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☆ Hong Kong’s first transgender singer-songwriter seeks voice through music
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG — Xavian Wu, Hong Kong’s first high-profile transgender singer-songwriter, sought to use the city’s annual LGBTQ Pink Dot HK carnival on Sunday to share his story through music. I don’t want to hide,” Wu told Reuters. He started enjoying music and performing when he was a teenager. After seeking medical advice, he started taking testosterone in 2018 and finished top surgery in Thailand in 2020. Wu said he was incredibly fortunate to have his mother accompany him to Thailand and support him.

Persons: Xavian Wu, Hong Kong’s, Wu, ” Wu, “, women’s, Music Organizations: Dot, Reuters Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Thailand

☆ Visiting China in 2024: A guide to visas, mobile payments and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

We’ve put together a guide to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding China travel. China travel FAQsDo you need a visa to go to China? However, travelers visiting under these visa-free transit programs have more restrictions in terms of places they can visit. Exploring the country via China’s vast high-speed railway network is not an option for those entering under the two transit visa schemes. Beijing, China's capital city, accepts international travelers visiting under the 144-hour visa-free transit program.

Persons: it’s, ”, Denny Tian, Gabriela Correia, Correia, Tian, Greg Baker, Correira, ” Gabriela Correia, David Tucker, We’ve, John Seaton Callahan, China ’, Kevin Frayer, –, ” Correira, you’ve, Didi, Uber, Yan Cong, China’s Organizations: CNN, Immigration Administration, China, Google, Getty, “, Service, Shanghai Hongqiao, Hong Kong, Hong, Hong Kong Immigration, Travelers, Facebook, ”, Publishing, United, US, Baidu, Apple, China Railway, Bloomberg Locations: China, Beijing, Portugal, Shanghai, AFP, “, Hunan, Singapore, Thailand, Austria, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, New York, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong, Macau, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Asia, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region, Hainan, China's, Hawaii, ”, Canada

☆ Hong Kong transgender activist gets new male ID after yearslong legal battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Monday, Tse finally picked up a new ID card that registered his gender as male at Hong Kong’s immigration office. The 33-year-old activist, who holds both British and Hong Kong passports, identifies as a man and has lived as a man for years. His British passport identifies him as male but Hong Kong authorities refused to make that change for the city’s identity card, which is compulsory for all residents. So in 2017, Tse took legal action against the Hong Kong government, which fought the case all the way. LGBTQ activists in Hong Kong have long questioned why they must keep fighting through the courts to gain recognition and equality, but they have nonetheless seen repeated successes.

Persons: Henry Tse, Tse, –, ” Tse, Hong, ”, Xi Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, British, Hong, Appeal, CNN, Kong’s Immigration Department, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, Hong, East Asia, Kong’s, Tse’s, China, Taiwan, Asia, Japan

☆ South Korea records record number of Russians seeking asylum
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Seoul, South Korea CNN —A record number of Russians are seeking asylum in South Korea, according to South Korean authorities, with applications surging fivefold last year as Russians became the largest group seeking refuge in the East Asian country. A total of 5,750 Russian nationals sought asylum in South Korea in 2023, according to a report released earlier this month by the Korean Immigration Service. That’s five times higher than the 1,038 who sought protection in 2022 – and more than the total number of asylum applications from Russians recorded between 1994 and 2019. And the trend has continued into this year, with Russians making up the biggest group seeking asylum in January. In the past three decades, just 4,052 people have been recognized as refugees in South Korea from more than 103,000 asylum applications, according to the report.

Persons: South Korea CNN — Organizations: South Korea CNN, South, Korean Immigration Service, Immigration Service, Incheon International Airport, South Korean Justice Ministry, CNN, Customs, Protection Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Korean, Soviet, United States, Moscow

☆ Spending in Shenzhen: Chinese used to escape to this former British colony. Now Hongkongers are heading in the opposite direction
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Chris Lau | Veronica Lin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Hong Kong CNN —With Hong Kong’s sky-high cost of living, residents like Andy Tsui have been looking for alternative ways to have more fun and spend less. Rather than spending his cash in his hometown of Hong Kong, he’s been crossing the border into mainland China to splurge instead. Such trips are noteworthy because, for much of Hong Kong’s modern history, the traffic has been largely — conspicuously, even — in the other direction. Hong Kong used to be the place where Chinese would escape to, not from. In 2023, just 26 million mainlanders — about half of the 2018 crowd — visited Hong Kong.

Persons: Andy Tsui, he’s, boba, ” Tsui, Justin Robertson, Noemi Cassanelli, CNN Hong Kong’s, Hong Kong —, misbehaving, —, ”, Steve Tsang, Hong, Shenzhen’s, Hongkongers, Gilles Sabrie, Hongkonger Eddy Lam, Lam, Cherrie Leung, Qilai Shen, Hugo Sin, “, Gary Ng, John Lee, Tsang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, Shoppers, Yuen, Britain, Newspapers, Hong, Hong Kong Immigration Department, China Institute, SOAS University, Huawei, Tencent, Bloomberg, Getty, Sam’s Club, Costco, Sam’s, Walmart, Hong Kong, Shenzhen hasn’t, Xinhua, RTHK, SOAS University of London Locations: Hong Kong, China, splurge, Peking, Shenzhen, East, Hong, People’s Republic of China, British, Beijing, London, Bay Area, San Francisco , New York, Tokyo, Kowloon, Coco, Shanghai, “, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan, Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong’s, Britain, Canada, Australia, Bay, ”

☆ This city never slept. Now with China tightening its grip, is the party over?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

China’s message at the time was that even if change was coming to Hong Kong, its spirit of “anything goes” would be staying put. People gather outside a restaurant on a near-empty street in the Soho area of Hong Kong. Officials say they were “fluorescent.”A Hong Kong government spokesman told CNN this week that the activities were “well-received by local residents and tourists”. Under Hong Kong’s pandemic restrictions, live music was all but banned in small venues for more than 650 days. Months before the virus emerged, China had been tightening its grip on Hong Kong in response to pro-democracy protests that had spread throughout the city.

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☆ Meet the typical Hong Kong millennial: They're supporting their parents, can't afford to buy homes, and have zero interest in moving to mainland China
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Faye Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

He earns 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars a year, or $191,000, including the base salary and three months' bonus — well above the average annual salary in Hong Kong. A protester on June 12, 2019 in Hong Kong when crowds gathered in central Hong Kong as the city braced for another mass rally. Anthony Kwan/Getty ImagesThe Hong Kong protests took place between 2019 and 2020, with many students and adults taking to the streets to fight back against the government's decision to introduce an extradition bill between Hong Kong and China. University of Hong Kong was ranked 31st and Chinese University of Hong Kong was 45, on the World University Rankings in 2023. Hong Kong millennials struggle to prioritize well-being, according to a survey run by British health insurance company Bupa.

Persons: Hong Kong's, Ken Ho, Hong Kongers, Ho, Kongers, —, hasn't, Summer Ng, Tau Kok, Ng, Hong, Kong's, Getty, Hong Kong millennials, it's, Aniqah Bhatnagar, Bhatnagar, Wilson Ho, Wilson Ho Wilson, Kai Tak, Anthony Kwan, Xu Huang, Huang, millennials, Gen Zs, Morgan McKinley, Zurine Lau, I'm, Yuen Long, Lau, Nick Shin Nick Shin, Tai Koo, They're Organizations: Service, University College London, Imperial College London, Fidelity Investments, Hong, HK, BBC, Property Management, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Deloitte Global, Statistics Department, University of Hong Kong, University of Hong, World, Family Planning Association, millennials, Hong Kong Free Press, CNN Locations: Hong Kong, Wall, Silicon, Kennedy Town, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong's, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, British, Asia, Hong, millennials, India, Kowloon, Kai, China, Singapore, Sydney, South America, ymgerman, South Korea, Hong Kong . Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Tai

But five months later, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada has risen instead of falling. But it has sought to discourage those applying for asylum, chiefly through an agreement with the U.S. under which each country turns back asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are drawn by Canada's reputation for swifter processing and greater acceptance of asylum applications compared to the U.S. But overall, the number of asylum seekers entering Canada has surged. People applying at airports comprised about a third of all refugee claims made in July, up from about 16% in March.

Persons: Shauna Labman, Joe Biden's, Craig Damian Smith, Remi Lariviere, Lariviere, Abdulla Daoud, Loly Rico, Hana Bakhit, Maureen Silcoff, Silcoff, Grace Nanziri, Anna Mehler, Denny Thomas, Deepa Babington Organizations: Reuters, Human, University of Winnipeg, U.S, European Union, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, FCJ Refugee, REUTERS, Refugee Centre, FCJ, Thomson Locations: Canada, U.S, Toronto, Quebec, New York, United States, Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, Colombia, India, Rwanda, Montreal, Canada's, Sudan, Uganda

☆ I tried TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR. Here's the best option and which ones I think are worth the money.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jesse Collier | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Jesse Collier tried Global Entry, CLEAR, and TSA PreCheck. The three most common options for an expedited airport visit include CLEAR, TSA PreCheck, and Global Entry. If you have TSA Precheck on top of CLEAR, you will cut the TSA Precheck line, but if you don't, you'll be in the regular line. If you have TSA Precheck on top of CLEAR, you will cut the TSA Precheck line, but if you don't, you'll be in the regular line. Airport travel is always going to be a stressor for many, but TSA Precheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR make things a little easier.

Persons: Jesse Collier, Collier, you'll, it's, I'm, slog, I've Organizations: TSA, San Jose Airport, LAX, U.S ., U.S . Customs, Customs, Immigration, TSA PreCheck, Global Locations: United States, there's

☆ Hong Kong restricts foreign lawyers from national security cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's legislature passed a legal amendment on Wednesday to prevent foreign lawyers working on national security cases, a restriction critics say will undermine fair trials and the right of defendants to choose their lawyers. The amendment enshrines in law a ruling from China's top lawmaking body last December that Hong Kong courts must get the approval of the city's leader before admitting a foreign lawyer without Hong Kong qualifications for national security cases. It would also discourage some foreign lawyers from getting Hong Kong restricts foreign lawyers from national security casesinvolved, he said. "The vague definition of 'cases concerning national security' in the bill implies that the government can arbitrarily use the new powers to allow or prohibit foreign lawyers from taking up local cases, whatever civil or criminal, on the over-broad ground of 'national security'," Lai said. Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after months of anti-government protests.

Immigration lawyer Ksenia Tchern's office is getting calls from worried clients, she said. The delay caused by the strike comes as Canada's immigration system is playing catch-up from pandemic delays. Immigration department spokespeople, whose work has been affected by the strike, could not provide details on the strike's impacts on immigration services. An immigration system perceived to be dysfunctional could complicate efforts to woo talented immigrants, said immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann. "It just gives our immigration system a black eye.

☆ Hong Kong transgender protesters say government is not abiding by landmark ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - A group of Hong Kong transgender people staged a small protest on Friday against a delay by authorities in changing the gender indicated on their identity documents, saying they have yet to be fully recognised despite a landmark court ruling in February. "The government is using administrative tactics to deliberately delay the whole process," Tse told Reuters. Another protester, Emery Fung, 28, who has a gender marker change application pending, said he had not been given a timeline despite trying to ask the authorities numerous times. The department would not confirm whether it had suspended applications for gender marker changes since the ruling, as reported by media, nor say how many people were affected. 'HUGE PRESSURE'Kelley Loper, an expert in human rights law at the University of Hong Kong, criticised the government's failure to implement the decision swiftly.

