DAB lawmakers on Sunday said Hong Kong should make good use of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone to boost the country’s biotech development. The suggestion is among dozens of others the party is planning to propose during the annual sessions of the nation's legislature and top political advisory body i…

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said on Sunday that the government is considering extending a grace period for landlords to convert subdivided flats, after new laws are introduced to regulate the compact homes. Officials had initially proposed a transitional period of up to two years for the registration of such flats, known as "basic housing units…

Ocean Park's panda twin cubs made their highly-anticipated public debut on Sunday in front of hundreds of delighted locals and tourists. Many visitors arrived extra early to make sure they could meet the baby pandas as soon as possible. A local panda enthusiast, surnamed Chan, told RTHK that he arrived at Ocean Park two hours before it opened - and…

A data interchange system among departments has not been set up due to privacy and technical issues, according Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun, but the government is in touch with the Privacy Commissioner to overcome challenges. Lawmakers had called on the authorities to provide more assistance to hidden elders, after a 78-year-old man w…

People are invited to suggest names for Ocean Park's panda twin cubs as they turn six months old on Saturday. Speaking at the greeting ceremony for the panda babies, Chief Executive John Lee said people can submit their ideas, based on the twins' appearance and personality, from noon on Saturday. He said the government will announce their names in …

Police said efforts to educate the elderly have led to a significant drop in the number of so-called “Guess Who” phone scams – in which fraudsters pose as an old friend or relative of the victim. The number of “Guess Who” phone scams, which mainly targets victims aged 65 or above, were down by 48 percent last year, police commissioner Raymond Siu s…

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China's policy toward the United States is consistent and stable, but if the US persists in suppressing China, China will have no choice but to "play along to the end." Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Wang said China would respond resolutely to unilateral "bullying" practices but hopes the US can work toget…

US Vice President JD Vance pledged on Friday that Washington sought to secure a "lasting" peace as he held a first meeting with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Donald Trump's push for a deal with Moscow. The talks in Munich were seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it tried to keep Washington on its side after Trump stunned allies by ann…

The government has backed a request by CUHK Medical Centre to extend a loan repayment period, saying it doesn't want to end up having to take back the hospital's site due to a default. In 2023, legislators agreed to a two-year extension to repayments of a HK$4 billion government loan, in view of financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic. Th…

Lawmakers are calling for more secondary schools to get involved in the government's HPV vaccine catch-up programme, saying the current participation rate was not ideal. The Department of Health has purchased 180,000 HPV jabs for 52,000 female students to take two doses for free. But only 3,700 students were inoculated as 34 percent of schools have…

The government should set up a database of at-risk elderly people, a lawmaker said on Friday, a day after a man in his 70s was found dead with his son unharmed beside him. Police were alerted on Thursday when security personnel detected a foul odour coming from a flat at Butterfly Estate in Tuen Mun. The force said officers discovered the body of t…

Hong Kong on Friday added four substances to its list of dangerous drugs, a move which significantly increases the maximum punishments for people caught consuming, possessing, trafficking or manufacturing space oil. Users and those found with the space oil drug now risk prison terms of up to seven years and a fine as high as HK$1 million, while man…

US President Donald Trump inked plans on Thursday for sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" that could hit both allies and competitors, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he had decided to impose reciprocal duties, telling reporters that US allies were often "worse than our enemies" on trade. "I’…

US President Donald Trump greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House with a bear hug on Thursday and called him “a great friend of mine," but nonetheless warned that India won't be spared from higher tariffs he's begun imposing on US trade partners around the world. Trump, who had previously derided India as the “tariff king,” c…

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine critic who has pledged to tackle chronic disease, was named US Health Secretary on Thursday after overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and members of Congress with promises to limit his role in vaccination policy. As Kennedy was sworn into the post, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order t…