Hong Kong's leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, defended the government's decision to pause the legalization of basketball betting. He emphasized that the policy aims not to encourage gambling and stressed that all risks must be controlled before proceeding.

Hong Kong’s leader has defended the government’s decision to put the legalisation of basketball betting on hold, stressing the policy was never intended to encourage gambling and that all risks must be controlled before any further steps are taken. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the remarks on Tuesday after the government’s surprising U-turn last week to halt the authorisation of basketball betting, citing the rapid growth of prediction markets – cryptocurrency-based platforms that allow....