Lawmakers have passed a bill to reform the Social Workers Registration Board. It increases the number of government-appointed members on the body, which will be expanded from 15 to 27 members. As Damon Pang reports, the number of appointees will increase from eight to 17.

Unionist lawmaker Lam Chun-sing says the bill to reform the Social Workers Registration Board gives it the power to deal with serious cases immediately. He told Carol Musgrave that this prevents specific individuals from damaging the image of the board.

The government has approved three visa applications under the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme since its launch in March. The scheme which aims to bring talented people from all over the world to Hong Kong has received about 340 applications. Here's Georgina Lee.

A member of a review committee set up to look at the operations of public hospitals says there does not appear to be a clear mechanism in place to respond to incidents. The committee was set up following a series of blunders. Anne Chan has more.

The government says it's stepping up efforts to develop a low-altitude economy. Officials will study issues such as aviation safety and airspace management. Wendy Wong reports.

Chinese University engineering professor and lawmaker William Wong says Hong Kong can introduce the use of drones step by step. He said the city can try making use of open spaces first, and conduct trials in urban areas later. He told Ben Tse that using drones is the current trend all over the world and Hong Kong should follow suit.

Polytechnic University says it's planning to apply for lunar samples from the Chang’e-6 space mission. The spacecraft returned to Earth last month, bringing back the first samples ever collected from the far side of the moon. The university earlier acquired lunar soil samples collected in the Chang’e-5 mission from the China National Space Administration, and researchers are eager to compare samples from both sides of the moon. Professor Yung Kai-leung, who heads the university’s Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations, spoke to Kelly Yu:

President Xi Jinping says China supports Kazakhstan in joining the Brics group. He also said the two nations have set a new goal of doubling two-way trade during his visit to the Central Asia country. Tom McAlinden has more.

Nearly a quarter of a million people were evacuated in eastern China as rainstorms lashed swathes of the country and caused the Yangtze and other rivers to swell. Priscilla Ng has more:

US president Joe Biden is "absolutely not" pulling out of the White House race. That's what his spokesperson has said as pressure mounts on the veteran Democrat following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump. Vanessa Cheng reports:

France's left-wing and centrist parties have withdrawn many candidates from Sunday's parliamentary elections in an attempt to prevent the formation of the country's first far-right government since the Second World War. Earlier, Annemarie Evans spoke to our correspondent Gavin Grey in London about what could happen on Sunday's second-round polls.

Hurricane Beryl has reached Jamaica as a powerful Category 4 storm after flattening homes and devastating agriculture on smaller islands in the eastern Caribbean, killing at least seven people and creating "Armageddon-like" conditions on Grenada. As Todd Harding reports, the storm had been packing maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometres per hour.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been seeking shelter, after fleeing their homes in southern Gaza as Israel pressed on with its military offensive in the densely populated territory. Health officials said at least twelve people were killed in new strikes in central and northern Gaza. Vanessa Cheng with the details.

Lebanese farmers fear their fields have been poisoned by the Israeli military's use of white phosphorus since October, when exchanges of fire erupted between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah in parallel with the Gaza war. Azam Khan reports:

Holograms. That's the main feature of Japan's new banknotes that went into circulation on Wednesday. The fresh bills feature three-dimensional portraits to frustrate counterfeiters. But as Jamie Clarke reports, some businesses say they will have to spend extra to be able to accept the new cash.