Hong Kong and Singapore have announced plans to form a travel bubble to enable visitors to escape quarantine. The government says it hopes the scheme will be up and running within weeks, as Maggie Ho reports:

Shares in Cathay Pacific shot up six percent on Thursday after Hong Kong agreed in principle to form a travel bubble with Singapore. Details are still being ironed out, but it should allow travellers between the two cities to skip quarantine. They will first have to test negative for Covid-19 and then take designated flights that exclude transit passengers. The Hong Kong government hopes the new plan will be up and running within weeks. Janice Wong asked Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst based in Singapore, how significant this agreement is:

The head of the Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management has praised the deal struck by the government to create a bubble for non-quarantine travel with Singapore. Professor Cathy Hsu believes the city state is the right partner for this and that it will be a big success. She spoke to Damon Pang:

A few hours after the travel bubble deal was announced on Thursday, 12 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed in Hong Kong, eight of them imported. Despite that, a specialist in respiratory medicine, Dr Leung Chi-chiu, says the plan shouldn't pose a significant health risk to either Hong Kong or Singapore. But he told Wendy Wong steps must be taken to prevent cross infection:

Hotel and tourism representatives have urged the government to extend its wage subsidy scheme, warning of massive layoffs if it doesn’t help the industries. Violet Wong reports:

Taiwan Authorities have accused Hong Kong air traffic controllers of forcing a civilian flight from the island to turn around as it approached the Taipei-controlled Pratas Islands. Natale Ching has more:

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai says police raided his personal office on Thursday, taking away 'everything' before his lawyers could arrive. Shortly afterwards, he appeared in West Kowloon Court with 25 other pro-democracy figures to face charges over this year's banned June 4 vigil at Victoria Park. As Frances Sit reports, their cases were transferred to the District Court:

The government has confirmed that there are plans to move the northern terminus of the Express Rail Link from Guangzhou South to the city's main station. It also revealed that a new line to link the Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports is now being looked at. Wendy Wong reports:

Democratic Party legislator Ted Hui has been accused of grabbing three votes from a ballot box during the election for the chair of the development panel. The Legislative Council’s secretariat has reported the incident to the police. Afterwards, Hui said the election of Business and Professionals Alliance member Lo Wai-kwok as chairman would allow the government's backers to “act even more recklessly” in future when plans such as the Chief Executive’s "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" come up for debate. Greenpeace has also been stepping up its campaign against the massive reclamation scheme, which it says would not only cause irreversible ecological damage but also deplete Hong Kong's fiscal reserves. The environmental group held an on-line forum on Thursday on the artificial island plan. Mike Weeks asked senior Greenpeace campaigner Kate Lin if she shared Hui’s concerns over the Development Panel:

The Consumer Council has warned that many sunscreens on sale in Hong Kong do not provide as much protection as they claim, leaving people at risk of sunburn and skin cancer. Candice Wong has the details:

The Consumer Council says condoms on sale in Hong Kong may not be as thin as they purport to be. It also says confusing labelling on condom packs may actually breach trade descriptions rules. Here's Candice Wong: