Sinking stock and property prices are raising fresh concerns about the Hong Kong economy amid fears of a global recession. The Hang Seng Index lost almost 3.5 percent yesterday while private home prices have dropped to their lowest level in 3.5 years. Joanne Wong reports:

The government's private domestic home price index for last month was down 2.3 percent from July, and seven percent from August last year, to its lowest point since February 2019. Small and medium-sized homes were more than two percent cheaper than they were in July, while the price of larger flats fell 0.8 percent. But rent rose for a second month, up 0.7 percent from July. A senior director for research and consultancy at Savills, Simon Smith, told Joanne Wong that he expected even bigger falls in property prices to come:

The head of the Hong Kong Doctors Union has backed the government's decision to invalidate vaccine pass exemption certificates issued by seven private doctors, who have been accused of issuing them without holding medical consultations. Some 20,000 people affected by the move will lose access to places covered by the vaccine pass in two weeks' time, unless they get a new exemption certificate or have the Covid vaccination. Damon Pang reports:

The Social Welfare Department is linking another staff member of a Po Leung Kuk childcare home to child abuse. While investigating reports that a staff member pushed six young children down on a play mat, the department says it found security footage showing a second employee suspected of mistreating a young child. An expert on children’s development says the cases highlight the need for more training and support for childcare workers, teachers and parents. Associate professor Patrick Ip, from the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, told Maggie Ho that resources should be put in to promoting positive interactions with children, and changing people's mindsets over the use of physical punishment:

Legislators have urged the government to beef up measures to prevent child abuse at foster homes. This follows a scandal last year at the Children’s Residential Home in Prince Edward, which led to the prosecution of more than 30 former staff. Kelly Yu reports:

A counsellor says people seeking treatment for gambling addiction at his centre are getting younger and racking up bigger debts. Godfrey Ip from the Zion Social Service says during the pandemic, there has been a shift to online gambling, where it is easier to bet and borrow money. He also says about half of the people seeking help at his centre were aged 39 or below. He told Ben Tse that counselling during the pandemic had also shifted online, which caused challenges in helping people:

A Hong Kong medical chain claims a new test it has developed for colorectal cancer is more accurate than those used in the government's subsidised Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme at other private clinics. The Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Centre says rather than look for blood in a person's stool to make a diagnosis, the test it has come up with involves DNA screening. Dr Chu Wai-ying, who was involved in the scheme, spoke to Vanessa Cheng:

The Examinations and Assessment Authority has introduced a new online system to help students prepare for the Diploma of Secondary Education exam. Multiple-choice questions from past papers in six subjects are made available to DSE candidates, and they will be given a grade and a report on how they did. Siu Wai-lok, the authority's Head of Assessment Technology and Research, explains to Natale Ching how the system works:

A fire at a restaurant in the mainland northeast city of Changchun has killed 17 people. Local officials say three others were injured in the blaze. Priscilla Ng reports:

The Indian government has announced an immediate five-year ban on a prominent Muslim organisation and its affiliates. Officials suspect the Popular Front of India (PFI) to be linked to Islamist militancy. Police have arrested more than 300 of its cadres in raids across the country since Friday. Annemarie Evans asked RTHK's Delhi correspondent, Murali Krishnan, what was behind the crackdown on the organisation: