Briefs | Christmas decorations cause fire

Christmas lighting on the top floor of Sintra Hotel caused fire at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, blackening the exterior wall of the building.  According to a TDM report, some fragments of the lighting also fell onto the balcony below, causing parts of it to also catch fire. According to the Fire Services Bureau, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the wire on the top floor. No guests were evacuated or injured in the incident.

Three arrested over fake chips

Police arrested three Hong Kong residents for attempting to cash in fake casino chips valued at HKD100,000. The Judiciary Police said that the cage staff discovered the chip model had been suspended and it did not contain a security feature. Although the suspects claimed that they had no idea the chips were fake, they admitted that they had been commissioned by friends from Hong Kong to exchange the chips and would receive HKD10,000 each in return. The case was sent to the Public Prosecution Office and the suspects were charged with fraud.

Fu Ziying appointed Liaison Office head

The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced on Friday the appointment of Fu Ziying as director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macau Special Administrative Region. The post had been left vacant earlier this year when the head of the Liaison Office Zheng Xiaosong commited suicide in Macau. Fu Ziying was serving as China International Trade Representative and vice Minister of Commerce. The State Council also announced the appointment of Deng Zhonghua as the deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, replacing Feng Wei.

Online purchasing of train tickets eased

Starting from yesterday, the mainland railway authority has implemented a simpler online train ticket purchasing procedure for SAR residents.  Previously, SAR residents mandatorily needed to have a mainland phone number (the same applying to mainlanders and foreigners) in order to be able to register in the mainland’s official train ticket online purchasing system. Each phone number was bound to the user’s real ID (this procedure still applies to mainlanders and foreigners). Since the Chinese government has simplified the procedure, the mainland phone requirement is no longer compulsory.