No priority in school allocation

Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim has re-emphasized the importance of maintaining a fair primary one admission system, brushing aside demands for the Education Bureau to give priority to children living locally when allocating places in North District schools.

The area bordering the mainland is short of school places owing to increasing demand from Hong Kong children living across the border.

Refusing to comment on the question of whether the education authorities will differentiate local and cross-border students, Ng said that the Education Bureau is confident it will be able to meet the demand for school places by taking necessary measures, including borrowing school places from neighboring districts, using unoccupied classrooms, increasing the number of students per class and expanding existing schools.

'Domestic violence happens to 25%'

Nearly 25 percent of the 400 women polled in a survey by the Hong Kong Women's Coalition on Equal Opportunities said they had experienced domestic violence.

Of the figure, 40 percent said they suffered domestic violence on more than 10 occasions.

However, only 10 percent called police. Asked for reasons for remaining silent, the victims often said they felt ashamed or that it was useless to call police.

Meanwhile, nearly 50 percent of those polled said they have been sexually harassed and 14 percent said they had suffered sexual violence.

Seventh arrest in murder of teen

Police arrested a 22-year-old man on Monday in Tseung Kwan O in connection with a homicide last August, in which a 15-year-old boy was killed.

Police earlier arrested four men and two women, aged between 16 and 34 in Tseung Kwan O, Kwun Tong and Chai Wan on January 15 and 16.

Police laid a holding charge against them jointly with one count of murder. The accused appeared before Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts on January 18.

The latest man to be arrested is still being detained pending further enquiries. The Regional Crime Unit of Kowloon East will continue to investigate the case.

DH endorses drug suspension

The Department of Health (DH) has endorsed the total recall of Tredaptive by licensed drug wholesaler Merck Sharp & Dohme (Asia) Ltd (MSD) because new data showed that the benefits of the product no longer outweigh the risks for patients.

A DH spokesperson said the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency recommended the suspension of three branded products - Tredaptive, Pelzont and Trevaclyn, all containing niacin and laropiprant - on January 13. The spokesman said the risks involved in taking them are greater than their benefits.

The recommendation was based on the results from a large, long-term study which concluded that treatment with Tredaptive together with statin therapy failed to show significant benefit on the reduction of major vascular events such as heart attack and stroke compared with statin therapy alone.

China Daily

(HK Edition 01/22/2013 page1)