A living allowance for families affected by the deadly Tai Po fire will be doubled, from HK$50,000 to HK$100,000. The government also revealed that public donations to a support fund for the victims have reached HK$2.5 billion, raising the total pot to HK$2.8 billion. Frank Yung reports.

The construction sector says Hong Kong has sufficient manpower to remove the mesh netting at all buildings undergoing major renovations by Saturday. The government issued the deadline after it was suspected that such materials contributed to the rapid spread of the deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court that killed 159 people. The sector also said new testing arrangements to ensure fire resistance would have little impact on ongoing works. It comes as workers in different parts of the SAR began dismantling the netting draped over multiple buildings. Here's Frank Yung:

A senior mainland official has endorsed the Hong Kong government's handling of the Tai Po fire. Speaking at a seminar to mark Constitution Day, deputy liaison office director Liu Guangyuan also backed plans to hold the Legislative Council elections as scheduled. Wendy Wong reports:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority says about 300 residential mortgage loans are related to the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, and that it's calling on banks to be compassionate and flexible when handling these cases. Here's Chloe Feng:

The Legislative Council elections are set to take place on Sunday. RTHK English News earlier reached out to all candidates running in the ten geographical constituencies and asked them to briefly introduce their election platforms. Today, we'll hear from the five contestants who are vying for two seats in Kowloon Central.

Let's also hear from those running in the Kowloon East constituency.

More than 60 percent of finance and accounting professionals surveyed by the Certified Practising Accountant, or CPA Australia say they believe Hong Kong will maintain steady GDP growth next year, despite economic headwinds and trade tensions. Karina Wong is CPA Australia's Greater China Divisional President. She spoke to Henry Siu about the survey results.

President Xi Jinping has met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing, where the French leader is seeking stronger commercial ties. As Natale Ching reports, a large business delegation is accompanying Mr Macron on his fourth state visit to the nation.

The leaders of Rwanda and DR Congo have signed a peace deal alongside US President Donald Trump at the White House. The deal aims at ending a decades-long conflict in the region. As Jamie Clarke reports, an agreement was signed by the foreign ministers of the two nations back in June, but each side has accused the other of violating the terms:

A high-level Vatican commission has voted against allowing Catholic women to serve as deacons. The result, outlined in a report presented to Pope Leo, maintains the global Church's practice of all-male clergy. Jamie Clarke has the details:

The UN weather agency says temperatures in North Africa and the Middle East are rising twice as fast as the global average. The World Meteorological Organisation, or WMO, has published what it calls its first report dedicated to assessing climate trends and impacts in one of the world's most vulnerable regions. Jamie Clarke has more:

In football -- Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at home -- costing the Red Devils a place in the Premier League's top five, and a setback in their push for Europe. Todd Harding has more:

Is an exodus under way at Apple? That's the question many industry watchers are asking, following the departures of two high-profile executives this week. How does this affect the tech giant going forward? Our Silicon Valley correspondent, Mark Niu explains to Ben Tse the implications of the personnel reshuffle:

Wikipedia has complained about losing its human traffic to artificial intelligence summaries across search engines. In an announcement last month, the Wikipedia Foundation claimed that human traffic to Wikipedia dropped by 8 percent between May and August, compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's company xAI has launched Grokipedia to compete with Wikipedia, which he has accused of being "woke". Earlier, RTHK's tech expert, Raj Shroff, told Azam Khan his thoughts on Wikipedia's announcement and its future: