Kong

Hong Kong’s appeals court has upheld the subversion convictions and prison terms of 12 pro-democracy figures linked to the city’s biggest national security case, affirming a landmark ruling that authorities say targeted an illegal plan to paralyze government through an unofficial primary election. The three-judge panel on Monday dismissed the appeals brought by a dozen defendants from the “Hong Kong 47” case, including veteran politician “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, former journalist Gwyneth Ho and Australian citizen Gordon…

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law, drawing swift condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union and several Western governments. Lai’s son, Sebastian, said the punishment was expected but “no less devastating,” and described his 78-year-old father’s courtroom demeanor as defiantly calm. Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December on two counts of foreign collusion under…

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court sentenced pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison after convicting him under the city’s national security law, drawing swift condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union and Western governments concerned over the future of press freedom in the territory. Lai, 78, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December on two counts of foreign collusion under the sweeping security legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020, as well as one count…

Panama’s Supreme Court has annulled the legal basis for long-standing port concessions held by Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, casting uncertainty over ownership of container terminals at the Panama Canal’s Pacific and Atlantic gateways and complicating a planned $23 billion ports sale. After “extensive deliberation,” the court found the laws and acts underpinning PPC’s concession for the development, construction, operation and management of terminals at Balboa and Cristobal…

Panama’s Supreme Court has annulled the concession framework underpinning Panama Ports Company’s long-running contracts at the Panama Canal’s Atlantic and Pacific gateways, casting immediate uncertainty over who will control the Balboa and Cristóbal container terminals and complicating CK Hutchison’s proposed $23 billion sale of its global ports business to a consortium led by BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Company. In a ruling issued after what it called “extensive deliberation,” the court found the laws and state…

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday on two counts of foreign collusion and one count of seditious publication, a landmark verdict under Hong Kong’s national security law that could send the 78-year-old founder of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper to prison for life. Lai, who has been jailed since 2020, listened impassively with folded arms as a panel of national security judges delivered the verdict in one of the Chinese territory’s most closely watched trials since Beijing imposed the…

HONG KONG — The death toll from a massive blaze at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex has risen to at least 94, authorities said Tuesday, as firefighters and rescue teams scoured burned high-rises for scores of people still listed as missing in the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years. The fire, which broke out more than 24 hours earlier in the eight-building Tai Po estate, was largely brought under control but not completely extinguished, with occasional sparks and thick smoke still emerging from the charred blocks. Fire…

Hong Kong hunkers down as Super Typhoon Ragasa, 2025’s most powerful storm, barrels toward China coast Hong Kong shut schools, emptied offices and saw frantic supermarket runs on Wednesday as authorities sounded a high-end typhoon alert for Ragasa, the strongest tropical cyclone recorded so far this year. The observatory raised the signal to No. 8 — a warning that typically closes shops and halts much public transport — warning of hurricane-force winds offshore, heavy rain and potentially dangerous storm surge as the storm…