The fines for traffic violations were updated. NCAP served its purpose like the Panopticon did in a previous age. The Panopticon was a watchtower inside prisons where the prisoners could be observed by unseen guards. The Palace has not been shy about touting the survey results. The survey results indicate a broad constituency for the current administration and its continuity program of policy modernization.
BEIJING — Chinese authorities have begun inquiries into some of the people who gathered at weekend protests against COVID-19 curbs, three people who were at the Beijing demonstrations told Reuters, as police remained out in numbers on the city’s streets. Simmering discontent with COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into broader protests in cities thousands of miles apart over the weekend. “The large number of police, it’s really scary,” said Beijing resident Philip Qin, 22, who witnessed the protests on Sunday. Officials say the zero-COVID policy has kept the death toll in the world’s most populous country in the thousands, avoiding the millions of deaths elsewhere. RELATED STORIESA timeline of COVID-related protests in ChinaChina protests highlight Xi Jinping’s COVID-19 policy dilemma–to walk it back or notFor more news about the novel coronavirus click here.
The government will ask China's top legislative body to interpret the city’s national security law on whether foreign lawyers can be involved in national security cases, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Monday. This came after the Court of Final Appeal dismissed an appeal by the Justice Department to overturn an earlier court decision allowing a British lawyer to defend media tycoon Jimmy Lai in his upcoming national security trial. Under the existing system, the government is powerless to prevent overseas lawyers from being subject to “dubious interference” or ensure they keep state secrets, Lee added. The Standing Committee has offered five interpretations of Hong Kong’s Basic Law -- its mini constitution -- since the UK handed the city back in 1997. The ruling effectively blocked two elected “localists” from taking their seats in the Hong Kong’s legislature.
A trace amount of banned veterinary drug metabolite has been found in a sample of prepackaged frozen shrimp tested by the Centre for Food Safety. "The CFS collected the shrimp sample from a supermarket in Tin Shui Wai for testing under its routine food surveillance programme. The test result showed that it contained AOZ (metabolite) at a level of 6.6 parts per billion," the spokesman said. The Dairy Farm Company Limited, the sole distributor, has initiated a recall on the affected batch of the product. CFS has also informed the vendor concerned to stop the sale and remove from shelves the affected batch of the product.
SEOUL — Over the years, the average energy intake of Koreans has been on a decrease. The percent of energy intake from carbohydrates dropped from 64.9 percent in 2012 to 59.4 percent in 2021. On the contrary, the percentage of energy intake from fat increased from 20.4 percent to 24.6 percent. The average energy intake from protein was 16.4 percent for men and 15.5 percent for women. The numbers show why Koreans’ rice consumption has dropped over the years.
Hong Kong’s civil service chief said over 11,000 people have booked their booster shots that protect against both the highly-infectious Omicron variant and the original Covid strain, with the jabs available in the city starting Thursday. The BioNTech bivalent jabs would only be available as a fourth dose alternative. She added that the 1.9 million doses of the vaccine procured by the government should be enough to handle the demand. He worried the vaccine authorities procured would not be enough for everyone, with people willing to take up the jabs for overseas travel. Chui also called on authorities to make the Omicron boosters available as a third dose option.
The Competition Commission started a joint operation with other government departments at Aberdeen to search and locate wholesalers that were reported to be involved in price fixing when selling fisheries products. The city’s competition watchdog, together with the Hong Kong Police, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and several other departments conducted the operation early this morning at Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market. Competition Commission stated that they have received a complaint regarding the price fixing and therefore carried out survey to understand better the situation from the responses of the fish wholesalers. The Commission surveyed practitioners from over 30 wholesalers in the market. The Commission calls on fisheries practitioners and public members who can provide information on the case or the practices in the industry to contact the Commission.
OTTAWA — Canada launched its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, vowing more resources to deal with a “disruptive” China while working with the world’s second-biggest economy on climate change and trade issues. But the focus is on China, which is mentioned more than 50 times, at a moment when bilateral ties are frosty. “China is an increasingly disruptive global power,” said the strategy. Official data for September show bilateral trade with China accounted for under 7% of the total, compared to 68% for the United States. Canada needed to keep talking to nations it had fundamental disagreements with, it said, but did not name them.
