The government is reminding people to be on the alert for bed bugs while overseas and not bring them home. Several countries, including France and South Korea, have reported outbreaks of the bloodsucking creatures. Various departments here, such as the Airport Authority, have been asked to be on the lookout. Wendy Wong reports:

Health officials have ordered the culling of all pigs at a farm in Yuen Long after detecting African Swine Fever there. The disease does not affect humans but spreads rapidly among pigs and often proves fatal. Hailey Yip reports:

An animal infectious diseases specialist says there is no alternative but to cull all the pigs at the Yuen Long farm. Professor Dirk Pfeiffer from City University told Hailey Yip that a number of factors could have caused the outbreak:

The University of Hong Kong has developed an AI chatbot that it says behaves like a virtual patient, to help medical students sharpen their diagnostic skills. Medical trainees can ask the chatbot all sorts of questions, such as digging into the patient's family history, to help them tackle tricky medical cases. Anne Chan reports:

An HKU professor says the idea for the AI chatbot emerged during the Covid pandemic, when medical students were barred from doing work experience in hospitals. Dr Michael Co, clinical assistant professor at the university's Department of Surgery, says clinical history taking is an important skill for doctors towards making a diagnosis. But he told Carol Musgrave that the chatbot could never fully replace conventional training where students interact with real people to develop their bedside manner:

The government has rejected the idea of significantly increasing a subsidy for low-income new parents, saying it would be too big of a financial burden and would not be a good way to spend public money. It was responding to suggestions to double its HK$20,000 subsidy that was put forward in this year's Policy Address. Damon Pang reports:

After much hype, the government will finally launch a programme aimed at boosting preventative medicine and easing the burden on public healthcare. Next week, residents aged 45 or above can take part in the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme, for screening and treatment of diabetes or hypertension. Patients will be subsidised to attend private clinics, with some 300 doctors signing up to the scheme. This is far short of the 1,000 the government initially hoped for. But Dr Pang Fei-chau, the Commissioner for Primary Healthcare, told Samantha Butler that more measures would be rolled out in future to encourage both patients and doctors to join:

Secretary for Security, Chris Tang, says he believes Hong Kong people understand the need for Article 23 national security legislation. In an interview with the Sing Tao Daily newspaper, he pointed out that the circumstances now in the SAR differ to when the bill was first drafted in 2003. Kelly Yu reports:

Hong Kong Talent Engage now has a physical office. It was originally launched as a website in December, to attract quality workers to Hong Kong, and has logged 1.1 million views and dealt with about 5,000 enquiries. Its director, Anthony Lau, said people mostly enquired about the various talent schemes and education arrangements for their children. He told Elvis Yu that having a physical office made it easier for staff to offer support:

Police have seized 14 cars and two motorcycles in the past two months to combat illegal road racing in the New Territories. In the latest operation, officers also arrested 20 people. Kelly Yu reports:

This year's Operation Santa Claus fundraising campaign kicked off on Wednesday night with a ceremony at RTHK's Broadcasting House in Kowloon Tong. The annual charity drive is jointly organised by RTHK's Radio 3 and the South China Morning Post and has been a fixture in the festive calendar since 1988. Here are highlights of the launch event: