The official death toll from Venezuela's devastating twin earthquakes has risen to at least 1,719. The number of injured has now soared past 5,000, with over 15,000 left homeless, and tens of thousands still missing. The United Nations says it'll provide 10,000 body bags to Venezuela, though it hopes the eventual toll will not be that high. Jamie Clarke reports:

Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister in-waiting, has vowed to deliver radical change to the nation's politics. In his first substantial policy outing after returning to parliament, Burnham laid out a 10-year mission to spur "good" growth, as Jamie Clarke reports:

The government has proposed the introduction of a mandatory seven-day cooling-off period and a 14-day refund period for pre-paid contracts sold by beauty parlours and fitness centres, to better protect the rights of consumers. The Consumer Council has voiced support for the proposals. Hailey Yip has more.

The Trade Development Council has upgraded Hong Kong's exports growth forecast this year to above 20 percent, more than doubling its previous prediction after robust performance in the first quarter. The council's research director Bruce Pang told Eugenia Ma that confidence is growing.

A construction worker has died after being struck by metal pipes which fell when an excavator tipped over at a site in Ho Man Tin. A workers' group called for more efforts to reduce industrial accidents. Janice Lo has the details.

The Housing Authority has proposed a rent increase of 2.04 percent for all public housing units. As Hailey Yip tells us, the HA says it doesn't think the rent hike would have a strong negative impact on tenants.

Hong Kong is likely to have its first certified Basic Housing Unit within the next two months. That comes less than half a year after a regulatory regime on subdivided homes took effect. Elvis Yu with that story.

Two People's Liberation Army vessels will arrive in Hong Kong this week on a five-day visit. Members of the public will be able to tour the ships. As Swara Kamble reports, the crews will take part in cultural exchanges.

Officials say they will take a flexible approach to building and fire safety requirements so as to facilitate the establishment of new campsites in rural areas, as well as holiday flats in village houses. This follows the Chief Executive's policy address announcement last year that the SAR will promote "local thematic immersive tours". Elvis Yu has the details:

An expert on applied psychology and human development says that if the bar is set too high for students, they might just cheat in their academics to reach it. Professor Kang Lee from the University of Toronto said unnecessary competition and overly high expectations push students to take shortcuts. He advises parents and teachers to praise effort and encourage children to face challenges honestly. He also told Belle Yip that educators should get familiar with AI tools first, so they can properly guide children on how to use them:

A medical school dean says a proposal to increase the number of lay members in the Medical Council strikes a good balance and increases diversity of the statutory body. Janice Lo with the story:

Ethnic minorities have welcomed the decision to include Urdu and Hindi under Category C in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Exam. Rizwan Ullah, Vice-principal of the Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School, told RTHK's BackChat programme what this means to schools and students.

China has added 20 Japanese entities including major companies to a watch-list over the export of items that can be used for both military and civilian purposes. Marcus Lum reports:

The death toll from a shooting at a shelter for mothers and children in northern Germany has risen to six. Police say the gunman had been embroiled in a custody battle over his three-month-old daughter, who was at the shelter. Jamie Clarke has the details:

At least 36 people have been killed and over 160 wounded in Pakistani airstrikes on three Afghan provinces. Pakistan says 25 militants were killed but Afghanistan maintains that civilians were targeted. Melissa Gecolea reports.

President Xi Jinping says China and Belarus should maintain strategic communication, and promote their high-level bilateral relations to benefit people in the two countries. Swara Kamble reports.

Four-time champions Germany have been knocked out by Paraguay in the biggest upset of the tournament so far. The South Americans won 4-3 on penalties, advancing into the last 16 and inflicting Germany's first-ever penalty shoot-out defeat at the World Cup. Earlier, Brazil beat Japan 2-1 to book their place in the last 16, as they continue their quest for a sixth title. Raymond Yeung has more:

An expert says anyone who comes across a dangerous reptile should contact the authorities. This follows the recent discovery of an injured juvenile endangered crocodile on the balcony of a Sham Shui Po flat. Catherine Fan, a volunteer at the Hong Kong Society of Herpetology Foundation, was on RTHK's Backchat programme to speak about the legality of keeping rare animals as pets.