin revealed the preliminary findings in a group interview with mainland Chinese...

Politics

83 m. ago Hong Kong scaffolding net sample ignites in test despite passing safety standards

A scaffolding net sample from a large Hong Kong housing estate produced flaming droplets and ignited a fire in a lab experiment despite passing the authorities’ safety standards, a test commissioned by the Post has found. The findings have prompted calls from experts to review the standards set for the nets and improve the existing safety regulations targeting scaffolding on renovation sites. Soon after the inferno at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 26, the Post collected net samples from...

Politics

86 m. ago People's Insurance Company Group Of China To Donate HK$10 Million To Support People Affected By Hong Kong Fire

People's Insurance Company Group Of China To Donate HK$10 Million To Support People Affected By Hong Kong Fire  TradingView

Economics

2 h. ago Operation Santa Claus backs expansion of Hong Kong teen counselling project

A project offering counselling to teenagers with depression and anxiety in Hong Kong will be expanded next year to reach more students, after about half of those it has helped showed no further signs of mental health problems, according to a local charity. Mind HK, the charity running the three-year initiative, also offers psychological support to people affected by the inferno at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, where at least 159 people were killed and 79 others injured after a blaze swept through...

Politics

9 h. ago Asia in Turmoil as Air China, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and More Delay 937 Flights with 110 Cancellations, Stranding Passengers in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore

Asia in Turmoil as Air China, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and More Delay 937 Flights with 110 Cancellations, Stranding Passengers in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore  Travel And Tour World

Politics

9 h. ago How will the Tai Po fire affect voters in Hong Kong’s Legco election?

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Hongkongers head to polling stations to elect their new representatives in the legislature on Sunday amid a sombre atmosphere, with the city dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic fire in Tai Po that claimed at least 159 lives. Before the deadly blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court on...

Politics

9 h. ago Cast your ballots in Hong Kong’s Legco election ‘for reform’, John Lee urges

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Hongkongers head to polling stations to elect their new representatives in the legislature on Sunday amid a sombre atmosphere, with the city dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic fire in Tai Po that claimed at least 159 lives. Before the deadly blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court on...

Politics

9 h. ago Hong Kong’s Legco election turnout reaches 12.99% shortly after midday

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Hongkongers head to polling stations to elect their new representatives in the legislature on Sunday amid a sombre atmosphere, with the city dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic fire in Tai Po that claimed at least 159 lives. Before the deadly blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court on...

Politics

11 h. ago The story of Paris’ famed Chinese restaurant Davé and its Hong Kong

The story of Paris’ famed Chinese restaurant Davé and its Hong Kong-born owner  South China Morning Post

Politics

17 h. ago Hong Kong national security law provision used for first time to make arrest

Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of disclosing details of one of their probes, invoking a provision that covers prejudicing such investigations for the first time. Police said the National Security Department conducted an enforcement operation on Saturday, and the suspect was arrested. He was accused of violating the provision of “no prejudicing of investigation of offences endangering national security” under Section 88 of the Safeguarding...

Events

19 h. ago Hong Kong confirms 10th locally acquired case of chikungunya fever

Hong Kong has recorded one additional locally acquired case of chikungunya fever involving a woman who went hiking in Tsing Yi, bringing the total number of confirmed local cases of the mosquito-borne disease this year to 10. The Centre for Health Protection said on Saturday that it had recorded a new local case as of 5pm, involving a 67-year-old woman living in Kwai Tsing district. According to the centre, a preliminary investigation found that the woman developed joint pain and a fever on...

Politics

20 h. ago ‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you’: Beijing summons journalists in Hong Kong after fire

‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you’: Beijing summons journalists in Hong Kong after fire  The Guardian

Events

20 h. ago ‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you’: Hong Kong foreign media told not to cause trouble after fire

‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you’: Hong Kong foreign media told not to cause trouble after fire  The Guardian

Events

20 h. ago Hong Kong police arrest 2 over possession of suspected dangerous drugs

Hong Kong police have arrested a man and a woman for alleged possession of dangerous drugs after seizing suspected etomidate and methamphetamine from them. Officers from the force’s Kowloon West region noticed a suspicious pair at about 1am on Saturday while conducting an anti-crime patrol on Un Chau Street in Cheung Sha Wan and stopped them for questioning. Officers seized five e-cigarette cartridges suspected of containing etomidate and four packets of suspected methamphetamine weighing about...

Events

21 h. ago Beijing warns foreign media in Hong Kong over crossing ‘red lines’ during meeting

Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong has met representatives from foreign media outlets in the city and warned them against crossing “red lines”, following reports it said smeared the government’s fire relief efforts and attacked the Legislative Council election. According to sources, foreign media outlets that were requested to attend the meeting included Agence France-Presse, the Financial Times, The New York Times and Associated Press. Bloomberg News reported it also attended. The...

Events

21 h. ago Hong Kong fire aftermath: how victims are dealing with the psychological toll

More than a week after an inferno ravaged Wang Fuk Court, in Hong Kong’s Tai Po, claiming at least 159 lives, one mother remains in fear and agony that her daughter could be among the victims. The woman, surnamed Ng, said on Saturday that she feared she had lost her daughter after two bodies, pending DNA tests, were found in a rented flat in the estate. “My daughter’s cousin also lived there, but she had class that day and was not home,” said Ng, before breaking into tears. “She just graduated a...

Events

22 h. ago China’s National Security Office in Hong Kong Summons Foreign Journalists

China’s National Security Office in Hong Kong Summons Foreign Journalists  The New York Times

Events

24 h. ago Hong Kong police arrest man after Legco election posters vandalised

Hong Kong police have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of vandalising Legislative Council election campaign materials ahead of Sunday’s poll. Police said on Saturday they were alerted at 8.53am that five posters related to the election at No 30 Mei Tin Road in Tai Wai had allegedly been destroyed. After a preliminary investigation, the man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, police said. The force’s Sha Tin division is following up on the case, according to the force. It is an...

Events

24 h. ago 10 hurt in collision between KMB bus, rubbish truck and taxi in Hong Kong

Ten people were injured in a collision between a double-decker KMB bus, a rubbish truck and a taxi in Kwai Chung on Saturday. Police said the drivers of all three vehicles and seven bus passengers sustained injuries. According to the force, the incident occurred at 298 Kwai Shing Circuit and was reported to authorities by the bus driver at 2.57pm. A police spokesman said that those hurt in the incident had sustained light injuries, with the driver of the rubbish truck taken to Yan Chai Hospital...

Transport