Shares of Hang Seng Bank closed 26 percent higher yesterday after its parent company HSBC proposed privatising it in a move valued at 106 billion dollars. It marks the largest banking deal in Hong Kong in over a decade. HSBC says the move underscores its confidence in Hong Kong as a global financial hub. Chloe Feng reports.

A broker believes that Hang Seng Bank shareholders favour the privatisation proposal. Alex Wong, director of Alex KY Wong Asset Management Company, runs a fund that owns HSBC shares. He told Janice Lo that even if HSBC is overpaying Hang Seng Bank shareholders, the potential of HSBC's wealth management business could overcome the excess payment.

Finance sector lawmaker Ronick Chan says the proposal to privatise Hang Seng Bank will not affect the city's status as an international financial centre. He spoke to Janice Lo:

Three leading European pharmaceutical companies, along with 15 other non-local firms, have become the latest to agree to set up offices or expand in Hong Kong. The move is under a government push to attract strategic enterprises to the city. Frank Yung reports.

All eight of Hong Kong's publicly funded universities have made a renowned world ranking of tertiary institutions for the first time ever, with a record six inside the top 200. Damon Pang reports.

The government said more than 1.4 million mainland visitors set foot in Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week holiday, describing the figure as "satisfactory". As Frank Yung reports, officials said the positive sentiment spurred consumer spending:

The Office of the Ombudsman has found that cumbersome application processes are preventing caregivers from utilising vital respite services, leading to an under-use of available resources. Hailey Yip with the details:

The Action Committee Against Narcotics said while the total number of drug abusers in Hong Kong fell in the first half of 2025, there's been a slight uptick in the number of young people taking drugs. As Wendy Wong reports, it said it will continue to step up efforts to tackle the substance abuse problem:

Organisers of the upcoming National Games have held a flame-lighting ceremony in the Guangdong city of Nansha. Damon Pang with details.

There's been widespread rejoicing in the Middle East as news broke that Hamas and Israel have agreed on a ceasefire and hostage deal. Israeli hostages held by Hamas are expected to return home within days in the first phase of an accord to end the two-year-old conflict that has killed over 67-thousand Palestinians. Raymond Yeung reports.

This year's Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai, considered by many as Hungary's most important living author whose works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and melancholy. Priscilla Ng reports:

Ferrari has unveiled the technology which will power its hotly-anticipated first electric car. The unveiling marks a milestone for the auto industry - which, as Jamie Clarke reports, is grappling more widely with a shift from the internal combustion engine to the electric battery:

Hollywood has gone through many ups and downs, and some experts believe it's in one of those serious downturns now as it faces both economic and technological challenges. Our US correspondent Mark Niu told Ben Tse the industry is also coming to terms with artificial intelligence, where the line is becoming blurry between what's real and what's not, as demonstrated by the case of Tilly Norwood:

The nation has installed hundreds of thousands of industrial robots in factories last year to fill a labour shortage. As more and more advanced models of robots, including humanoids, will join the workforce, how could they change the job market? Adelyn Lau spoke to our AI consultant, Raj Shroff, about what this means for workers, and how future human-robot relations may look like. He first talked about how the usage of robots is already very prevalent on the mainland.

In sports...there was a thrilling outing for team Hong Kong, China in their AFC Asia Cup qualifier against Bangladesh. The SAR won 4-3 in Dhaka, as Raphael Merkies completed a stunning hat-trick 11 minutes into stoppage time to earn all three points for the visitors. RTHK's Asia football correspondent, Chris KL Lau, has the details:

The NBA is officially back in China -- with two pre-season games taking place in Macau tonight and on Sunday. It's part of a five-year contract with Las Vegas Sands' Macau unit Sands China. As Jamie Clarke reports, the league has also announced a a multi-year partnership with technology giant Alibaba: