Top scorers who have secured places at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) medical school have expressed a desire to pursue both clinical care and medical research, with one student, inspired by her doctor, saying she wants to pass on “hope and courage” to society.

Their comments followed the release of the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (Jupas) results on Wednesday.

About 34 per cent of students who applied through the university admissions system secured tertiary education places this year, marking a slight drop from

Hong Kong recorded a 44 per cent year-on-year increase in fatal traffic accidents in the first half of 2026, with many cases involving elderly victims and older drivers, police said, adding that they supported tighter health check requirements for motorists.

Police said on Wednesday that the city recorded 59 fatal traffic accidents in the first half of this year, up from 41 in the same period in 2025, while the number of victims rose from 43 to 63.

A mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party has urged Washington to expand its cooperation list with Beijing rather than add to a restrictive “Covered List”, pushing back against broadening US curbs on Chinese technology exports.

“While Washington frames these measures under the banner of ‘non-discrimination’

Hong Kong labour authorities have begun testing an infrared thermal-imaging drone to detect heat sources and illegal smoking at construction sites, with plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) to identify smoking workers.

Since the total site smoking ban took effect on July 17, about 1,400 construction sites have been inspected as of Tuesday, according to Wan Chi-ping, assistant commissioner for labour.

Authorities issued 39 fixed-penalty notices and 11 improvement notices to contractors, while two cases are now undergoing