Amber rainstorm warning issued as heavy showers hit Hong Kong

Weather forecaster warns heavy rain may bring about flash floods, urging people to stay away from watercourses

Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has issued an amber rainstorm signal, warning that flash floods may hit some low-lying and poorly drained areas.

The Hong Kong Observatory raised the warning at 7.30am on Tuesday, which means heavy rain exceeding 30 millimetres has fallen or is expected to fall across the city.

“Heavy rain may bring about flash floods. People should stay away from watercourses. People who are likely to be affected by flooding should take necessary precautions to avoid losses,” it said.

The area of intense thundery showers associated with an active southwesterly airstream is affecting the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary, according to the Observatory.

More than 20 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over Hong Kong’s New Territories in the morning. Over 50 millimetres, meanwhile, were recorded over Shenzhen and even exceeded 150 millimetres over Zhongshan and Zhuhai.

Puppy’s death sparks calls for Hong Kong to quickly tighten animal cruelty laws

Two-month-old Doberman puppy was found abandoned in a park with infections caused by ear cropping

The calls for urgent amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance on Monday followed the death last week of a two-month-old female Doberman puppy from infections caused by ear cropping.

The puppy was found abandoned in Cherry Street Park near Yau Ma Tei with 8cm (3 inch) incisions in its ears, which had been poorly stitched and glued to a paper cup to keep them upright.

Mark Mak Chi-ho, founder of the non-profit-making Veterinary Services Society, said ear clipping and tail docking were still very common in Hong Kong.

Historically, ear cropping was done in some working dog breeds to prevent injury.

But nowadays, owners subjected Dobermans, which have naturally floppy ears, to ear cropping for aesthetic purposes, Mak said.

China firm sparks outrage by fining workers for looking in mirrors, eating at desks

Senior furniture firm boss issues stinging notice warning of on-the-spot sackings and salary reductions for slacking staff

A senior executive from a well-known home furnishing company in China has sparked online controversy by announcing a series of bizarre workplace rules.

Among the strange requirements are fines for looking in the mirror and eating snacks during work hours. The rules also require staff to clock in six times a day.

The controversy unfolded in May after it was revealed online that a senior executive in the e-commerce department of Man Wah Holdings Ltd, surnamed Liu, had issued a notice.

It banned eating at work, mandated overtime, required six daily clock-ins and said staff unwilling to comply should resign.

Founded in 1992, Man Wah Holdings is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and is based in Guangdong province in southern China.

The company specialises in sofas, mattresses and panel furniture. It employs 27,000 people.

One of its best-known brands signed Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau Tak-wah as a brand ambassador in 2016.

Will China’s ‘emergent’ jobs help its youths find stable work?

New recognised roles – particularly in culture and tourism – have been touted as helping fill employment gaps, but opinions are mixed

The city of Xian in western China – renowned as the country’s ancient capital and home of the Terracotta Army – has long been a prime destination for tourists from home and abroad. But Chang Youli, a stylist of traditional Chinese clothing (hanfu) based in the city, has noticed many people are joining her trade to cater to a particular type of traveller.

“Thanks to government promotions, the tourism industry here has grown, and more people are coming to experiencehanfu,” said Chang, who now runs her own make-up studio. “It has inevitably led to more competition, but it also helps more people know about our culture.”

Tourists visiting Xian’s city wall or other heritage sites often spend half a day or more dressing up,applying make-up and posing with notable landmarks. A cottage industry has developed to meet this new demand, employing costumiers, make-up artists and photographers – with some enterprising minds packaging these services together for an all-in-one experience.

Roughly 306 million trips were made to the city last year, generating tourism income of 376 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 10.3 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively.

Fatal virus fears rise in Japan after first suspected animal-to-human SFTS death

A Japanese veterinarian’s puzzling death from SFTS highlights the danger of this tick-borne virus for which there is no known cure

The vet, who has not been named, developed symptoms of the virus after treating a cat at his practice in Mie prefecture in May, an official of the Japan Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA) confirmed. The vet was hospitalised but died a few days later.

Puzzlingly, an autopsy did not find the telltale tick bite that typically transmits the virus, while the cat’s owner and other staff at the clinic have not displayed any symptoms.

“We are still not absolutely sure how this infection happened and the ministry of health is working with prefectural authorities to determine all the details,” said Daisuke Tsukamoto, a spokesman for the JVMA.

“We have been working with our members in Mie prefecture to try to find out more, and we quickly issued an alert to our members to share as much information about SFTS and how to avoid being infected,” he told This Week in Asia.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) – a research institute affiliated with Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare – has also issued a 17-page report for veterinarians detailing what to look out for in infected animals, the precautions that should be taken to avoid being bitten by a tick, the dangers of exposure to fluids from an infected animal and the safest way to dispose of a dead animal.

Hong Kong woman, 51, dies after being trapped under truck in bus stop crash

Dashcam video shows truck swerving across lanes before crashing into bus stop along Chatham Road North and killing woman

A 51-year-old Hong Kong woman has died after getting trapped under a truck that rammed into a bus stop, as police search for the driver who fled the scene.

The force said the accident occurred at around 6.30am on Tuesday along Chatham Road North in Hung Hom.

A truck driver travelling in the direction of Yau Ma Tei near Fat Kwong Street suddenly lost control and steered towards the bus stop, hitting two women.

The victim was rescued from beneath the vehicle by firefighters and transported to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she was pronounced dead later.

The other woman, 33, suffered injuries to her limbs and was also taken to the same hospital for a check-up.

