This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial. Bad weather prompted the Hong Kong Observatory to issue three rainstorm warnings within 90 minutes on Friday, with the red signal leading…
Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades was a result of a “systemic failure” in public policy, two fire engineering experts have said, citing the lack of strategies to fight flames on the facades of high-rise buildings and the prolonged use of combustible materials in “temporary” works. An independent committee inquiry heard on Thursday that last…
Hong 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…
Hong Kong’s equality watchdog is seeking about HK$250,000 (US$31,900) in compensation for the family of a domestic helper who was sacked by her employer in 2019 after being diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and later died. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched legal proceedings under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance in 2020 against Jamil Bushra for…
Hong Kong social welfare authorities have classified baby Danny as a “high-risk” child and recommended he remain in protective care, while Sweden has moved to permanently transfer custody of his elder sister Lily to a foster family, according to the children’s parents. The developments come ahead of a hearing at the West Kowloon Juvenile Court…
Hong Kong’s leader has announced that a public consultation for the final policy address of the current term will begin on Monday, with the exercise also set to gauge views on the city’s first five-year plan. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Thursday, after meeting tertiary education leaders to discuss the plan, that the…
Hong Kong police have arrested a woman after the discovery of a 1.5-metre-long (4.9 feet) crocodile on her balcony led to authorities finding about 100 more reptiles in her home, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said police officers and staff from the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) returned to the…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee will wrap up hearing testimony from experts on the factors behind Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, with the legal representatives to make their closing remarks in mid-July. Polytechnic University professors…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. A judge-led panel investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has resumed its public inquiry after a six-week break to hear expert evidence on the cause of the blaze that killed 168 people last…
Police have arrested four more suspects linked to a high-profile knifepoint robbery in Hong Kong following a joint cross-border operation, though the stolen gold bars remain missing. The force shared an update on its investigations on Monday, after a 36-year-old local man, carrying a backpack loaded with six gold bars weighing about 6kg (13.2lbs) and…