The Observatory on Saturday said it may issue the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal, as heavy rain continues to batter Hong Kong, particularly in the east of the territory. It had issued the Red Rainstorm Signal just before 9 am, as the rainy weather that has hit Hong Kong over the past few days worsened. Sai Kung and Tseung Kwan O have seen very heavy rain with the Observatory saying more than 200 millimetres have been recorded and that severe rainstorms would continue to affect the eastern part of the SAR. It also warned people to stay away from watercourses across the territory due to the poss ..read more

The Hospital Authority (HA) is launching a new round of its overseas training sponsorship programme, fully subsidising eligible participants to earn a bachelor's degree in podiatry at the University of Northampton in the UK. The scheme to send people abroad for training on foot treatment was first introduced in 2005 due to the lack of recognised programmes among local tertiary institutions. Stanley Wan, who works as a resident podiatrist at Yan Chai Hospital, participated in the programme in 2014 and joined the HA in 2017. He had graduated with an engineering degree, but decided to switch to a ..read more

Education minister Christine Choi on Friday said students taking Chinese History in the DSE exams will be allowed to skip part of the test from 2026. Under the new arrangement, pupils can choose to take only a compulsory test that covers Chinese historical events ranging from the ancient Xia dynasty to the mid-19th century, or they can also sit a paper that focuses on the political, religious, social and other aspects of different periods. Students only sitting the compulsory paper will be able to get a grade 5 at most, while those who sit the two papers can get up to 5**. The Education Bureau ..read more

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is launching a series of new programmes from May, covering topics from news and current affairs to youth, family, and community activities, as well as education and culture. The new programmes will be broadcast across RTHK's eight channels. Speaking at the launch ceremony on Thursday, RTHK’s assistant director, Vincent Lee, said RTHK is committed to innovative production, nurturing new talent, and recruiting skilled individuals. He noted that over 80 new employees joined the public broadcaster following multiple rounds of civil service recruitment conducted in ..read more

Environment minister Tse Chin-wan on Thursday said the pay-as-you-throw trial would continue this month as planned, despite feedback that cleaners and participants are having a hard time with the scheme. The government selected 14 buildings and premises to test the waste-charging scheme, which began last month, with participants using designated garbage bags and tags to dispose of their rubbish. The government had earlier delayed the scheme's full rollout from April to August. On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Warner Cheuk, said that there were still many problems with t ..read more

Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung on Thursday criticised the Consumer Council over a data breach last year, saying the watchdog contravened the Personal Data Ordinance with its deficiencies. An attack by hackers resulted in the leak of personal data on more than 450 individuals, including staff members and people who filed complaints with the council. Chung's office said the council started allowing staff to connect to its server using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when work-from-home arrangements were introduced during the pandemic. But the council failed to enable multi-factor authentication ..read more

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday his country will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose leader he described as "genocidal" over its war in Gaza. "Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed... for having a genocidal president," Petro, a harsh critic of the war against Hamas, told a May Day rally in Bogota, referring to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday said Petro's decision to cut diplomatic ties amounted to handing a "reward" to Hamas. Petro has taken a critical stance on the Gaza assaul ..read more

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk on Wednesday said a trial has shown that there are still many problems with the government's long-delayed waste charging programme. The pay-as-you-throw scheme was tested at 14 locations from last month, covering homes, shops and restaurants, but only about half of the households participated by using designated bags to dispose of trash. Cheuk said a working group had been meeting every week to discuss the plan. "According to our initial observations, there are many problems. We think that if we introduce the waste charging scheme, we must have a consensus a ..read more

The chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) on Wednesday said authorities should give more weight to the growth of the SAR's economy in a new formula for calculating the minimum wage. The Executive Council on Tuesday approved recommendations to review the minimum wage every year instead of every two years, and under the new mechanism, the minimum wage would not be reduced. The new formula will take into account the consumer price index and 20 percent of the difference between the previous year’s GDP figure and economic growth in the past decade, with a cap of one percentage point. FTU ..read more

Scores of movie lovers on Tuesday bade farewell to President Cinema in Causeway Bay, bringing the curtain down on almost six decades of showing films. Its operator, Newport Circuit, had announced last week that the theatre on Jaffe Road was closing after Tuesday, though it did not say why. Still, Newport Circuit thanked customers for their support throughout the years. While some people were just there to snap pictures, others bought tickets for the final shows at the theatre that first opened in 1966. Leo, an actor, said it was a pity that a platform which showcased cinematic productions was ..read more