A 67-year-old man has been handed a two-month jail term, suspended for 24 months, after he pleaded guilty to resharing a social media post urging a boycott of the 2025 “patriots only” legislative elections.

According to a press release from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Lam Kin-sik admitted on Monday to inciting another person not to vote, in violation of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

Whilst it is legal to cast a blank ballot or boycott an election in Hong Kong, it is unlawful to encourage another person to do so during an election period.

Magistrate Shirley Cornelia Hung said a custodial sentence was inevitable as it was a serious offence, but it was suspended considering Lam’s guilty plea and mitigating factors such as his health condition.

Lam was among three people prosecuted by the ICAC in November after they shared social media posts by two overseas activists – Alan Keung and Tong Wai-hung – who called for a boycott of what they described as a “fake election.”

In the Monday statement, the anti-corruption watchdog said that the defendant shared a post published by Tong.

“A warrant for Tong’s arrest, who has since left Hong Kong, was earlier issued by a Magistrate upon the ICAC’s application,” the ICAC said.

See also: Hong Kong woman given suspended jail term for reposting calls to boycott legislative polls

Those found guilty of inciting another person not to vote, or to cast an invalid ballot, face up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$200,000.

In March 2021, Beijing passed legislation to ensure “patriots” govern Hong Kong. The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced a pro-Beijing vetting panel to select candidates. Authorities say the overhaul ensures the city’s stability and prosperity. But the changes also prompted international condemnation, as much of the traditional opposition remains behind bars, in self-exile or has quit politics.

Hong Kong Free Press journalism has been nominated for three prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Awards – a new record for the newspaper.

HKFP photojournalist Kyle Lam’s five shots of the Tai Po fire tragedy were nominated in the Excellence in Photography category.

In the Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting category, HKFP’s investigation into local bookstores facing simultaneous tax audits was selected as a finalist.

And Hans Tse & Kelly Ho‘s reporting on how residents of Wang Fuk Court pondered their future a month after last November’s blaze was also shortlisted for Excellence in Feature Writing.

The finalists were selected from a competitive pool of over 700 entries across English, Chinese, and Bahasa Indonesia categories, according to a Thursday SOPA press release.

“This year’s entries once again highlight the strength and diversity of our industry, with a growing number of submissions from global, regional, and small media organizations,” the press release said. “From deeply reported investigations to innovative storytelling formats, the calibre of work continues to demonstrate the vital role journalism plays in informing and connecting our communities.”

Established in 1999, the SOPA Awards recognise editorial excellence in both new media and traditional journalism in the Asia-Pacific region. HKFP has won three prizes in previous years.

The winners will be announced on June 18 at the JW Marriott Hotel. Karen Hao – award-winning journalist and best-selling author of Empire of AI – will address the event.

HKFP’s award-winning reporting

NGO Green Power has urged the Hong Kong government to better regulate ozone precursors as hot weather exacerbates air pollution across the city.

Chemical compounds – such as nitrogen oxides, methane, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and carbon monoxide – form ground-level ozone by reacting in the lower atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. Ground-level ozone attacks and inflames lung tissue, but reducing underlying pollutants prevents harmful smog.

According to a Sunday press release, Green Power’s director, Cheng Luk-ki, said VOCs – which are emitted through oil and gas operations, petrol evaporation and chemical solvents – should be better regulated.

See also: How extreme heat became the deadliest silent killer among world weather disasters

“In the future, the public’s health may be affected by both high temperatures and air quality at the same time,” the press release said.

Last week, Hong Kong sweltered amid a days-long heatwave. Whilst rain brought some respite over the weekend, the Observatory predicts highs of 35 degrees Celsius by the end of this week.

Cooling measures for hottest areas

Green Power’s review of Hong Kong’s air quality situation in 2025 found that 15 air quality monitoring stations recorded “a total of 2,080 hours at High, Very High and Serious levels – collectively referred to as ‘High Risk (HR) hours.'”

See also: How Hong Kong’s elderly face deadly heat inside cramped cage homes

Cheng said Hong Kong was affected by a northern Chinese dust storm last April, pushing up the statistics. However, the NGO also noted that overall air quality has been improving thanks to the city’s diversification away from coal towards natural gas, as well as efforts to tighten emission standards for fuel-powered vehicles.

The director said he had analysed last summer’s Air Quality Health Index data, and found that the nine days ranked as “high risk” all saw temperatures exceeding 29 degrees Celsius, “demonstrating a strong connection between heat and air quality.”

