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SCI & TECH4d agoSpirit of Hong Kong Awards: explorer inspires youth through glacial field tripsWhen Wilson Cheung took Hong Kong secondary school students into the Swiss Alps this summer, terrain he had once been able to reach had become inaccessible. Glacier melt and thawing ground had destabilised parts of the mountain, while rockfall made fieldwork more hazardous. Only weeks earlier, Cheung had completed a roughly 1,700km (1,056-mile) scientific snowkite traverse across Greenland in 2026. The journey took him across the ice sheet while he continued collecting data in one of the world’s...South China Morning Post
BUSINESS4d agoWorker prospects in Hong Kong hair, beauty sector not cut and dried amid staff shortagesHongkonger Terrence Wu Chung-ting puts on an apron, picks up a comb and massages hair essence into a client’s scalp during a treatment for hair loss. But eight years ago, Wu’s job could not have been any more different. A finance graduate from one of the city’s top universities, he was then a marketer for beauty products and focused on sales. But when he saw untapped potential in Hong Kong’s hairdressing industry, he boldly switched careers from a white-collar to a blue-collar profession,...South China Morning Post
WORLD4d agoSpirit of Hong Kong Awards: Blind musician with rare birth disease plays her heart outA year after a seven-hour surgery in Hong Kong in 2025, Cassie Li Pui-ying was on stage at Queen Elizabeth Stadium, playing the drums before an audience of more than 2,500 people. She heard the applause but could not see who it came from. That March night was organised by Live Theatre, which her mother Marine Mak also helps run. Li sang, spoke and played the drums. The group gives visually impaired students a stage to perform on. Despite having been through several serious health scares, what...South China Morning Post
DISASTER4d agoLack of heat action plan leaves Hong Kong’s vulnerable residents at risk, experts warnEnvironmentalists and academics have criticised the omission of a systemic heat-health action plan in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and latest policy address, warning that relying on “common sense” is failing to protect vulnerable residents from rising temperatures. Their comments came as new research from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) found that extreme heat may have contributed to as many as 3,238 excess deaths in the city over the past decade. In response to the South China Morning...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECH4d agoNew Taipei-Hong Kong subsea route opened to cut risk and meet AI demandOne of the world’s biggest network service providers has opened a new subsea route between Taipei and Hong Kong to strengthen the system against repeated underwater cable disruptions around the island. Britain-headquartered RETN said the new route would take its total to six serving Taiwan: four connecting Taipei and Hong Kong, and two linking Taipei and Tokyo. “Like many island economies, Taiwan’s international connectivity relies heavily on subsea cables, which creates exposure to risks such...South China Morning Post
POLITICS4d agoHong Kong lawmakers back 5-year plan as firms urged to align with blueprintHong Kong’s legislature has passed motions supporting the city’s first five-year plan and thanking Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu for his latest policy address, while Beijing’s top representative in the city urged mainland Chinese enterprises to align themselves with the government’s blueprint. At the close of a three-day Legislative Council debate on Friday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki thanked lawmakers for their suggestions, saying they would help improve governance. “The process of...South China Morning Post
BUSINESS4d agoHong Kong outlines new liquidity reforms as US market rally pulls funds awayHong Kong’s securities watchdog is renewing its push to boost market liquidity, setting out further reforms as emerging markets grapple with capital outflow pressure amid a rally in US equities and a strengthening dollar. Speaking at a conference organised by the Asian Securities & Financial Markets Association (Asifma) on Friday, Julia Leung, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), outlined measures ranging from extended trading hours and shorter settlement cycles to cross-market...South China Morning Post
BUSINESS4d agoDFI Retail Group says it will continue to invest in Hong Kong supermarketsHong Kong-headquartered DFI Retail Group, which owns and operates the city’s largest supermarket network, says it will continue to invest in new stores even though consumers remain cautious. Darren Chan, the group’s managing director for food in Hong Kong and Macau, said DFI – whose supermarket chains include Wellcome and Market Place in Hong Kong – was also “looking for opportunities to strengthen” its network where there was “clear customer demand and attractive long-term returns”. “We invest...South China Morning Post
POLITICS4d agoBessent may skip Apec in Hong Kong to focus on Trump’s Shenzhen visit, sources sayUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may skip a meeting of Apec finance ministers in Hong Kong later this month to focus on preparing for President Donald Trump’s historic visit to Shenzhen in November, sources told the South China Morning Post. Bessent is expected to meet Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng in Shenzhen ahead of Trump’s visit – when Trump will again hold talks with President Xi Jinping – as the two sides look to secure a longer extension of the bilateral trade truce, which is due to...South China Morning Post
POLITICS4d agoLegal arguments delay trial over murder of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi againThe murder trial of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has been delayed again while the court addresses legal issues raised by lawyers in the high-profile case. Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith told the nine-member jury on Friday that the hearing would resume on Monday, once the legal arguments had concluded. Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, had been expected to face cross-examination by counsel for Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, on the fifth day of her testimony. He is standing...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECH5d agoSpirit of Hong Kong Awards: scientist’s soybean research pushes agricultural frontierWhen Professor Lam Hon-ming returned to Hong Kong after completing postdoctoral work in the United States in 1997, he was fixated on one question: how can science help feed the country and the world? He found that soybeans offered part of the answer. In addition to its nutritional value, the crop can fix nitrogen levels in the soil, reducing reliance on chemical fertiliser, and some varieties can be bred to tolerate drought and salinity. Lam went on to spend almost three decades studying soybean...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong needs tougher inspection regime, experts say after CK Asset building fiascoLawmakers and engineering sector leaders have called for a review of Hong Kong’s building inspection mechanism and a blacklist to bar errant contractors from government tenders, after Hong Kong’s first privately built “starter homes” project hit a snag over shoddy steel work. The government should review the inspection regime and increase its supervisory manpower, lawmakers and engineers said on Friday, calling for inspectors to be stationed at construction sites of private-sector-built...South China Morning Post
