The Chief Executive John Lee has asked the National People's Congress Standing Committee to interpret the national security law, to see if overseas lawyers - who are not fully-qualified to practice here - can take part in national security cases. Violet Wong reports:

The request for an interpretation of the national security law came hours after Hong Kong's top court refused to hear an appeal by the Department of Justice against a lower court's decision to allow King’s Counsel Tim Owen to represent media mogul, Jimmy Lai. It was the last chance for the government to secure a court ban on the UK barrister defending the founder of the Apple Daily newspaper at the trial which is scheduled to begin on Thursday. Priscilla Ng reports:

Senior counsel Ronny Tong says he was taken aback by strong reaction to the news that the government wants Beijing to interpret the national security law. Tong, an executive councillor, says the government failed in its court bid to stop Jimmy Lai from hiring a British barrister in his trial. But as the trial begins on Thursday, Tong said it was understandable the government wanted a ruling from Beijing on what he said was a loophole in the national securitiy law. He spoke to Janice Wong:

A woman has been jailed for five months for throwing a soda can at a police officer and possessing a laser pointer. The officer was not injured, but the magistrate said the pregnant defendant had to be made an example of. Joanne Wong reports:

The government is proposing to amend the law to ease the burden of a ban on vaping products on the SAR's logistics industry. It says it wants to allow transhipment of the illegal items through Hong Kong, to help it maintain its status as an international logistics hub. Kelly Yu reports:

An anti-smoking campaigner has accused the government of double standards by banning e-cigarettes and vaping products here, but wanting them to be shipped through Hong Kong to other places. Since the products were banned in April, the government says air cargo volumes have dropped 18 percent. Henry Tong, chairman of the Council on Smoking and Health, told Samantha Butler that he was concerned banned products shipped through Hong Kong could enter the local market. He also questioned the government's figures about the impact of the ban on the logistics trade:

The Environmental Protection Department has confirmed reports that it is phasing out roadside recycling bins in urban areas. In a written reply to RTHK, the department explained that it had earlier reviewed the effectiveness of the bins after a report from the Ombudsman in April found they were often mistaken for regular rubbish bins. Natale Ching reports:

Founder of environmental NGO, Green Earth, has expressed concern that removing the recycling bins from Hong Kong's streets will cause the recycling rate to further drop. Edwin Lau spoke to Natale Ching:

Civil service secretary Ingrid Yeung says more than 11,500 people made appointments to get the second-generation BioNTech vaccine in the first 24 hours of the opening of bookings. Over three-quarters of a million doses of the new shot are available here, as Natale Ching reports:

The authorities in Beijing say they will improve anti-Covid measures in the capital and ban the use of barricades for buildings in closed-off residential compounds. They also talked of the need to reduce disruption to people's lives, as Covid cases on the mainland continued to set new records. Mike Weeks reports:

The China Manned Space Agency has announced that the Shenzhou-15 mission will blast off to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday night. The Taikonauts on-board will have the task of adding the finishing touches to the station during their six-month stay in orbit, as Altis Wong reports: