Month: March 2025

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Starting from April 7, local airlines should not allow their passengers to use lithium battery power banks nor store these in overhead compartments during flights, the Civil Aviation Department announced today.

 

The department said it is highly concerned over recent safety breaches suspected to have been caused by passengers carrying and using power banks on aircraft.

 

After departmental officials met representatives from local airlines on Friday, the department issued its updated requirements regarding power banks today, with a view to enhancing safety.

 

Passengers are advised to direct any queries about the latest regulations to relevant airlines before flying.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme 2026 is now open for applications, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department announced today.

Under the scheme, selected artists and arts groups will take performing arts activities into communities by organising outreach activities in various districts next year.

Applicants should be registered local non-profit-making performing arts groups or artists, have experience of performing in public, and demonstrate that they have been active in the performing arts scene in the past year.

Each applicant is required to submit a proposal with a brief description of their project theme and content. Projects should involve at least one performing arts category from the following list: Chinese opera, operatic singing, dance, music, theatrical arts, and multimedia.

Proposals should mainly focus on touring performances and may include workshops, excerpts from full performances, demonstrations, talks, exhibitions or a combination of these activities.

The application deadline is noon on May 6.

Call 2591 1611 or send an email to the Audience Building Office for enquiries.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Buildings Department approved 14 building plans in January – five on Hong Kong Island, three in Kowloon and six in the New Territories.

Eight of the plans approved were for residential or residential-commercial developments, two were for commercial developments, one was for factory and industrial development, and three were for community service developments.

Consent was given for works to start on five building projects. Combined, these will provide 25,433 sq m of gross floor area for domestic, and 206,432 sq m of gross floor area for non-domestic use.

The department also received notification of commencement in relation to superstructure works for three building projects.

Furthermore, it issued 16 occupation permits – four on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and seven in the New Territories.

The buildings certified for occupation comprise 85,225 sq m of gross floor area for domestic use, involving 1,886 units, and 23,398 sq m for non-domestic use.

Meanwhile, the department received 2,551 reports about unauthorised building works in January and issued 422 removal orders.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Judiciary today launched a LinkedIn page with the aim of fostering professional understanding and enhancing transparency with regard to its work, both locally and internationally.

On the platform, the Judiciary will share updates on significant court judgments, major professional exchanges with other jurisdictions, key events, and important initiatives.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin will lead a delegation of Hong Kong principals and educationalists in attending the International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2025 in Reykjavík, Iceland, from tomorrow.

After visiting Iceland, Ms Choi and her delegation will visit India. Their itinerary is aimed at promoting Hong Kong’s advantages as an international post-secondary education hub.

Besides discussing trends in global education with education ministers from around the world at the Reykjavík forum, Ms Choi will also visit local schools and meet Icelandic educationalists.

The education chief will fly to Delhi on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education 2025 Conference & Exhibition.

She will be accompanied by representatives from the University Grants Committee (UGC) and UGC-funded universities, and will give a speech at the Delhi event about studying in Hong Kong.

Ms Choi will return to Hong Kong on Friday. During her absence, Under Secretary for Education Sze Chun-fai will be Acting Secretary.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Chief Executive Carrie Lam says her recent Saudi Arabia visit was fruitful and she is planning more duty visits for next year to promote Hong Kong’s business, trade and professional services.

Speaking to the media before today’s Executive Council meeting, she said she has conducted all of her visits abroad for this year.

She will conduct a duty visit to Beijing later this month.

Mrs Lam added she was warmly welcomed to Saudi Arabia and met King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and several officials.

She said she attaches great importance to Hong Kong’s external affairs, and conducting overseas visits can enhance the city’s international status and expand business opportunities.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Chief Executive Carrie Lam respects an arrangement by the Legislative Council President to amend LegCo’s Rules of Procedure.

Making the statement to the media before today’s Executive Council meeting, she said Andrew Leung’s decision is reasonable.

Mr Leung decided all proposals from different camps will be combined into a single debate to finalise rule changes before Christmas.

Mrs Lam said she appreciates that he took a well-balanced approach to accept amendments by the pro-democracy camp, while formulating the arrangement based on Basic Law Article 75.

“We hope that things in the Legislative Council will be brought back to normal as soon as possible,” she said.

Mrs Lam urged legislators to respect Mr Leung’s decision.

When asked about the timing of the upcoming March 11 LegCo by-election, Mrs Lam said the Electoral Affairs Commission’s decision has already been gazetted.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Task Force on Land Supply will study public feedback on whether to use fringe areas of country parks as a land supply option.

The task force discussed the issue at its fifth meeting today.

Chairman Stanley Wong said the task force noted country parks are invaluable assets of Hong Kong and any development must be done with caution.

“We had about 13 million visitors frequenting the various country parks, the 24 different country parks in Hong Kong, conducting a variety of different activities

“Other than the statutory process that we have to overcome in terms of environmental impact assessment, in terms of going through the Country & Marine Parks Board as well as going through the land use amendments at the Town Planning Board, we do believe that there is a certain threshold that we must uphold before we can proceed to consider utilising the fringe of the country parks.

“And this will include considering whether there are better alternatives in terms of using that particular piece of country park and at the same time is there any mitigation or compensation that we can do in terms of the impact on the ecology.

“So with these in mind, we will leave it to the public engagement and see how the community will perhaps support, or otherwise, conducting further studies if we are going to move this particular option forward,” Mr Wong added.