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BUSINESSJun 27Growth agenda: Hong Kong vows stronger exchange with reforms, bond futures and gold pushHong Kong is pressing ahead with an overhaul of listing rules and the launch of new product initiatives, the city’s deputy finance chief said on Friday as the bourse operator marked 26 years as a publicly traded company. Speaking at the anniversary ceremony of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun outlined reforms under review, including optimising weighted voting rights, easing secondary listings by overseas issuers, and expanding flexibility...South China Morning Post
POLITICSJun 26Hong Kong civil service chief vows ‘attractive’ pay rise once economy improvesHong Kong’s civil service chief has pledged to deliver a “reasonable and attractive” pay adjustment once the economy and public finances improve, following the legislature’s approval of a flat 2 per cent pay rise for civil servants this year. The Legislative Council’s finance committee on Friday scrutinised HK$6 billion (US$765 million) in spending for the annual pay adjustment for civil servants and associated provisions for subvented organisations, after an earlier decision by the city’s top...South China Morning Post
WORLDJun 26Hong Kong moves to curb flow of high liquid content waste in landfillsHong Kong is seeking to curb the flow of bulk high liquid content waste, such as expired drinks, personal care products and discarded detergents, into landfills, a move conservationists say will protect local waters and coastlines from the risk of toxic leakage. While academics and green groups welcomed the move, the retail sector expressed concern that the new requirement might result in higher recycling and manpower costs that could ultimately be passed on to consumers. The Environmental...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 26Hong Kong power firms to give residential customers rebates as bills soarHong Kong’s two major electricity suppliers will provide rebates to eligible households between August and October to reduce their bills and ease financial pressure after the US-Israel war on Iran pushed up energy prices. HK Electric said on Friday that it would provide a special subsidy of 8 HK cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for three consecutive months to residential customers with a monthly electricity consumption of 450 kWh or less. A spokesman said the initiative would benefit around half of...South China Morning Post
CYBERJun 26Hong Kong, mainland police smash HK$16.8 million cross-border phishing syndicateHong Kong police and mainland authorities have smashed a cross-border phishing syndicate that swindled victims out of HK$16.8 million (US$2.14 million) by impersonating the Water Supplies Department, resulting in 15 arrests between March and June. The joint enforcement action, code-named Operation Boldhawk, targeted a criminal chain that sent malicious text messages to residents in the city, Superintendent Hui Yee-wai of the police cyber security and technology crime bureau said on Friday. “This...South China Morning Post
POLITICSJun 26Hong Kong bookshop owners bailed after arrests on suspicion of seditionThe owners of an independent Hong Kong bookshop have been released on bail two days after being arrested by national security police on suspicion of sedition and money laundering, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source familiar with the matter said the two owners of Hunter Bookstore – former district councillor for the now-disbanded Civic Party, Leticia Wong Man‑huen, 33, and a 32-year-old local man – were released from Sham Shui Po police station at about 4.45pm on Friday and must...South China Morning Post
WORLDJun 26Hong Kong court places baby Danny in Social Welfare Department care for 3 yearsA Hong Kong court has granted the guardianship of home-born baby Danny to social welfare authorities for three years after his parents were earlier arrested for alleged child neglect. Danny’s father, Tsang Wai-bong, revealed on Friday that their two-month-old son would be under the Social Welfare Department’s care after the Juvenile Court granted the authorities’ application for a protection order at a closed-door hearing. Tsang and his partner Kwan Pui-sin, who previously failed to register...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 26Hong Kong reports 36% rise in FDI inflows so far this year, InvestHK data showsHong Kong continued to draw US and European firms to expand their businesses in the city in the first half of this year, the latest data shows, adding new momentum to its superconnector role. A total of 413 companies either set up local entities or expanded their businesses in Hong Kong in the first six months of 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent, government investment promotion agency InvestHK said on Thursday. “[The firms] are expected to bring in over HK$53 billion...South China Morning Post
WORLDJun 26Hong Kong beautician pleads guilty to luring 2 women into Myanmar scam factorySouth China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Woman dead after fire at Hong Kong flat, 3 others hospitalisedA 50-year-old woman has died in the wake of a fire at a Hong Kong flat, with three others hospitalised. Police said the fire broke out at Valiant Court in Ho Man Tin at around 10.04am on Friday. Fire services were immediately deployed to the scene and the blaze was reportedly extinguished soon thereafter. The force said three women and a man were rescued from the building. They were rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital in nearby Yau Ma Tei but one of the women, aged 50, was later pronounced dead. The...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 26CK Asset sells penthouse in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels for US$48.5m, sets pricing benchmarkA penthouse at CK Asset Holdings’ luxury residential project in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels has been sold via tender for HK$380.77 million (US$48.5 million), according to a statement from the flagship property developer of tycoon Li Ka-shing, underscoring the rebound in the city’s high-end residential segment. Unit 10 on the 20th floor of 21 Borrett Road in the upscale district in Central fetched HK$126,000 per square foot, the highest price for the development and for new home sales this year,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Hong Kong police arrest minibus driver after cyclist killed in collisionHong Kong police have arrested a minibus driver for dangerous driving after his vehicle fatally hit a cyclist in North district. Police received a report of the incident in Ta Kwu Ling at 6.27am on Friday. Emergency personnel found the man unconscious at the scene, having sustained serious head injuries. He was taken to North District Hospital in Sheung Shui, where he was pronounced dead at 6.59am. The 74-year-old minibus driver was travelling along Man Kam To Road towards Sheung Shui at the...South China Morning Post
