More than half of Hong Kong’s 78 semi-private schools have applied to increase class sizes and student numbers to admit more non-locals as part of the city’s drive to become an international education hub. The Education Bureau said on Monday that it has received an “enthusiastic response” to its earlier invitation to all Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools to take in more non-local pupils. The initiative, first outlined in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address last year, allows DSS...

Members of Hong Kong’s Housing Authority have urged the government to clarify how a proposal to resettle residents displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po at a site designated for public rental flats will not impact the thousands currently on the waiting list. They made the call on Monday during a meeting of the public body, during which Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin identified the site, also in Tai Po, as a “good choice” for the long-term resettlement of the 5,000-odd...

A Hong Kong travel blogger whose brief disappearance during a solo trip to protest-hit Iran has triggered a heated online debate over the safety of women travelling alone to politically volatile nations. More female solo travellers took to the internet on Sunday to share their experiences and feelings on visiting Iran for leisure, as the country became embroiled in social unrest and was isolated from the rest of the world. Hong Kong authorities on Saturday night confirmed the missing blogger...

Hong Kong will sign an accord with Shanghai next week to establish a cross-border gold trade clearing system, a move the finance chief has said will bolster the city’s push to become an international trading hub for the precious metal. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed on Sunday that the city and the Shanghai Gold Exchange would sign a memorandum of understanding at next week’s Asian Financial Forum to pave the way for greater connectivity between the two markets. “We are accelerating...