He warned that hot weather will become more frequent, as he urged the authorities to take action in the territory’s hottest districts.

The NGO recommended cooling measures in Tuen Mun, Tai Po, North District, Yuen Long and Tung Chung, “such as increasing greenery coverage, revitalising local rivers, and incorporating more ventilation corridor designs.”

See also: How extreme heat became the deadliest silent killer among world weather disasters

Hong Kong has already warmed by 1.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, research NGO Berkeley Earth says. Heat and humidity may reach lethal levels for protracted periods by the end of the century, according to a 2023 study, making it impossible to stay outdoors in some parts of the world.

Correctional officers stopped 10 detainees from attacking two others at Sai Kung’s maximum security Pik Uk Correctional Institution on Sunday, with all those involved being held in custody ahead of court hearings.

At around 1.13pm, 10 remand prisoners, aged between 17 and 20, attacked two 19-year-old remand prisoners, the government said in a statement late on Sunday evening.

“During the incident, a victim sustained injuries to his head and hand. After examination and treatment by an institution Medical Officer, he was referred to a public hospital for further treatment,” the statement said. “Another victim did not sustain any injuries. Two assailants sustained injuries to their knee and foot respectively.”

It added that the other assailants did not sustain any injuries, and the case had been reported to the police.

The 12 detainees are being held in custody over alleged offences including the manufacture of a dangerous drug, trafficking in a dangerous drug, possession of a dangerous drug, burglary and wounding with intent.

The statement did not say what caused the brawl.

Two friends who restore classic buses in Hong Kong are being forced to abandon their HK$1 million plans to resurrect a vintage double-decker.

Terrence, along with his blacksmith friend Chung, who works in the automotive industry, had hoped to restore an antique ⁠China Motor Bus Company (CMB) vehicle at their facility in the New Territories’ northwest.

“The previous owner bought it from a scrapyard when it was retired by New World First Bus around 20 years ago – we took it over in 2019,” Terrence, who only gave his first name, told HKFP last week. “The engine and gearbox still work, but the body is really rotten.”

“It is a pity, but no choice – I need to minimise expenses on hobbies as I get older. Also, we need to save our resources on bus restorations.”

In a Facebook post, they said that “the bus will treat[ed] as recycling if no-one [is] interested before [the] end of this month.”

Transport revolution

CMB upgraded its fleet in the 1960s to include the Guy Arab, a modern vehicle built in Wolverhampton, UK.

According to Terrence, a local company converted some of the fleet from single- to double-decker models. They were then deployed to meet the city’s growing population.

CMB was the first company to introduce double-deckers to Hong Kong. However, its bus operations collapsed in 1998, and it shifted to property development.

The bus franchise was taken over by New World First Bus.

New World First Bus put the Guy Arab in question to work transporting tree-cutting staff around the city. Until its retirement in 1998, workers would use its open deck to cut overgrown roadside trees.

“The bus was also on duty in Victoria Park as a police watch tower every Lunar New Year,” Terrence told HKFP.

According to a 2022 academic paper by the Education University of Hong Kong’s Chiu Chuk-yin, the fate of CMB was sealed in 1981 when Paliburg Investments attempted a hostile takeover of the firm.

“Since then, CMB has become more conservative in bus operation, and its weaknesses were thoroughly revealed in a fatal crash in 1982. When the bus drivers’ strike occurred in 1989, CMB was meant to be written off the list of public bus companies because the Hong Kong government no longer treated CMB as a reliable bus service provider,” the paper said.

The reduction in the “number of bus routes in 1993 and 1995 was the prelude to the end of CMB’s service.”

Meta has removed a series of scam ads impersonating the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) following HKFP’s enquiries.

The ads, targeting Hongkongers, appeared for weeks on Facebook. They urged users to get in touch with the global policing body if they wished to retrieve funds previously lost to scams – however, the ads were fraudulent.

The posts were published by a since-removed fake news outlet page called “Hong Kong Daily,” which falsely claimed to share an office address with HKFP.

INTERPOL told HKFP that such ads should be reported to the local police. “To confirm that INTERPOL never contacts members of the public directly, never demands money from people and never asks for bank details or any money transfer,” it said on Thursday. “Any such request or advert is fake. Members of the public should not engage and report any such emails or adverts to the local police.”

