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 New end-of-life care law to recognize patients’ treatment refusals from July 31

Hong Kong’s new end-of-life care law will take effect on July 31, allowing mentally capable adults to make legally binding advance medical directives refusing specified life-sustaining treatments.

Dental group warns of risks as more Hongkongers seek care in Shenzhen

Nearly one in 10 Hongkongers has received dental treatment in Shenzhen, while local dentists are increasingly handling follow-up cases after patients return from the mainland, according to a new survey.

Hong Kong passport ranks 14th globally as Asia dominates travel index

Hong Kong has retained the strongest passport among Greater China economies, ranking 14th globally with access to 174 destinations without the need to obtain a visa in advance.

Targeted airport surveillance could speed variant detection by three days: HKU

Targeted genomic surveillance of transit passengers at two major aviation hubs could accelerate the global detection of emerging viral variants by about 2.6 to 3.3 days, according to a University of Hong Kong study.

New Territories temperatures hit 33°C as stormy weekend looms

Temperatures rose to around 33 degrees Celsius in parts of the New Territories at noon on Wednesday, with mainly fine and very hot weather forecast for the afternoon.

Business Today

Cathay Pacific flags stronger first-half profit on travel, cargo demand

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways (0293) said on Wednesday its first half profit may jump as much as 76 percent from a year earlier, boosted by strong passenger and cargo demand, improved performance from low-cost carrier HK Express and higher contributions from associates.

Hong Kong luxury rents ranks fifth globally with 4.2 pc increase in first quarter: Knight Frank

Hong Kong’s luxury home rents recorded a 4.2 percent increase year-on-year in the first quarter, ranking the world’s top five fastest-growing prime rental markets, as the market continues to demonstrate its resilience, according to Knight Frank’s Prime Global Rental Index released in July.

Link REIT sells half stake in Sydney's 100 Market Street for A$225 million

Link Real Estate Investment Trust (0883) said on Wednesday that it has agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in 100 Market Street, a Grade-A office tower in Sydney's central business district, to Aware Real Estate for A$225.88 million (HK$1.24 billion).

Yen slides past 163 to fresh four-decade low, raising intervention alert

The yen was pinned near an almost four-decade low on Wednesday as rising oil prices and US Treasury yields hoisted the dollar and left traders on edge about possible Japanese intervention.

China's fiscal revenue expands 4.7pc in first half

China's fiscal revenue rose 4.7 percent in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, the finance ministry said on Wednesday, an acceleration from growth of 4 percent seen in the January-May period.

World/China

Rubio to hold talks with China's Wang Yi as regional powers join ASEAN meet

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday during a regional gathering led by the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, where top diplomats voiced concern about renewed Middle East hostilities and tension in the South China Sea.

OpenAI reports 'unprecedented' autonomous hack by AI agents

ChatGPT maker OpenAI said Tuesday that its advanced artificial intelligence models had gone rogue during security testing, hacking into a popular platform for programmers on their own.

Meta employees' lawsuit shows that if AI fires you, proving it is the hard part

A novel lawsuit claiming that Meta Platforms relied on discriminatory AI tools to select employees for layoffs highlights the problems workers face in suing employers over the new technology, including proving how it was actually used.

Hegseth estimates cost of Iran war at $37.5 billion

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Iran war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.

India rebukes its aviation watchdog over conflict-of-interest lapses, documents show

India has reprimanded its aviation safety regulator for failing to guard against officials using their influence to help family members get jobs in the sector and for delays in disclosing such placements, government documents reviewed by Reuters show.

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