China has decried a new US-Britain-Australia security partnership that will involve helping Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines. At a press conference, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused the three countries of damaging regional peace and stability, and said Beijing would closely monitor the situation. China's Washington embassy also said countries should not "build exclusionary blocs" and should "shake off their Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice". China specialist, Professor Willy Lam from the Chinese University, told Vicky Wong the situation was concerning:

The Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China has removed all of its posts on its online platforms at the demand of national security police. As Damon Pang reports, the group has started a new Facebook page to disseminate information:

The High Court has granted bail to former legislator Ray Chan. He's been in custody for six months as one of a group of 47 opposition figures charged with subversion, for taking part in a primary vote for the postponed Legco elections. Authorities accused those taking part of wanting to destabilised the government. Timmy Sung reports:

Democratic Party chairman Lo Kin-hei has called on the government to clarify the requirements for meeting the loyalty pledge, after one of his party's district councillors was disqualified for failing to make a valid oath of office. But as Jimmy Choi reports, he said the disqualifications wouldn't deter the Democratic Party from continuing to serve the public:

The first local elections following Beijing’s revamp of Hong Kong’s electoral system take place on Sunday. That’s when around a quarter of the members of the new Election Committee will be selected by thousands of electors from special interest groups. While most ordinary people don’t have any direct connection to the polls, the powerful new body will affect everyone. It won’t just choose Hong Kong’s next chief executive and the largest grouping in the new Legislative Council, it will also be a major step towards a new political landscape here to ensure only 'patriots' hold public office. Damon Pang has been speaking to experts to help explain what’s so new about the election committee polls, and what it means for Hong Kong:

Education minister Kevin Yeung says nine more secondary schools will resume full day face-to-face classes from next week, after the bureau relaxed its vaccination requirement for students. It comes after more than 30 cases were recorded of children suffering heart inflammation after receiving the Covid jabs. Violet Wong reports:

A hailstorm hit Tseung Kwan O at around 1 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, with online video footage and photos shared by residents showing the area being pounded by small balls of ice. As Wendy Wong reports, the Hong Kong Observatory said the rare phenomenon was the result of hot and unstable weather:

The Environmental Protection Department says it expects air pollution to remain quite serious on Friday. Many of Hong Kong's general and roadside air quality monitoring stations recorded "high" or “very high” pollution levels on Thursday, which authorities blamed on the hot and hazy conditions as well as light winds. Senior Environmental Protection Officer Roy Tsang told Jimmy Choi that the air quality was only expected to improve early next week:

A green group says while weather conditions may have exacerbated the pollution problem, authorities must do more to tackle the underlying causes. The Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Network, Patrick Fung, spoke to Jimmy Choi:

Rescue operations are underway in the southwestern province of Sichuan, which was struck in the early hours of Thursday morning by a shallow earthquake. Officials say at least three people were killed and scores have been injured. As Vanessa Cheng reports, 10,000 people have been moved to safety:

The mainland's longest crewed space mission is coming to an end, with the three astronauts expected to return to earth on Friday. Taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo spent 90 days at the Tiangong space station conducting spacewalks and scientific experiments. Richard Pyne reports:

A youth group says thousands of mainland jobs and internships will be opened up to young people from Hong Kong in the coming five years. As Timmy Sung reports, a liaison office official has described this as a big present from the central government:

Marvel's latest movie, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" has been smashing box office records worldwide. It's the first time Asian actors are taking the lead in a Marvel superhero film, and one of Hong Kong's most iconic actors, Tony Leung, is being celebrated for his role as the character Wen-wu. Radio 3's Alyson Hau caught up with Mr Leung:

The Philippines says it won't cooperate with an International Criminal Court probe into what President Rodrigo Duterte calls his war on drugs. A senior legal adviser to the president says the court's investigators won't be allowed into the country. He noted the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute that established the ICC two years ago. The court has said it will investigate Duterte for possible crimes against humanity. RTHK's Manila correspondent told Samantha Butler the president's reaction was predictably furious: