Two days of anti-immigration violence in Northern Ireland is nothing short of racist thuggery, Britain’s minister for the province said on Thursday, after police deployed water cannon to tackle rioters for a second night. Hilary Benn said there was less disorder on the streets of Belfast on Wednesday night as opposed to ‌Tuesday, when rioters targeted ethnic minorities and foreign residents by torching homes and vehicles following a knife attack for which a Sudanese man has been charged with...

An EU-China dialogue on digital matters has been postponed as tensions between the two sides threaten to boil over. The meeting, initially scheduled for June 23 in Beijing, will no longer take place, with no immediate date set for a follow-up, people familiar with the situation confirmed. The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the talks had been abruptly cancelled by Beijing, along with a second meeting involving a senior EU official, as bilateral ties deteriorate on a near-daily...

The vast majority of Uber passengers consider the government’s plan to cap ride-hailing vehicle permits at 10,000 “very insufficient”, according to a survey by the firm, as the company attempts to challenge elements of the proposed regulatory regime. The US-based ride-hailing firm said on Thursday that the survey, conducted last month over six days, drew 10,009 passenger respondents, 90 per cent of whom considered the 10,000-permit cap “very insufficient”. The survey, which also gathered...

Hong Kong’s business community has signed six agreements with Kazakhstan to support the development of the country’s new hi-tech and economic hub, as Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu positioned the city as the project’s gateway to global capital and the mainland Chinese market. The memorandums of understanding (MOUs), unveiled at an investment round table on Thursday, centre on the development of Alatau City, the Central Asian country’s flagship future-city project, and focus on innovation and...

Allowing vehicles from Guangdong province to enter Hong Kong’s South Lantau must be approached with “caution,” Hong Kong’s transport chief has told lawmakers. A mainland Chinese car arrives in Hong Kong on the first day of implementation of the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme on December 23, 2025. Photo: GovHK. At a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said that authorities would have to consult local residents and the district council, citing recent cases of vehicles from Guangdong illegally entering the restricted scenic roads on rural South Lantau. Addressing a question from lawmaker and rural leader Kenneth Lau, Chan said: “Regarding reviews of quotas and other potential improvements for self-drive tours on Lantau going forward, we will cautiously and carefully monitor the situation. We will also consult and explore options with local residents and the Islands District Council.” Vehicles under the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme have been operating smoothly, and testing centres in Guangdong have provided drivers with information on Hong Kong’s traffic rules, she added. Under the southbound travel scheme, which took effect in December, up to 100 private cars from Guangdong province are permitted daily to drive into Hong Kong’s urban areas via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and stay for a maximum of three days. The transport minister had previously touted the scheme as a boon for Hong Kong’s economy, driving tourism and trade while enhancing “integration” for citizens in both regions. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan. File photo: GovHK. The government launched the Driving on Lantau Island Scheme in 2016, allowing a daily quota of 50 private cars to access closed roads to Ngong Ping, Tai O, Cheung Sha and Mui Wo on weekdays. The second phase was launched in 2022, with the daily quota increased from 25 to 50. Under the scheme, some 12,000 quotas are available for allocation each year, with all of them filled. Citing official figures, Chan said that the Transport Department received about 84,000 applications in 2023 and about 30,000 in each of the subsequent two years. She attributed the high number from three years ago to pandemic-related travel restrictions that limited residents to local tourism. Responding to a suggestion by lawmaker Chan Hok-fung to extend South Lantau permits from one day to two or three days, the transport minister said the authorities would look into extending the permit period to include weekends. But she added that any quota extensions must balance tourism development and local residents’ traffic concerns.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has suspended a trainee doctor and a resident physician after their alleged professional misconduct went viral on social media. Caritas Medical Centre. File photo: GovHK. In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, the HA said that it had noticed some social media posts discussing an intern doctor’s alleged professional misconduct at different hospitals. “The HA considers the matter extremely serious, affecting the professional image of healthcare staff,” the statement said. The authority said it had reported to the police the suspected case of “someone who logged into the Clinical Management System at Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) with another person’s account and accessed patient records at Tuen Mun Hospital without authorisation.” A photo shared by an intern doctor shows her performing an X-ray on her own knee. Photo: Simon_yuen via Thread. “The HA has immediately suspended the clinical duties of the intern doctor concerned and a resident doctor at Tuen Mun Hospital, and has also suspended their access right[s] to the system in order to protect patient and system security,” it said. “The HA has notified the medical school of the relevant university to follow up on the intern doctor’s assessment of being fit for practice.” According to the statement, before the suspensions, the HA had previously issued a serious warning to the trainee doctor for committing an inappropriate act during an internship at Ruttonjee Hospital and taken disciplinary action against the intern doctor and another resident doctor at CMC.  It had also taken disciplinary action against the intern doctor and another resident doctor for misconduct at CMC. The HA’s move comes after a trainee doctor, who published videos documenting her medical internship, allegedly used medical equipment without authorisation to X-ray her own knee and posted a photo of the procedure on social media. She was also suspected of asking her boyfriend, a resident doctor at Tuen Mun Hospital, to come to Ruttonjee Hospital, where she was interning, to assist her with a medical procedure. Ruttonjee Hospital in Hong Kong. File photo: GovHK. According to netizens, the intern doctor is a social media influencer known as Angel the Medic on YouTube and Instagram. As of Thursday, all videos on the YouTube channel had disappeared, and the Instagram account had gone offline.

China to legislate on preschool education

China to legislate on preschool education

The US military had attacked the Palau-flagged tanker on Wednesday after accusing it of not complying with directions.

Twenty people died and 120 others were injured in the explosion at the Erawan shrine 11 years ago.