About 80 per cent of the foreign nationals granted working visas under Hong Kong’s General Employment Policy (GEP) last year were hired on short-term contracts, while nearly half of successful applicants earned less than HK$20,000 (US$2,564) a month. According to the latest Immigration Department data, 31,278 GEP working visas for foreigners were approved last year….
The United Kingdom warned against any attempt by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center on Friday, after reports that Israel was considering expelling U.K. officials. Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed three people from the same family as the county continues its attacks despite a monthlong ceasefire brokered…
Hong Kong has launched the first regional mediation and arbitration platform dedicated to medical and healthcare services as part of the city’s efforts to resolve local and cross-border disputes and strengthen its bid to become an international legal services hub. The Healthcare Dispute Resolution Centre, a non-profit organisation set up in 2024, announced its new…
Why is the idea of a planned economy anathema to so many people despite China’s success? And why do so many retain faith in market economies given the economic chaos much of the Western world is descending into? These questions have acquired a particular piquancy as Hong Kong embraces long-term planning for the first time,…
Hong Kong authorities have hit out at what they called “baseless slander and smearing” by Western countries over the conviction of the now-disbanded alliance behind the annual Tiananmen Square vigil and its leaders for inciting subversion, stressing the court’s verdict is “well-reasoned and sound”. The government issued a strongly worded statement on Saturday after the…
A ship was hit by a projectile early Tuesday as it was sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack highlights the ongoing danger of attempting to transit the waterway as Iran continues to throttle shipping…
I’m a little perplexed and bemused by the brouhaha surrounding Hong Kong’s decision to draft its first five-year plan, as if the sky is falling in around the city’s famed laissez-faire economy. Predictably, Yale University’s Stephen Roach (he of “Hong Kong is over” fame) warned in a commentary last month that “Chinese-style central planning” could…
Right-wing political leader Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election after telling supporters he would skip the UK tradition of joining all the candidates on stage when the final result was announced. In July, the 62-year-old former commodities trader announced he would stand down as an MP and recontest his parliamentary seat while under investigation…
For generations, China’s brightest science and technology minds followed a well-worn path: board a Westbound flight and claim a seat at a globally renowned university. That once-reliable trajectory has fractured. Escalating US-China tech competition and tightening immigration policies across the “big four” study destinations – Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States –…
LONDON (AP) — Large parts of western Europe will be sweltering once again on Thursday, with Britain poised for its fifth heat wave of an exceptional summer that is expected to be the hottest on record. Forecasters are predicting the mercury to rise as high as 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in central and southeast England,…