Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections. The name list of the 40 members returned by the Election Committee has been unveiled.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
Demonstrations took place across the United States following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, with participants calling for an immediate end to the war that threatens to spiral out of control in the Middle East.
Joint military strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran on Saturday morning have triggered a sharp escalation across the Middle East in recent days, setting off waves of missile exchanges, mounting casualties, and far-reaching political and security repercussions.
Meanwhile, a U.S.-Israeli attack on a girls' elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab which killed at least 165 children and staff on Saturday has caused considerable outrage.
The deepening crisis has sparked demonstrations in several U.S. cities, with many expressing their concerns over the consequences of yet another U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.
In Manhattan, New York City, protesters carried anti-war signs reading "Hands Off Iran" and "Stop the War On Iran," urging the Trump administration to immediately cease all military operations against Iran.
Among them was Mohammad Esmaeil Khodami, a 26-year-old Iranian who strongly condemned the attacks launched by the U.S. and Israel. He even suggested the operation is designed to divert attention away from other issues and questions currently facing the Trump administration.
"The bombing in this war is a war for Israel. It's a war because, frankly, I believe it's also a war to cover up the crimes of the Trump administration, right? It's a play, it's a ploy for distraction. It's a move to try to garner popularity and to try to gain that like wartime sensational popularity. It has nothing to do with liberating Iranian people. They don't care about Iranian people at all. They would sooner see us all dead than come forward about the crimes that they've committed," he said.
On Monday evening, dozens of protesters gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C., to rally against the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, with demonstrators urging the Trump administration not to enter into another prolonged war in the Middle East.
Many chanted slogans and held aloft signs urging politicians to remember the difficult history of U.S. interventions in the Middle East, with many saying the current situation draws unwanted parallels to the disastrous U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"The United States government is starting another war, just like they have done in the past in Iraq, in Syria, in Libya, in Lebanon and so on. And every area that they have started and they left, they left it in civil wars, and separating and literally doing nothing but making the people in different groups fight with one another. So wars never bring any peace. They don't bring justice. Justice is when you sit on a table as a mediator and you reach agreements," said Sam, a protester.
Meanwhile, protesters in Los Angeles raised banners and chanted slogans, calling on the U.S. government to cease military intervention in Iran's internal affairs.
They urged the U.S. government to focus more on the needs and demands of the American people instead of allocating funds to meaningless overseas wars. "I want the U.S. to stop bombing Iran. Hands off Iran. Stop interfering with the politics of Iran. Stop sanctioning the people of Iran. So much money on killing people abroad. We are seeing people suffering from ICE raids here in the United States, suffering from high rents, the lack of housing, lack of social services that are being cut. People need to be supported right here. The people of Iran are not America's enemy. What people need is their government and taxpayer dollars to be spent on services for themselves and not on more death and war," said another protester.
Demonstrations take place across US after US-Israeli strikes on Iran
