Tripperhead Gazette

TG Thursday June 18th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:03:25 GMT

• Hong Kong copped a drenching on Thursday, with the 2nd Black Rainstorm Warning issued, stranding school children at school.

The Black Rainstorm Warning was issued at 12.55pm, and wasn’t lowered to Red until 3.05pm, which wasn’t lowered to Amber until 3.40pm, meaning most kids had to hang around a while after classes ended.

Some pictures from around Hong Kong on Thursday posted online.

It’s been a wet June so far.

The Amber that followed it makes it 24 for the month on June 18th.

Is it the most rain signals in a month? No. That honour goes to August 2025 with 32. Still plenty of time to chase the record down though…

Did June 18th, 2026 still break a record? Absolutely.

• Latest QS university ranking are out, with some good improvements from the non-HKU campuses.

• Update to the case of the man who was caught on camera trashing HKIA check-in kiosks; somehow he has managed to skip bail.

Not entirely sure why he didn’t have to surrender his passport as part of the bail agreement, but here we are.

• Obligatory low birth rate post.

• JP Morgan following in Goldman Sachs’ footsteps, dumping Claude from HK.

Greetings from smoggy Beijing! Hope you all stayed dry. Think the next TG will be from Chongqing next week. Then I’ll make my way back to Hong Kong. Once it’s less soggy.

TG Monday June 15th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:03:14 GMT

• With the football world cup underway, HK Customs are on the lookout for fake goods, grabbing HK$150 million in a sting last week.

TG Thursday June 11th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:03:37 GMT

• No surprise that Uber users think the 10k cap on licenses is too little.

TG Wednesday June 10th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:00:34 GMT

• Police and ICAC have arrested seven people, laying charges such as manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice and tax evasion, over the Tai Po inferno.

TG Tuesday June 9th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:06 GMT

Video heavy TG tonight which means it’s more optimal to read it in the Substack app or web browser. Which is where you’ll end up if you click the video anyway.

TG Monday June 8th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:00:07 GMT

• The Hong Kong government continues to try to plug what they see are holes in the NatSec law, asking LegCo to amend the law so that charges that are not under NatSec can be designated so.

TG(IF) June 5th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:01:19 GMT

Happy Corn on Ear Day! If you have no idea what that is, read on…

TG Thursday June 4th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:59 GMT

Two “scandalous” stories have gripped Hong Kong over the past week, so today’s TG will give the backstory on both.

TG Wednesday June 3rd, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:12:33 GMT

• In a shock to no-one, the price of urban taxi licenses has risen almost 25% since the announcement of a cap on ride-hailing licenses.

TG Monday June 1st, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:04:14 GMT

• HKIA is trialing new real-time baggage screens that tell you when your flight’s luggage has left the plane and is headed to the carousel.

TG(IF) May 29th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:00:15 GMT

• Always one to be ‘glass half full’, the upside of the low birth rate in Hong Kong over the past 6 years is that lots of children are getting into their preferred primary school - because a lot fewer children are applying.

TG Thursday May 28th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 28 May 2026 12:01:40 GMT

• The latest report from Boston Consulting Group says Hong Kong has surpassed Switzerland for the first time in cross-border flows.

TG Wednesday May 27th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 27 May 2026 12:00:18 GMT

• Some more details on the government’s ride-hailing plan, with the official 10,000 cap on vehicles.

TG Tuesday May 26th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 26 May 2026 12:00:49 GMT

• Big news over the Buddha Birthday long weekend, with Hong Kong’s first taikonaut heading to space on the Shenzhou 23 mission.

TG(IF) May 22nd, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:00:20 GMT

• Probably the biggest news on Friday (especially for those with tweens and teens) was BTS announcing three concerts at Kai Tak Stadium next March.

You can find out more on pre-sale and the fight for tickets here. I shan’t go into detail, as I rode this bucking bronco back in 2017, and I’m still shellshocked. Don’t believe me? Here I am in Macau at the B…

TG Thursday May 21st, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 21 May 2026 12:01:28 GMT

• While it’s still not confirmed whether Wang Chi Court, the only “unaffected” building at Wang Fuk Court, will have people move back in, the cost to get it up to spec is $30 million.

TG Wednesday May 20th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 20 May 2026 12:03:02 GMT

• Banking chiefs are in town and warning of job losses due to AI.

First to sound the warning; Standard Chartered.

TG(IF) May 15th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 15 May 2026 12:02:44 GMT

• High drama in Admiralty on Thursday when a mainland man was arrested in a McDonald’s after he posted he was going to set himself alight in the restaurant.

TG Monday May 11th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:42 GMT

• According to local media reports, the government is set to file their take on the upcoming legalisation of ride-hailing in Hong Kong to LegCo this week, with ~10k licenses set to be issued in the first tranche Q4 2026.

TG(IF) May 8th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 08 May 2026 12:03:26 GMT

Konichiwa from Japan! Quick recap of some of the news you (and I) may have missed over the past two days.