Young astronauts recount camp fun

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Participants in the Young Astronaut Training Camp 2025 shared their learning experiences during the space training programme and were presented with certificates today at the Science Museum.

 

The 30 secondary school students selected for the programme, which ran from July 25 to August 2, were given the opportunity to visit various key astronomy and aerospace facilities.

 

The students made their first visit to the National Astronomical Observatories’ Wuqing Station in Beijing, where they learnt about data reception and deep space communication systems of the Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission. They also met Shenzhou-19 commander Cai Xuzhe.

 

Additionally, the students visited Beijing Aerospace City, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China National Space Administration Space Debris Observation & Data Application Center, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ National Time Service Center.

 

Apart from experiencing the aerospace medicine project and astronaut training activities at the China Astronaut Research & Training Center, they discovered the basic structure of rockets and how to build rocket models during the rocket model workshop.

 

Three students who were honoured with the Best Camper Performance awards for their outstanding efforts today shared their feelings and valuable experiences gained from the training camp.

 

They expressed admiration for the country’s aerospace experts, feeling proud of its remarkable aerospace endeavours and wishing to contribute to the aerospace industry in the future.

The Treasury alerts public to fraudulent emails

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Treasury today (September 2) alerted members of the public to fraudulent emails purportedly issued by the Treasury. Although the emails showed a sender address identical to the Treasury’s email address (pa@try.gov.hk) used to issue remittance advices, the emails were not sent by the Treasury. The emails seek to obtain recipients’ login credentials by inviting them to open an attachment, which was said to be a remittance advice issued by the Treasury.

The Treasury has no connection with the emails and has reported the case to the Police for further investigation.

The Treasury reminded members of the public not to open suspicious emails and attachments provided in such emails. The Treasury will not send emails to the public to collect their login credentials.

Students of Young Astronaut Training Camp 2025 share their unforgettable learning experiences (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Students of Young Astronaut Training Camp 2025 share their unforgettable learning experiences  
     The training camp ran from July 25 to August 2. Students visited various key astronomy and aerospace facilities, including making their first visit to the Wuqing Station of the National Astronomical Observatories in Beijing, where they learned about data reception and deep space communication systems of the Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission. The students also met with the commander of the Shenzhou-19, Mr Cai Xuzhe, who participated in the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-19 space missions. Mr Cai has set multiple records during the extravehicular activities of the Shenzhou-19 mission: His first spacewalk lasted nine hours, breaking the world record for the longest single spacewalk, and he completed a total of five spacewalks across two missions, making him the astronaut with the most spacewalks to date in China.
 
     The students also visited Beijing Aerospace City, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China National Space Administration Space Debris Observation and Data Application Center, and National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where they gained an in-depth understanding of China’s manned space research, development, and application. At the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, they experienced the aerospace medicine project and astronaut training activities, such as the donning and doffing of spacesuits and blood redistribution training. During the rocket model workshop, they also learned about the basic structure of rockets and how to build rocket models.
 
     Launched in 2009, the Young Astronaut Training Camp has been held on 14 occasions, attracting nearly 400 students to join. Recruitment for this year’s training camp started in May and received an overwhelming response. After three rounds of selection – a quiz on astronomy and space science, a three-day pre-camp training and an interview – participants were selected as Young Astronauts out of more than 120 applicants from around 80 local secondary schools.
 
     The training camp is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, in association with the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre. It is organised by the Hong Kong Space Museum and sponsored by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. It is one of the programmes under the Chinese Culture Promotion Series. For details of the training camp, please visit the website of the Hong Kong Space Museum at hk.space.museum/en/web/spm/activities/yatc.htmlIssued at HKT 18:55

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Hong Kong Customs and Hong Kong Police Force seize drugs worth over 479 million in joint anti-narcotics operation (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Hong Kong Customs and the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) conducted a large-scale anti-narcotics operation codenamed “Boldhit” from June 1 to August 31 this year to combat drug trafficking activities exploiting air passengers as drug couriers by drug syndicates. During the operation, Customs, the HKPF, Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies detected a total of 74 drug cases, seizing around 1 219 kilograms of suspected drugs including cannabis, ketamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and MDMA, with an estimated market value of over $479 million. Ninety-six persons suspected to be connected with the cases were arrested.
 
During the operation, Hong Kong Customs and the HKPF collaborated with 12 Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies to facilitate close and real-time exchange of intelligence, conducting joint assessments to effectively track and intercept air passengers involved in drug trafficking. The Anti-Smuggling Bureau of Mainland Customs, the Narcotics Control Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection, German Customs, Canada Border Services Agency and the Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore also successfully detected drug trafficking cases in their respective regions.
 
Customs and the HKPF have long striven to intercept the inflow of drugs to Hong Kong by adopting a risk management and an intelligence-led approach according to the trends of drug markets and smuggling channels. Both sides will continue to make necessary adjustments in strategy and deployment in accordance with changes in the drug trafficking trends and enhance co-operation with overseas enforcement agencies to fight against transnational narcotics trafficking activities.
 