HEALTH5d agoSpirit of Hong Kong Awards: youth-led charity supports young cancer patientsTimothy Chan Chi-fung was 19 when a testicular tumour sent him into a Hong Kong hospital system largely designed for children or much older adults. Neither door quite fitted. His experience eventually led him to found Youth Cancer Hong Kong, a contribution that has earned him a place as a finalist in the community category of this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards. The awards, co-organised by Sino Group and the South China Morning Post, were launched in 2013 to recognise individuals and...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECH5d agoSpirit of Hong Kong Awards: firm uses 3D-printed tiles to restore coral reefsIn 2014, a University of Hong Kong research team watched two years of reef restoration work collapse in Sai Kung. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department had asked the researchers to speed up coral recovery. Cement structures were placed on the seabed and coral began to grow. But as the colonies became larger, they became unstable. “They have no roots,” said Vriko Yu Pik-fan, then a doctoral student on the project. “The bigger they got, the less stable they were.” That failure...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong national security police charge man over seditious social media postsHong Kong national security police have charged a man with publishing seditious material on social media, while court proceedings did not reveal details of his posts. The force’s national security department said on Friday it had charged a 52-year-old man for posting seditious material with the intent to provoke hatred towards the central Chinese authorities, the Hong Kong government and the judiciary. The defendant had attended the first hearing on Wednesday afternoon, according to the force’s...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong and Shenzhen confirm Huanggang Port to open on MondayThe revamped Huanggang border crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will open on Monday, after both sides confirmed the facility was ready for service. Confirming an earlier South China Morning Post report, the Hong Kong government said on Friday that the new Huanggang border crossing would commence operations at 6.30am on October 12, replacing the current Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang port as the sole round-the-clock clearance point. “Acceptance inspection of the new port building of the Huanggang...South China Morning Post
WORLD5d ago27 people, groups named finalists for 14th Spirit of Hong Kong AwardsTwenty-seven individuals and groups have been named finalists for the 14th Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, which recognises the unsung heroes of the city who have made major contributions to society. This year’s shortlist for the awards, co-organised by Sino Group and the South China Morning Post, is divided into nine categories: community, culture, innovation, sustainability, perseverance, teamwork, youth, nurturing and entrepreneurship. “The self-effacing yet extraordinary efforts of these...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong police to launch international academy, reveal details of new degreeHong Kong’s police have revealed they will launch an academy offering specialised courses for overseas officers and shared new details about the force’s bachelor’s degree programme, with classes expected to start next March. Kelly Cheng Lai-ki, director of the Police College, said establishing the Hong Kong International Academy of Policing would consolidate generations of frontline wisdom handed down within the force into an international exchange hub. “These exchanges can showcase our...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECH5d agoFrom kitchen waste to sky-high costs: inside Hong Kong’s quest for green jet fuelChina’s once-notorious “gutter oil”, recycled from kitchen and drainage waste, has almost vanished from dining tables in recent years and now carries the nickname liquid gold. The substance has become a highly sought-after feedstock for producing clean energy, especially sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with biofuel producers such as Hong Kong-based Ecoceres sourcing gutter oil across the Greater Bay Area. EcoCeres’ co-chairman, Alan Chan Ying-lung, witnessed how the restaurant waste transformed...South China Morning Post
BUSINESS5d agoCentral retail shop bought by Swiss heir in ‘rare’ Hong Kong market moveIn a rare market move, a long-established local developer sold a Central retail shop that was held for over 50 years to an heir of Swiss underwear maker Triumph, according to data from the Land Registry, a deal analysts have called “highly unusual”. The use of international capital to acquire local retail assets in Hong Kong is uncommon. Triumph International did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the South China Morning Post. The transaction involved a ground-floor shop at...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong rejects US downgrade to lowest tier in human trafficking reportThe United States has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest tier in its annual human trafficking report, citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification, an assessment the city’s government rejected as “entirely unfounded”. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had been listed for two consecutive years, to Tier 3. That places the city alongside mainland China and Macau among 20...South China Morning Post
BUSINESS5d agoAmid battle for AI edge, Hong Kong presses HSBC over Singapore hub decision: sourcesAs Hong Kong and Singapore compete for leadership in businesses ranging from foreign exchange trading to wealth management, the battleground has extended to artificial intelligence, with both cities vying to attract investment from HSBC Holdings and other major corporations, according to industry players. The issue came into focus after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) questioned HSBC about its decision to set up an AI centre in Singapore, despite Hong Kong being its single largest...South China Morning Post
CYBER5d agoHong Kong students arrested as alleged core members of HK$2.16m fraud syndicateHong Kong police have arrested two students suspected of being key members of a fraud and money-laundering syndicate behind fake job advertisements, dating scams and bogus concert ticket sales. The force said on Thursday that officers had arrested 10 people in an earlier operation targeting the syndicate, which had allegedly swindled victims out of more than HK$2.1 million (US$267,578). The suspects, five men and five women aged between 13 and 68, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to...South China Morning Post
WORLD5d agoHong Kong child abuse case prompts calls to watch for signs of psychological harmPsychological abuse can be hard to detect, Hong Kong welfare experts have warned, urging social workers and teachers to look for subtle changes in children’s behaviour amid outrage over a viral video showing a girl carrying heavy bags of beer as her stepfather called her “useless”. Welfare groups said on Thursday that emotional and verbal abuse were among the most common yet least recognised forms of child abuse. Signs often emerged through changes such as social withdrawal and anxiety, they...South China Morning Post