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Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedyHong KongLaw and CrimeLIVEUpdated 1 minute agoNo live streaming of Tai Po fire inquiry due to doxxing concerns: committee head
ISS EastPoint clerk says authorised votes used in ballots deciding major issues at housing estate were never verified
SCMP ReportersPublished: 10:26am, 1 Apr 2026Updated: 12:09pm, 1 Apr 20260 New UpdateIntroductionThe seventh session of the independent inquiry into last year’s fire at Wang Fuk Court – Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades – is under way with the focus turning to ISS EastPoint, the estate’s property management firm.
The blaze, which started on November 26 last year and raged through seven of Wang Fuk Court’s eight towers for about 43 hours, killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.
ISS clerk Lok Sin-ying, who was stationed at the estate, is to resume testimony on Wednesday morning before the judge-led committee.
On Tuesday, Lok told the committee she was unaware of the fire alarm system’s deactivation despite handling related shutdown notices.
Witnesses that are scheduled to appear on Wednesday include other ISS EastPoint employees, including a building attendant, a technical officer, a carpenter and an electrician.
The deactivation of the fire alarm was one of the six factors behind the tragedy flagged by the committee’s legal team’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes SC, during his two-day opening statement.
Follow our live updates on the seventh session of the evidential hearing.
Reporting by Leopold Chen and Edith Lin
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AdvertisementJapanAsiaEast AsiaJapan begins tax increases to bankroll record US$8 billion military build-up
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pledged to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of Japan’s gross domestic product
KyodoPublished: 11:40am, 1 Apr 2026Japan on Wednesday raised tobacco and corporate taxes to finance a boost in defence spending, with income tax hike set to follow in 2027 as the government projects the tax increases will add some 1.3 trillion yen (US$8 billion) annually in revenue.As the security environment surrounding Japan deteriorates and the government is set to further strengthen the country’s defence capabilities, the public is likely to face further tax burdens to finance the outlays, which have now ballooned to a record-high 9 trillion yen a year.
From Wednesday, the government added a surtax of 4 per cent after deducting 5 million yen from the corporate tax amount. The measure, estimated to raise tax revenues by 869 billion yen, will exclude small and midsize businesses with small incomes.
For heated tobacco products, the government is implementing a two-stage tax hike starting on Wednesday and again from October, aligning them with the rate for conventional cigarettes, which is currently higher.
Smokers congregate at a designated smoking area in Tokyo. Photo: EPA-EFE
It will then raise the tax rate for both heated and conventional cigarettes from April 2027 in three stages, hiking it by 0.5 yen per stick. The increases are set to expand tax revenues by 212 billion yen.
As for income tax, the government will charge an extra 1 per cent from January 2027 to secure 256 billion yen.
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U.S. exempts oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for 'national security'
U.S. could exempt oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for ‘national security’
Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5745926/nx-s1-9711248" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Rice's whales are among the most endangered whales on Earth. This photo, obtained from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by NPR through an open records act request, shows a Rice's whale in the Gulf. NOAA/SEFSC hide caption
A committee of Trump administration officials voted unanimously on Tuesday to exempt the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico from requirements of the Endangered Species Act, a move that would lift protections for endangered whales, turtles and other animals threatened with extinction.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth triggered the vote two weeks ago by asking Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to call it "for reasons of national security," and was present at the meeting.
"To be secure as a nation we need a steady, affordable supply of our own energy," Hegseth told the six members of the committee, nicknamed the God Squad for its ability to make life or death decisions about endangered animals. "This is not just about gas prices; it's about our ability to power our military and protect our nation."
Until now, oil and gas companies have been asked by federal agencies to protect Gulf species by not discarding trash into the Gulf and suspending their use of loud technology when they spot whales, among other requests.
One species of Gulf whale is particularly vulnerable. Scientists estimate that only about 51 Rice's whales are left on Earth, all of them in waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which the Trump administration has termed the Gulf of America.
On Tuesday, Dr. Neil Jacobs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Under Secretary of Commerce, made clear that oil and gas companies would no longer need to adhere to protections — for Rice's whales and any other animals previously protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Only 51 of these U.S. whales remain. Little has been done to prevent their extinction
"I want to highlight that the agency action under consideration — all oil and gas activities in the Gulf of America — encompasses the full suite of actions including various protective measures for the Rice's Whale," said Jacobs. "I will be voting to grant the exemption."
Conservation and pro-democracy groups called the vote "illegal" and characterized the national security justification as a manufactured threat.
"On the one hand, you have the oil