Ernest Kao

Thousands of Hongkongers have taken to the streets to protest against a controversial proposal to spend up to $64 billion to build an artificial chain of islands in the middle of the sea. At the peak of the Sunday rally, police estimated that 5,800 demonstrators took part. Some held signs and banners in the shape of white elephants, which is what they believe the project will be, while others dismissed the proposal as “outright robbery”. The scheme was proposed by Hong Kong’s top leader, Carrie Lam, during her annual policy address last week. At that price, the project would be much more pricier than the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial archipelago in Dubai that reportedly cost an estimated $12

China’s troubles with air pollution are well known. In the capital of Beijing, a protective face mask is an essential part of the wardrobe.  But air pollution in China is responsible for more than just an inconvenient commute. Pollution from smog-inducing ozone and fine particles may be causing 1.1 million premature deaths and 22 million tons of lost crops each year. A new study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong has tallied up the costs of air pollution attributed to the impact on public health and reduced crop yields. The combined result is the equivalent of shaving an estimated 267 billion yuan ($38 billion) off the Chinese economy annually, researchers said. “This is a fairly large

Hong Kong has been rocked by its first shooting in years, in a family dispute turned daylight murder in a Hong Kong park. In a city with stringent gun control laws, shootings are almost unheard-of. But Ada Tsim Sum-kit, a 44-year-old bodyguard, allegedly shot dead an elderly aunt and uncle and wounded two other relatives during a family meeting on Tuesday afternoon. She had arranged to meet her aunts and uncles, all aged between 60 and 80, in the public park to settle a dispute over her grandmother’s inheritance, which was a $1 million apartment. When the meeting broke up without agreement shortly before 3pm, the woman is said to have pulled out what is believed to be a semi-automatic Beret