Hong Kong is in the grip of serious air pollution, with little wind around to disperse local pollution and a blanket of smog that's descended from the Pearl River Delta. Air quality in Tung Chung, Tsuen Wan and other areas on Wednesday afternoon was so bad that the entire population was liable to suffer health effects. The Environmental Protection Department said it’s not expecting much improvement on Thursday, and it's advising people not to spend too long outside. The Observatory's Wong Wai-kin says there won't be much help from the weather, until at least the weekend. He spoke to Priscilla Ng about Wednesday's weather:

The Civil Human Rights Front says the government has rejected its application to use Victoria Park as the rallying point for its annual July 1 protest march. The front says it was told that a pro-government group, the Hong Kong Celebrations Association, has been given priority to use the park for activities celebrating the 20th anniversary of the handover. Its convenor Au Nok-hin told Frances Sit that officials had made it clear this is a political decision:

James Hon, from the Save Hong Kong Alliance, told RTHK he’s not surprised by the government’s rejection of the Civil Human Rights Front’s application to use Victoria Park on July 1. He described it as another attempt to suppress freedoms in Hong Kong, of assembly and of expression. Hon was speaking after representatives from 45 groups, including his alliance, marched on the Chief Executive-elect’s office on Wednesday. They called on Carrie Lam to restart political reform, and halt the judicial review of oaths taken by four pro-democracy lawmakers: Leung Kwok-hung, Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai and Edward Yiu. Mike Weeks asked first about the blow to July 1 protesters:

Officials have tried to explain the long delay in reporting the medical blunder that led to 43-year-old mother Tang Kwai-sze having to undergo two liver transplants last month. They say a doctor at United Christian Hospital involved in her treatment was on holiday. He's one of two doctors who did not prescribe anti-retroviral drugs when Tang was given a high dose of steroids to treat a kidney problem. This caused a flare up in hepatitis B from which she had long suffered, causing her liver to fail. The doctors also missed an automatic alert about Tang’s pre-existing condition. Timmy Sung reports:

The government has been urged to review water charges, to deter wastage in Hong Kong. Civic Exchange said cheap water here has led to per-capita daily consumption that's more than a fifth higher than the global average. On the supply side, the think tanks says it's important for Hong Kong to pay billions of dollars annually to secure the freshwater it gets from the Dongjiang River, in Guangdong. Frederick Lee, an expert in water resources at the Hong Kong University, helped write the report. Ian Pooler asked him why Hong Kong people are consuming more water than the global average:

A concern group says one in five domestic helpers in Hong Kong is being made to sleep in unsuitable areas, such as laundry rooms, kitchens and toilets. The Mission for Migrant Workers says the government needs to ban such arrangements. Damon Pang reports: