Hong Kong’s construction sector has rolled out a unified blueprint to enforce a strict, site-wide smoking ban taking effect on Friday, a major safety overhaul triggered by the deadly Tai Po fire last year.

The guidelines, released by the Hong Kong Construction Association along with eight other industry groups on Thursday, are aimed at creating a unified and clear framework to ensure that different types of work abide by the same set of principles under the new smoking ban at sites.

“The release of the guidelines marks the industry

The archipelago, located between Taiwan and the northernmost tip of the Philippine island of Luzon, was the focus of an academic discussion on June 30 at Jinan University in Guangzhou.

At the meeting, scholars from different institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the country’s top think tank, agreed that Batanes legally belonged to Taiwan and therefore fell under Chinese sovereignty, according to a news release from the university published earlier this month, which has since been deleted. They also asserted that China held sovereign rights

An animal welfare charity has apologised after facing a backlash for asking Hong Kong police to help remove videos of a dog and its pups being killed in mainland China, with the group accused of undermining efforts to raise public awareness of the case.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) issued the apology on Wednesday night after social media users argued that taking down the videos would suppress evidence.

The footage circulating online appeared to show at least four boys, whom authorities later said were all under the age of