NSW Police arrested a 22-year-old woman for trespassing as they cleared a protest camp at Waterloo, Sydney, disrupting the demolition of public housing. The camp had been active since May 25, opposing the demolition of 150 units for a redevelopment project.
Hong Kong residents at Laguna Verde estate are enhancing pest prevention after the city's first human rat hepatitis E case was recorded in a 42-year-old man. Health authorities are investigating potential transmission routes.
For Hong Kong-based artist Apple Tong Wing-yin, Wang Fuk Court has always been more than a home address. It was a library of her life’s work. Tong, a prominent deaf illustrator and graphic designer who communicates through what she calls her “silent language” of art, kept the many canvases that spoke for her inside her flat in the Tai Po housing estate. In November last year, that library was reduced to ash in one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires. She lost everything – her awards, her backlog of...
The “mechanical mindset” of Hong Kong building authorities has come under scrutiny at a hearing into the city’s deadliest fire in decades, with a former inspection director conceding his team had “blindly” followed outdated guidelines when deciding not to conduct on-site audits of renovation works at the housing estate ravaged in the blaze. Rudolf Lau Fu-kwok, who was the head of the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit when the fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court last November, said on...
A Hong Kong building inspector mistook illegal alterations to emergency staircases at a housing estate ravaged in a deadly fire as protective measures for “broken” windows, because he based his assessment solely on documents and did not carry out a site visit, a public inquiry has heard. Senior maintenance surveyor Nick Yung Siu-lun, the head of the minor works team of the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit, said on Thursday he thought the wooden boards used to cover the temporary...
An elderly man in Hong Kong is believed to have killed his ex-wife before hanging himself at a public housing estate, as he reportedly felt “hopeless” after their separation following years of marital conflict worsened by their son’s suicide, police have revealed. Sau Mau Ping Assistant District Commander of Crime Terry Wan King-hang said on Thursday that the force believed the 77-year-old man killed his 71-year-old ex-wife in a Po Tat Estate flat before taking his own life on Wednesday. Police...
An elderly man in Hong Kong is believed to have killed his ex-wife before hanging himself at a public housing estate, as he reportedly felt “hopeless” after their separation following years of marital conflict worsened by their son’s suicide, police have revealed. Terry Wan King-hang, the Sau Mau Ping assistant district commander of crime, said on Thursday that the force believed the 77-year-old man killed his 71-year-old ex-wife in the flat in Po Tat Estate before taking his own life on...
In inner London boroughs such as Camden, home to PM’s constituency, Greens hope to capitalise on collapse in Labour supportMay elections: What’s at stake across England, Wales and Scotland?In Highgate New Town, a north London housing estate whose brutalist architecture has been a fixture of film shoots, the enormous scale of the challenge Labour faces in the capital from the Greens was starkly evident.“I’ve always voted Labour. My entire family has, but it feels like a time for a change,” said Cynthia Boampong after opening her door to Lorna Jane Russell, for now the only Green member on the local Camden council but who could be returned after 7 May at the head of a much larger group. With support for Zack Polanski’s party expected to surge across the capital, nearby Hackney council is tipped to be the centre of a realignment of progressive voters, with polling suggesting the Greens could take the mayoralty and end up the largest party. The Labour bastions of Lambeth and Lewisham are also under siege. Continue reading...
Hong Kong police have launched an investigation after a man and a woman were found dead in a flat at a Sau Mau Ping public housing estate on Wednesday afternoon. Police received a report at about 4.10pm from a man who suspected his brother had taken his own life inside a flat at Tat Yan House, Po Tat Estate. Firefighters forced entry into the flat and found a man, believed to be in his 70s, and a woman unconscious inside. Paramedics later certified both dead at the scene. Police said one of the...
Hong Kong's property management sector faces up to 25% security staff shortage. Richland Gardens in Kowloon Bay hired 31 mainland Chinese guards through a government labour scheme, drawing criticism from lawmakers and social media users concerned about local job losses. The owners' corporation says recruitment was necessary after four years of staffing difficulties.
The independent committee investigating Hong Kong's deadly Tai Po blaze holds its 21st day of hearings on Thursday with three Urban Renewal Authority witnesses set to testify. The November 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court housing estate claimed 168 lives and displaced nearly 5,000 residents. Investigations have focused on flammable polyfoam boards used to seal windows and non-fire-retardant scaffolding mesh that contributed to rapid fire spread. The Buildings Department testified that polyfoam boards are regulated by law but said the case fell outside its jurisdiction as it does not oversee government-built subsidised housing estates, which are regulated by the Independent Checking Unit under the Housing Bureau.
A retired part-time taxi driver named Hon lost his charred flat in Wang Sun House during a fire. He had hoped to find a bag of change he kept during work shifts, but nothing remained. His daughter Ice Hon attempted to retrieve items passed down from her late mother, including photo albums, but found only dust and ruins. She described the scene as feeling like the aftermath of a war.
Former management committee member Jason Kong Cheung-fat exposes proxy vote abuse at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, where a November 2025 fire killed 168 people — the deadliest in Hong Kong since 1948. The HK$336 million renovation contract was awarded to Prestige Construction and Engineering in January 2024 after 570 votes were cast at a meeting attended by only 293 people, with homeowners forced to pay up to HK$180,000 per flat within six months.
Hong Kong director Leung has won best director for 'Ciao UFO', a film about three residents of Wah Fu Estate whose childhood encounter with a UFO in the 1980s shapes their adult lives. In his acceptance speech, Leung reflected on difficult times in the film industry, recalling a three-year period without work, and thanked his wife and daughter for their support.
