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Joyce Man

NGOs and rights advocates say a new screening mechanism put in place nearly a year ago is not doing enough to help people seeking asylum in Hong Kong.

There are echoes in Hong Kong's 'umbrella movement' of the Euromaidan street protests in Ukraine against an unpopular leader, but  also obvious differences, starting with what both achieved. Words and pictures by Joyce Man.

Joyce Man says Beijing's decision on democracy has dashed hopes in her hometown Hong Kong - and now many people, including her, will consider leaving the city they love.

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Language courses allow visitors to soak up Germany's culture while honing a useful skill - and if it all becomes a bit too much, a beer garden is never far away. Joyce Man reports.

A girl of about five shocked passengers on the MTR on Tuesday night as she squatted and urinated on a train before alighting with her mother, who appeared to do little to stop her.

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Investment in residential property in Germany rose 84 per cent to €11.25 billion (HK$108.5 billion) last year compared to a year earlier, according to a CBRE report. The first quarter of this year saw transaction volumes fall by 36 per cent to €1.66 billion compared to the previous quarter due to short supply, but that was still the highest quarterly result since the Lehman Brothers minibond crisis of 2008.

"If you analyse the last 10 years, the thinking in China has shifted more and more towards renewables. I see that renewables are getting to the markets quicker than expected and nuclear energy is getting to the markets slower than expected," said Karsten Sach, deputy director general for European and international environment policy at the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Henry Tang Ying-yen pledged support for his wife yesterday as she appeared in court over alleged breaches of buildings regulations in relation to a basement in their Kowloon Tong home.

While the dockers' strike has shown the determination of some unionists, government's cosiness with bosses means scales are tipped against them. The public has rallied to the striking workers' cause, with donations of more than HK$5.3 million and shows of support in the form of protests and pledges to boycott ParknShop supermarkets which, like Hongkong International Terminals, is part of tycoon Li Ka-shing's empire.

A few hours after they set up tents outside the building's main entrance in Central, contractor Global Stevedoring Service said in a statement it "honestly cannot offer [the] 20 per cent rise" demanded by the strikers.

Tourism Australia has received nearly 11,000 applications from Hongkongers eager to nail one of six coveted jobs Down Under. The call for entries to the "Best Jobs in the World" competition ended on Wednesday.

A South African tourist who pulled a driver out of a taxi he had hired during the Rugby Sevens and drove off got a two-month suspended sentence yesterday after pleading guilty to drink-driving and other charges.

With more court cases being heard in Chinese, lawyers who know only English say the amount of work available for them has dropped, causing some to earn less, go into early retirement or move abroad.

A judge asked yesterday why he should accede to TVB's request to intervene in ongoing government deliberations on the issuance of new licences for free-television stations.

A judge yesterday rejected businessman Carson Yeung Ka-sing's legal challenge over the venue of his upcoming money-laundering trial as "frivolous" and an abuse of process. Yeung, the owner of English football club Birmingham City, is due to stand trial in the District Court on April 29 for alleged money laundering of more than HK$720 million.

The city has accepted its first torture claim since enhancing its screening system four years ago, a move that advocates of asylum seekers view as good news, yet far from sufficient.

A giant duck reminiscent of a childhood toy is paddling its way round the world, bringing a message of harmony without borders. It "knows no frontiers, doesn't discriminate against people and doesn't have a political connotation", said its creator, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

An unemployed man appeared in court yesterday morning charged with murdering his parents, along with another unemployed man, in whose home the killings allegedly occurred. Henry Chau Hoi-leung, 29, and Tse Chun-kei, 35, entered no pleas at Kowloon City Court.