In response to HKFP on Friday, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Force said they have been “actively engaging relevant authorities to verify and remove suspicious or fraudulent websites. In the process of removing such websites, cooperation with concerned parties, including various service providers, is essential. The Hong Kong Police Force is committed to safeguarding the interests of the public by working with these service providers to suppress fraudulent messages.”

The police force is part of the INTERPOL Member State of China.

Meta’s US$3.5 bn profits from scams – report

Last year, Meta banned over 3.7 million items of ad content in Hong Kong and 134 million instances globally. Also in 2025, the tech giant took down 10.9 million accounts associated with scam centres. The company owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

A spokesperson for Meta told HKFP on Friday that ads which impersonate organisations or seek to defraud people go against its policies.

“The flagged Facebook Page and associated ads have been removed for violating our policies,” the spokesperson said. “Fighting scams on our platforms is one of our top priorities and as scammers have grown in sophistication in recent years, so have our efforts. We use AI-powered detection technology to identify and remove scam ads at scale, and we also encourage anyone who encounters suspicious ads to report them through our in-app tools.”

Nevertheless, according to a report by Reuters news agency, Meta earns US$3.5 billion (HK$27.4 billion) from just a portion of scam ads every six months.

Citing internal Meta documents, Reuters said that the social media company projected that 10 per cent of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, amounting to US$16 billion (HK$124.8 billion).

Other fraudulent ads, appearing to target scam victims, remained online as of Monday, according to HKFP’s checks.

One ad targeting Hongkongers, published by a page called “Law Help,” urged those “affected by online fraud or an unregulated broker” to submit their details.

Scammers have been posing as law enforcement officers to defraud victims.

In March, Nikkei Asia reported that mock police stations and banks had been set up at scam centres, used to fool victims interacting via video call.

Hong Kong has stepped up precautions over the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the epidemic “a public health emergency of international concern.”

The WHO said on Sunday that there had been 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in the DRC as of Saturday, in addition to a handful of apparent cases in Uganda.

The outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo virus disease, and there is currently no vaccine.

There are no confirmed cases in Hong Kong, but the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has enacted a series of precautionary measures, according to a government press release on Sunday.

Although there are no direct flights from the affected areas, “the CHP will strengthen health screening for passengers arriving on flights from Africa at the airport… Suspected cases will be immediately referred to public hospitals for isolation and treatment.”

It will also bolster public awareness and health education efforts, and provide airlines, doctors and hospitals with updated information.

The CHP advises against visiting affected regions.

Highly lethal

Ebola is transmitted to humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected animals.

The virus is highly lethal and causes haemorrhagic fever, systemic inflammation, and multi-organ failure. The case fatality rates from past outbreaks range from 25 to 90 per cent, according to the WHO – the average is 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is preparing a large-scale response to the outbreak, the humanitarian charity said in a press release on Sunday.

“The number of cases and deaths we are seeing in such a short timeframe, combined with the spread across several health zones and now across the border, is extremely concerning,” said MSF Emergency Programme Manager Trish Newport. “In Ituri, many people already struggle to access healthcare and live with ongoing insecurity, making rapid action critical to prevent the outbreak from escalating further.”

The NGO is mobilising more teams comprising medical, logistical, and support staff experienced in responding to viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks, it said.

A US fundraising platform and a coffee association are switching Taiwan’s designation to “Chinese Taipei,” in line with Beijing’s preferred naming convention for the self-ruled island it claims as its own.

GlobalGiving offers fundraising tools in over 175 countries, including China. It has over 20 nonprofit partners in Taiwan.

A spokesperson for the platform did not respond to HKFP’s enquiries as to whether they faced pressure or when the update would take effect. But they said on Wednesday: “We work with thousands of vetted non-profit partners across more than 175 countries, including China, and comply with local laws and regulations in every country where we operate. Following local requirements allows us to build trust and connection between donors and trusted and relevant organizations. “

JustGiving partner Forward Alliance – a Taiwanese national security and civil defence think tank – said on Facebook on Thursday that it had been informed by the fundraising site of the upcoming update. “The change to designate Taiwan as ‘Chinese Taipei’ is unacceptable. It is part of an ongoing campaign to diminish Taiwan internationally,” it said.

Forward Alliance added that it was liaising with other local NGOs and actively engaging with the funding platform to seek a solution.

On April 28, the Specialty Coffee Association’s World Coffee Championships (WCC) also changed the designation of Taiwan’s competitors to Chinese Taipei.