In a dashboard camera footage circulating online, the vehicle appears to have lost control after skidding and swerving across the slow lane, narrowly avoiding a bus.

Singapore study reveals 1 in 4 young people have self-harmed

Cutting and severe scratching were among the most common forms of self-injury, the report found

The findings, published in March, were drawn from a national study conducted by Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health (IMH) involving 2,600 respondents. It categorised behaviours such as cutting, burning, hitting or other forms of deliberate self-harm as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI).

The median age that such self-harm starts is 14, while males typically have a second peak at around age 18, according to the study.

Roughly 11.6 per cent of respondents reported engaging in self-harm at least five times.

Cutting was the most prevalent form of self-injury, cited by about 13.5 per cent of respondents, followed by severe scratching, self-punching and headbanging.

Although NSSI is not formally classified as a mental disorder, experts have cautioned that it often reflects underlying psychological distress. Swapna Verma, chairman of IMH’s medical board, told The Straits Times that young people may turn to self-harm when overwhelmed by emotions they are unable to manage in healthier ways.

Hubble Studies a Spiral’s Supernova Scene

This serene spiral galaxy hides a cataclysmic past. The galaxy IC 758, shown in this NASA/ESAHubble Space Telescopeimage, is situated 60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

Hubble captured this image in 2023. IC 758 appears peaceful, with its soft blue spiral arms curving gently around its hazy barred center. However, in 1999, astronomers spotted a powerful explosion in this galaxy. The supernova SN 1999bg marked the dramatic end of a star far more massive than the Sun.

Researchers do not know exactly how massive this star was before it exploded, but will use these Hubble observations to measure the masses of stars in SN 1999bg’s neighborhood. These measurements will help them estimate the mass of the star that went supernova. The Hubble data may also reveal whether SN 1999bg’s progenitor star had a companion, which would provide additional clues about the star’s life and death.

A supernova represents more than just the demise of a single star — it’s also a powerful force that can shape its neighborhood. When a massive star collapses, triggering a supernova, its outer layers rebound off its shrunken core. The explosion stirs the interstellar soup of gas and dust out of which new stars form. This interstellar shakeup can scatter and heat nearby gas clouds, preventing new stars from forming, or it can compress them, creating a burst of new star formation. The cast-off layers enrich the interstellar medium, from which new stars form, with heavy elements manufactured in the core of the supernova.

Claire Andreoli(claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center,Greenbelt, MD

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

“Cosmic Dawn” Screening at Greenbelt Cinema

Attendees line up to enter the theater for a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of theJames Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Following the screening, Jacob Pinter, host ofNASA’s Curious Universe podcast, led a discussion with Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, and Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for Webb.

Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA, DoD Practice Abort Scenarios Ahead of Artemis II Moon Mission

NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) teamed up June 11 and 12 to simulate emergency procedures they would use to rescue theArtemis IIcrew in the event of a launch emergency. The simulations, which took place off the coast of Florida and were supported by launch and flight control teams, are preparing NASA to send four astronauts around the Moon and back next year as part of the agency’s first crewed Artemis mission.

The team rehearsed procedures they would use to rescue the crew during an abort of NASA’s Orion spacecraft while the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is still on the launch pad, as well as during ascent to space. A set of test mannequins and a representative version of Orion called theCrew Module Test Article, were used during the tests.

The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flight controllers in mission control at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as the mission management team, all worked together, exercising their integrated procedures for these emergency scenarios.

“Part of preparing to send humans to the Moon is ensuring our teams are ready for any scenario on launch day,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s assistant deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, and who also is chair of the mission management team for Artemis II. “We’re getting closer to our bold mission to send four astronauts around the Moon, and our integrated testing helps ensure we’re ready to bring them home in any scenario.”

The launch pad abort scenario was up first. The teams conducted a normal launch countdown before declaring an abort before the rocket was scheduled to launch. During a real pad emergency, Orion’s launch abort system would propel Orion and its crew a safe distance away and orient it for splashdown before the capsule’s parachutes would then deploy ahead of a safe splashdown off the coast of Florida.

For the simulated splashdown, the test Orion with mannequins aboard was placed in the water five miles east of Kennedy. Once the launch team made the simulated pad abort call, two Navy helicopters carrying U.S. Air Force pararescuers departed nearby Patrick Space Force Base. The rescuers jumped into the water with unique DoD and NASA rescue equipment to safely approach the spacecraft, retrieve the mannequin crew, and transport them for medical care in the helicopters, just as they would do in the event of an actual pad abort during the Artemis II mission.

The next day focused on an abort scenario during ascent to space.

The Artemis recovery team set up another simulation at sea 12 miles east of Kennedy, using the Orion crew module test article and mannequins. With launch and flight control teams supporting, as was the Artemis II crew inside a simulator at Johnson, therescueteam sprung into action after receiving the simulated ascent abort call and began rescue procedures using a C-17 aircraft and U.S. Air Force pararescuers. Upon reaching the capsule, the rescuers jumped from the C-17 with DoD and NASA unique rescue gear. In an actual ascent abort, Orion would separate from the rocket in milliseconds to safely get away prior to deploying parachutes and splashing down.

Rescue procedures are similar to those used in theUnderway Recovery Testconducted off the California coast in March. This demonstration ended with opening the hatch and extracting the mannequins from the capsule, so teams stopped without completing the helicopter transportation that would be used during a real rescue.

Exercising procedures for extreme scenarios is part of NASA’s work to execute its mission and keep the crew safe. Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.