POLITICSJun 26Hong Kong to raise share of lay members in Medical Council from 25% to 31%Hong Kong authorities have proposed overhauling the city’s medical watchdog by raising the proportion of lay members to more than a third and requiring the time frame for handling complaints to be made public, which may help slash the inquiry process from 42 to 29 months. Unveiling the proposed amendments to the Medical Registration Ordinance on Friday, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the reform aimed to foster more diverse participation in the city’s Medical Council. “We aim to maintain...South China Morning Post
POLITICSJun 26Why having more foreign-trained doctors in Hong Kong won’t threaten local onesAs Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Allowing all doctors without permanent residency to work in Hong Kong will not threaten the careers of local practitioners, the health minister has said as he defended a proposal to revamp the medical registration regime. In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERBREAKINGJun 26Hong Kong issues red rainstorm warning as education authorities suspend classesSouth China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Worker dies after being run over by construction vehicle at Hong Kong sports groundHong Kong’s labour authorities are investigating a fatal accident in which a worker died after being run over by a construction vehicle at a sports ground. Police received a report at about 8.58am on Friday that a man had been hit by a vehicle at Kowloon Bay Sports Ground at Kai Lok Street and was trapped beneath it on the running track. The victim’s colleague reported the incident to emergency services. Firefighters arrived to free the victim, but he was pronounced dead at the scene after...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 26Hong Kong’s big economic dreams: what’s the reality and where do the poor fit in?In the first of a two-part series on the economy as Hong Kong marks 29 years since its return to Chinese rule, Denise Tsang and Vivian Au look at efforts at transformation, including the city’s bet on the Northern Metropolis, and the challenges ahead. Molly Lam lives alone in a public housing flat in Tsuen Wan but fear is a constant companion as she worries about losing her job. The restaurant worker in her sixties has seen how her company is shrinking its operations amid an industry...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJun 26Hong Kong’s own drug regulator pushes ahead with hiring, seeks WHO recognitionAs Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong is on a global talent hunt for its own drug approval body which is expected to be launched by the fourth quarter of this year as the city bids to achieve its international biomedical hub ambitions, the city’s health minister has revealed. In an exclusive interview with...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 25IPO Connect pitched as Hong Kong’s next move to boost finance hub role. But hurdles loomHong Kong is seizing every opportunity to consolidate its role as a global financial centre, leveraging unique advantages and national strategies. This piece, the second in a miniseries focusing on the city’s financial industry ahead of the handover anniversary, explores the likelihood of an “IPO Connect” that could inject much-needed liquidity into the market and deepen international investors’ access to top-tier China assets. At every summer’s Lujiazui Forum, attended by China’s top financial...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSJun 25HKEX pushes deeper into index business as AI reshapes Hong Kong marketHong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is expanding into the index business with plans to launch more proprietary benchmarks and related investment products, as traditional market gauges have lagged regional peers during the artificial intelligence-driven technology rally. The operator of Hong Kong’s stock exchange will debut the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking its HKEX Tech 100 Index on Friday. The index, launched on December 9, tracks the 100 largest technology companies listed in...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHJun 25Why Hong Kong’s bilingualism is uniquely indispensable in the AI eraLast week, while preparing a lecture on the visual culture of the Global South, I caught Google’s Gemini in a double hallucination. Cross-referencing a historical event between English and Chinese data sets, I found the English AI to be authoritative but inventing citations. In Chinese, the fabrications vanished but so did global context, replaced by an insular perspective. Disturbingly, the system cloaked Chinese content in English citations, creating a deceptive authenticity that made the...South China Morning Post
WORLDJun 25Hong Kong porn star Erena So arrested over promoting overseas gambling websiteHong Kong police have arrested model and porn actress Erena So Hoi‑lam on suspicion of promoting or facilitating bookmaking after she appeared in advertising videos for an overseas gambling website. Officers from the force’s West Kowloon regional crime unit detained So in Sham Shui Po on Thursday, saying they had uncovered an illegal betting website that had hired local personalities as brand ambassadors to attract gamblers. So was later released on bail and must report back to police in late...South China Morning Post
WORLDJun 25Hong Kong is world’s most unequal society for wealth distribution, study findsHong Kong has become the world’s most unequal society in terms of wealth distribution, a study has found, as the core drivers of income inequality in the city have shifted from wage disparities to capital concentration, reducing social mobility. The findings of the study, which analysed the evolution of income and wealth inequality in the city between 1981 and 2021, were presented by Yang Li, a research fellow at the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics, during a seminar hosted...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 25Hong Kong police bomb squad dispatched to check suspicious object in Quarry BayHong Kong police’s bomb squad has been called in to investigate a suspicious object discovered in Quarry Bay, with a source saying it was likely to be “mud, a rock or concrete”. The force was alerted at 4.52pm on Thursday to a suspicious object discovered on Pan Hoi Street in Quarry Bay. “The explosive ordnance disposal bureau has been summoned to investigate the object,” a spokesman said. A source said the object was not a bomb. “It could be mud, a rock or concrete - something of no value,” the...South China Morning Post