In a statement, the WCC said that the update was “in alignment with the naming conventions used by international sporting bodies,” adding that it did not affect qualification pathways, competitor eligibility or the competition experience.

Disputed status

The Republic of China (ROC) government has ruled Taiwan since 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II, ending 50 years of occupation. The ROC authorities fully retreated to the island in 1949 after being defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in the Civil War. Beijing has since claimed democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, threatening to unify it by force if necessary.

See also: Explainer – Is Taiwan a country? The self-ruled island’s disputed status

Taiwan remains a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people, with its own government, currency, borders and passports. However, only a shrinking handful of states recognise it diplomatically, as Beijing seeks to isolate the island on the world stage.

In 1981, the International Olympic Committee settled on using Chinese Taipei in order to allow Taiwan’s athletes to compete, following years of controversy. The teams compete under a generic Olympic flag.

Ten people have been injured on a flight between Brisbane, Australia and Hong Kong that encountered turbulence.

Cathay Pacific’s CX156 arrived in Hong Kong at 6.45am on Saturday, with medics boarding the plane to assess the condition of passengers and crew.

According to the flagship airline, four passengers and six cabin crew members sustained minor injuries, with eight sent to hospital.

“Medical personnel boarded the aircraft to assess the conditions of a small number of passengers and crew who reported feeling unwell, and they were provided with the utmost level of care,” a spokesperson for Cathay Pacific told HKFP on Tuesday. “We will continue to follow up and provide the necessary assistance. We are in the process of gathering more facts to better understand the circumstances, and it would not be appropriate to draw any premature conclusions at this stage.”

A video posted to social media appeared to show debris and food scattered across the floor of the aircraft.

Lam Hing Street in Kowloon Bay was filled with billowing smoke during the lunchtime rush hour on Wednesday, after a stove overheated at a restaurant.

Police told HKFP on Wednesday that eight people were on the premises at the time – all were evacuated, and no injuries were reported.

Smoke from a kitchen stove was thought to have spread rapidly through ventilation shafts. A dramatic clip on social media appeared to show smoke engulfing the area outside, reducing visibility.

The incident occurred at around 12.43pm at a ground-floor eatery.

A social media influencer and former Hong Kong resident is walking back to Hong Kong from Scotland with the goal of raising £1 million (HK$10.5 million) for Scottish charities.

Kate Barr, 30 – known on Instagram as @edukate__ – is currently in Munich, Germany, having set off from Dumfries, a town in southern Scotland, on April 19.

She is fundraising for Scottish Action for Mental Health, The Befriending Project – which tackles loneliness in the community, and The Usual Place – a specialist training academy for people with additional support needs.

“I want people to realise that normal people can do extraordinary things,” she said in a press release on Thursday.

The 10,000-mile journey will take her through Europe and Türkiye, and onto Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China. For safety reasons, she will fly over Iran and Myanmar due to ongoing conflicts.

The press release said Barr “hopes the journey inspires others to contribute in whatever way they can — whether through donations, volunteering, advocacy, or supporting local charities.”

As of Thursday, she has raised more than £800 (HK$8,400).

The Hong Kong government has announced a series of special offers and freebies covering transport, culture, retail and dining as part of the celebrations to mark the 29th anniversary of the Handover.

During Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day on July 1, residents can enjoy free rides on all trams, whilst the MTR will give away 71,000 domestic single rides in a lucky draw.

Holders of child or student Octopus cards, as well as senior citizens’ JoyYou cards, will enjoy special Airport Express offers. Several ferry routes will be free of charge, with vouchers to be distributed in advance, according to a Tuesday government press release.

Several fee-charging facilities of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Wetland Park will offer free admission. Designated exhibitions at M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum will also be free.

Ticket offers will also be provided by The Peak Tram, Ngong Ping 360, Ocean Park Hong Kong and Tai Kwun.

Free guided tours, dining, consumption and accommodation offers will be on offer from mid-June to early July. Moreover, over 1,000 restaurants and merchants are expected to provide dining offers, alongside government-run public markets.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Jockey Club will hold the Hong Kong Reunification Raceday at Sha Tin Racecourse on July 1. Both the Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses will be free to enter.

“The Government thanks various sectors for actively responding to its call by launching special offers and activities to celebrate with the public the HKSAR’s 29th anniversary,” the statement said.

Traditionally a day of mass protest, the last July 1 pro-democracy march was held in 2019, before the enactment of the security law a year later.

Full details of this year’s offers and events can be found at www.hksar29.gov.hk, with more announcements to come.