Customs and the HKPF remind members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.
 
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002), or to the HKPF’s drug reporting hotline 2527 1234 or “e-Report Centre” of the HKPF’s mobile application.

              

By-election polling cards sent

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Registration & Electoral Office (REO) has mailed polling cards to about 3,600 voters or authorised representatives (ARs) ahead of the 2025 Election Committee Subsector By-elections, due to be contested across six sub-sectors on Sunday.

The mail sent to the voters/ARs also includes a map showing the location of the designated polling station, a guide on voting procedures, an introduction to the candidates and an Independent Commission Against Corruption elections leaflet.

A total of 28 candidates will contest 21 seats in the six subsectors, which are as follows: commercial (third); architectural, surveying, planning and landscape; technology and innovation; labour; representatives of members of the Area Committees, District Fight Crime Committees, and District Fire Safety Committees of Hong Kong and Kowloon; and representatives of members of the Area Committees, District Fight Crime Committees, and District Fire Safety Committees of the New Territories.

In addition, 72 candidates in 22 subsectors have been returned uncontested.

Voters/ARs may use iAM Smart or the voter registration website to log into the Online Voter Information Enquiry System and access all of the information included in the mail.

The REO reminded the voters and ARs that they should cast their votes at the polling station assigned to them, and that they must carry their Hong Kong identity card or specified alternative documents to collect their ballot papers.

Call 2891 1001 for enquiries.

Property sales fall 10.4%

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Land Registry logged 6,462 sale and purchase agreements for all building units received for registration in August, down 10.4% compared with July and up 36.6% year-on-year.

 

The total consideration for such agreements in August dropped 12.5% from the previous month to $47.8 billion, representing a 39.2% year-on-year growth.

 

Of the agreements, 5,291 were for residential units, amounting to an 8.2% decrease from July and a 44.8% rise from a year ago.

 

The total consideration for residential units was $42.2 billion, down 8.9% compared with July and 48.2% higher year-on-year.

 

There were 388,762 land register searches last month.

FEHD releases 11th batch of gravidtrap indexes for Aedes albopictus in August

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

FEHD releases 11th batch of gravidtrap indexes for Aedes albopictus in August

District

District Among the 11th batch of First Phase Gravidtrap Indexes covering two survey areas and Area Gravidtrap Indexes covering nine survey areas in August, all were below 10 per cent.

The FEHD has so far released 11 batches of gravidtrap indexes for Aedes albopictus in August 2025, covering 64 survey areas. Among these 64 survey areas, 44 recorded a decrease or remained unchanged in the individual gravidtrap index as compared to the Area Gravidtrap Index last month, i.e. July 2025, representing that the areas’ mosquito infestation improved or maintained a low level. Fifteen other areas recorded a slight increase, but the indexes were lower than 10 per cent.Starting in August this year, following the completion of the surveillance of individual survey areas, and once the latest gravidtrap index and the density index are available, the FEHD will disseminate the relevant information through press releases, its website, and social media. It aims to allow members of the public to quickly grasp the mosquito infestation situation and strengthen mosquito control efforts, thereby reducing the risk of chikungunya fever (CF) transmission.

???Following the recommendations from the World Health Organization and taking into account the local situation in Hong Kong, the FEHD sets up gravidtraps in districts where mosquito-borne diseases have been recorded in the past, as well as in densely populated places such as housing estates, hospitals and schools to monitor the breeding and distribution of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which can transmit CF and dengue fever. At present, the FEHD has set up gravidtraps in 64 survey areas of the community. During the two weeks of surveillance, the FEHD will collect the gravidtraps once a week. After the first week of surveillance, the FEHD will immediately examine the glue boards inside the retrieved gravidtraps for the presence of adult Aedine mosquitoes, to compile the Gravidtrap Index (First Phase) and Density Index (First Phase). At the end of the second week of surveillance, the FEHD will instantly check the glue boards for the presence of adult Aedine mosquitoes. Data of the two weeks’ surveillance will be combined to obtain the Area Gravidtrap Index and the Area Density Index. The gravidtrap and density indexes for Aedes albopictus in different survey areas as well as information on mosquito prevention and control measures are available on the department’s webpage (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pestcontrol/dengue_fever/Dengue_Fever_Gravidtrap_Index_Update.html#Issued at HKT 17:00

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Badminton tournament gets ‘M’ Mark

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Major Sports Events Committee announced today that it awarded “M” Mark status to the LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500, scheduled to be held from September 9 to 14 at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

 

Major Sports Events Committee Chairman Wilfred Ng said: “This world-class event, gathering Olympic medallists and badminton elites from around the globe, will attract many local, overseas and Mainland badminton enthusiasts, thereby promoting tourism and boosting the economy.”

 

He added that he believes the Hong Kong, China team will give its best on home ground and strive for excellent results.