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AdvertisementHong Kong transportHong KongTransportAspiring taxi drivers taking tests each month up 30% after simplified assessment‘The average monthly number of candidates has now risen to around 1,800,’ transport chief Mable Chan says
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAmbrose LiPublished: 6:06pm, 28 Feb 2026Updated: 6:23pm, 28 Feb 2026The average number of aspiring Hong Kong taxi drivers taking a crucial industry test each month has increased by nearly 30 per cent following the launch of a simplified version of the assessment last year, the transport minister has said.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan also said on Saturday that the government was increasing the number of dedicated meeting spaces for the city’s five premium taxi fleets at cultural and business landmarks.
“We streamlined the written test arrangements for taxi drivers last year. The average monthly number of candidates has now risen to around 1,800, representing an increase of nearly 30 per cent..

AdvertisementChina-Latin America relationsChinaDiplomacyWhy won’t Chile let China’s Silk Road Ark military hospital ship give medical aid?The vessel has sailed into Valparaiso’s waters as the geopolitical winds shift in the western hemisphere
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP1Laura ZhouPublished: 6:00pm, 28 Feb 2026The Chilean government has turned down a request from a Chinese military hospital ship to treat Chilean residents on board the vessel.The decision reflects Santiago’s tilt towards Washington and US efforts to exert more influence in the western hemisphere, according to a Chinese academic.The Chilean Ministry of Health said on Friday that it had reviewed the Silk Road Ark’s request and decided not to grant it, citing a health code that restricts such services to professionals accredited ‌in the country, Reuters reported.
Advertisement“We ⁠determined that ⁠it is not appropriate to authorise this health operation to function on the ship’s facilities,” ‌the ministry s..

. Afghanistan said on Friday it carried out drone strikes on Pakistani military establishments as fighting between the two neighbours continued. Pakistan, meanwhile, said it shot down the drones using its anti-drone systems and reported no casualties.Afghanistan's military launched attacks late Thursday along the border in six provinces. It described the action as retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes carried out on Sunday in Afghan border areas, claiming “irrefutable evidence” that militants in Afghanistan were behind a recent wave of attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan.Afghan authorities in Nangarhar province said fighting was ongoing in the Torkham border area on Friday morning.They also claimed Pakistani mortar fire hit civilian areas, including a refugee camp that had been evacuated overnight, as Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, said the country now considered itself in an “open war” with Afghanistan. Both sides gave different casualty figures. Afghanis..

Harvard University has found itself at the centre of a growing online storm after an artwork featured on its Department of South Asian Studies website drew sharp criticism and allegations of bias. The Coalition of Hindus of North America ignited the debate after calling out the university for what it described as “blatant Hinduphobia” in the visual used to represent its Elementary Sanskrit course.Taking to X, the coalition accused the university of bigotry for adding an image that feels “straight out of a horror movie,” starring a dark Hindu figure with a tilak, dangling “some sort of ghostly figurine in his hands.”The art was allocated for its course on Elementary Sanskrit, and the organisation blamed the university for introducing Sanskrit, “Hinduism’s sacred language,” in a “dark, manipulative and oppressive manner” to students, much like it introduces the religion itself.”“This is how students are introduced to Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages that has given birth to cla..