The Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, will visit Shanghai from August 18 to 20.

     During the visit, Ms Cheng together with Hong Kong legal and dispute resolution practitioners will meet with officials of the Shanghai Government and visit Mainland courts. They will also meet with representatives from the professional sectors in the Mainland to exchange views on legal co-operation between Shanghai and Hong Kong and other matters of mutual interest.
 
     On August 20, they will attend the "Mediate First Pledge" Event, co-organised by the Department of Justice, the Shanghai Law Society and the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Centre, in Shanghai. This is the first time the series of "Mediate First Pledge" Event to be held outside Hong Kong. Ms Cheng will speak at the event to encourage greater understanding of the concept of "mediate first" and the use of mediation by different sectors to resolve different types of disputes, as well as promoting the mediation services of Hong Kong.
      
     Ms Cheng will return to Hong Kong on August 20.

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Lantau North this morning (August 17) in which a 55-year-old foreign man died.

     At about 7.20am, a taxi driven by a 58-year-old man and a motorcycle driven by a 55-year-old foreign man were travelling in sequence along North Lantau Highway towards Kowloon. When approaching Siu Ho Wan, the motorcycle reportedly lost control and the motorcyclist fell onto the ground. He was then hit by the taxi.

     The motorcyclist was trapped under the taxi and rescued by firemen. Sustaining multiple injuries, he was rushed to North Lantau Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 8.06am.

     Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, New Territories South is underway.

     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 1300.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (August 17) that due to inclement weather, red flag has been hoisted at Hap Mun Bay Beach in Sai Kung District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (August 17):
 
Reporter: You mentioned there are grants and loans to help university students so they're not getting money this time, but it's not a new thing, there were grants and loans before and they can still get money, so why is this time so special? Or there are actually other reasons that they are not included?
 
Financial Secretary: Please be assured that I have no intention to discriminate against our university students. In the last two Budgets, I proposed to give needy students an allowance when the school term commences. The coming economic challenge is daunting. During difficult economic times, usually middle-class families and grassroots families would suffer financial hardships. Our thinking is that by giving students an allowance, we can in a way relieve the financial burden of their parents. And in fact in the past two years, when I proposed to give needy students allowances, there were proposals from the community and also from the legislature to extend the coverage to cover also other students. That is why in this round we extend the coverage of that allowance to all secondary, primary school and kindergarten students. Thank you.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

  

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     Members of the public are advised to report any street flooding that comes to their notice to the Drainage Services Department by calling the 24-hour drainage hotline on 2300 1110.