NEW DELHI — An octogenarian man burned himself to death in southern India in protest at what he called New Delhi’s attempts to impose nationwide usage of Hindi, a language mostly spoken in the north, police said Sunday. ADVERTISEMENTAccording to the most recent census in 2011, fewer than half of Indian citizens speak Hindi — just under 44 percent. Most southern Indian languages are Dravidian, a completely different language family to the Indo-European group which includes Hindi. MV Thangavel, 85, a farmer in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, doused himself in petrol and kerosene and set himself alight, police said. RELATED STORIESTibetan burns himself to death in China protestJapanese man sets himself on fire in apparent protest at Shinzo Abe’s state funeral–mediaRead Next
File PhotoChairman of the Hospital Authority Henry Fan Hung-ling has tested positive for Covid-19. The HA spokesman said that Fan is undergoing isolation under the guidelines of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. Fan last attended the HA activity on Saturday. He has no recent travel history. The HA will conduct thorough cleaning and disinfection operation at the Chairman office and the offices concerned.
TOKYO — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other organizations are planning to establish an observatory on the moon. The observatory may be able to gather information about what the universe was like soon after its birth. The first radio telescope for the facility is expected to be launched in fiscal 2028. “If the project goes well, it would allow the world’s first observation of the Dark Ages. RELATED STORIESJapan counts down to first moon landingJapan space rocket ordered to self-destruct after failed launchRead Next
Hong Kong Customs arrested a female passenger at the Hong Kong International Airport, seizing three kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about HK$2.6 million. The arrested, 43, claimed she was a homemaker and arrived in Hong Kong for "traveling" from São Paulo, Brazil, via Doha, Qatar, during the arrest yesterday. According to Leung Chi-pang, Senior inspector of the Customs’ Drug Investigation Group, officers found two unusually weighted empty pieces of luggage - a hand-carried suitcase and a briefcase - that the woman carried during the clearance. Officers conducted an X-ray inspection of the luggage and found six packs of cocaine weighing three kilograms inside. "Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities," Leung said.
The government confirmed the BioNTech bivalent vaccine will be available for eligible people aged 12 or above from December 1, while online reservations will open from 9am tomorrow (Nov 27). "Vaccination venues providing the BioNTech bivalent vaccine include the Community Vaccination Centres, the Community Vaccination Stations, the Hospital Covid Vaccination Stations, designated general out-patient clinics of the Hospital Authority, and the Private Clinic Covid-19 Vaccination Stations," she said. She added that people who have not been vaccinated or received enough vaccine doses are not allowed to choose to receive the bivalent vaccine. However, Yeung said the vaccination rate of children and the elderly in Hong Kong has yet to meet the expectation. "We urged everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves before it is too late," Yeung emphasized.
Government officials claimed that the incident of the national anthem being misplayed at a rugby tournament was out of human error but involved no political motivation, according to the investigation. Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said on Saturday that the investigation into the national anthem incident is ongoing, and the authorities believe there is no evidence to suggest that the incident was deliberately conducted or politically motivated. "The incident was due to human error, entirely without any political or malicious intent, by a junior member of the local organizer," said the president. Police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee said today that the national anthem blunder is still under investigation by the force’s Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, claiming the police have gotten in touch with some employees of Hong Kong Rugby Union. "We may seek communication with international police or South Korea’s police department for further information," he added.
A database containing up-to-date mobile phone numbers of nearly 500 million WhatsApp users was leaked and put up for sale, with the dataset allegedly contains WhatsApp user data from 84 countries, Cyber research publication Cybernews revealed on Thursday. Another huge chunk of phone numbers belongs to the citizens of Egypt (45 million), Italy (35 million), Saudi Arabia (29 million), France (20 million), and Turkey (20 million). Some 2.9 million phone numbers from active WhatsApp users in Hong Kong were also included in the dataset, according to the report. Upon request, the seller of WhatsApp's database shared a sample of data with Cybernews researchers. There were 1097 UK and 817 US user numbers in the shared sample.