☆ Hong Kong businesses cheer China reopening, but warn there’s a long way to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Kiki Yang brought an empty green suitcase from Shenzhen to Hong Kong this week to load up on new purchases for her family and friends. On Sunday, residents of Hong Kong and mainland China were permitted to resume two-way, quarantine-free travel after three years, albeit in limited numbers. Sa Sa, which counts Hong Kong and Macao combined as its top market, has seen sales roughly halve since 2019. The move is the latest effort by Hong Kong to rebuild its status as a global business hub. Currently, as part of a gradual reopening, Hong Kong has a quota of 60,000 visitor arrivals from mainland China each day.

☆ Serial killer Charles ‘The Serpent' Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was released from a Nepal prison on Friday after nearly two decades behind bars. Sobhraj was driven out of Central Jail in Kathmandu by a cavalcade of police cars a little after midday, Ishwari Prasad Pandey, a jailor at the Central Jail, told Reuters. His notoriety and exploits have been the subject of several dramatizations, including a Netflix and BBC joint production released last year. Sobhraj escaped from India’s Tihar jail in 1986 after drugging prison guards with cookies and cakes laced with sleeping pills. “Jail authorities will hand him over to the department of immigration today,” Sobhraj’s lawyer, Chintan told Reuters earlier on Friday.

☆ Charles 'The Serpent' Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Police officers escort Charles Sobhraj, a French national known as 'the Serpent', accused of killing over 20 young Western backpackers across Asia, to the Department of Immigration after he was released from prison, following an order of Nepal's Supreme Court, in Kathmandu, Nepal December 23, 2022. REUTERS/Chandra Bahadur AleKATHMANDU, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was released from a Nepal prison on Friday after nearly two decades behind bars. Sobhraj was driven out of Central Jail in Kathmandu by a cavalcade of police cars a little after midday, Ishwari Prasad Pandey, a jailor at the Central Jail, told Reuters. Sobhraj escaped from India's Tihar jail in 1986 after drugging prison guards with cookies and cakes laced with sleeping pills. "Jail authorities will hand him over to the department of immigration today," Sobhraj's lawyer, Chintan told Reuters earlier on Friday.

☆ 'The Serpent' Charles Sobhraj due to be set to be free from Nepal prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] French serial killer Charles Sobhraj leaves Kathmandu district court after his hearing in Kathmandu May 31, 2011. Sobhraj denied killing the American woman and his lawyers said the charge against him was based on assumption. Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his release from prison, where he has served 19 years of his 20-year sentence, citing his age. Sobhraj is expected to walk out of a high-security prison in Kathmandu after 10 a.m. (0415 GMT), his lawyer Ram Bandhu Sharma, told Reuters. He was also known as "the serpent" because of his ability to disguise himself following his escape from a prison in India in the mid-1980s.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Malaysia deported 150 Myanmar nationals this month, including former navy officers seeking asylum, and plans to send back more despite the risk of arrest they face at home, four sources familiar with the matter said. The two were deported from Malaysia for failing to hold valid documents to reside in the country, the sources said. Myanmar's embassy in Malaysia said in a post on Facebook that 150 Myanmar nationals were deported by plane on Oct. 6 in cooperation with Malaysian immigration authorities. The agency did not comment on dangers faced by Myanmar nationals deported back home. Despite such criticism, Malaysia is planning to deport more Myanmar nationals, according to community leaders who said they were briefed by authorities on planned deportations.

☆ Thailand denies entry to model who denounced Myanmar junta in pageant speech
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Han Lay, Miss Grand Myanmar looks on during an interview with Reuters in Bangkok, Thailand, April 2, 2021. Han Lay, who captured international attention last year with a moving beauty pageant speech calling for urgent help for Myanmar's people during a military crackdown, did not have a valid visa to enter Thailand, the immigration department said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNawit Itsaragrisil, founder of Thailand's Miss Grand International pageant, who also represents Han Lay, said she had been in the transit area of a Bangkok airport since Wednesday afternoon. He said Han Lay was stopped on arrival because she was subject of an Interpol notice. Interpol did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Han Lay was the subject of an Interpol notice.

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