Chief Executive John Lee says his visit to Kazakhstan has yielded major breakthroughs, with the signing of 43 memoranda of understanding. He said direct flights between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan will begin in less than a year's time. The Central Asia visit is aimed at further cementing ties between the two sides. Hailey Yip report from the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Chief Executive John Lee also proposed a strategic “hub-to-hub” cooperation model with Kazakhstan, aiming to link the Central Asian nation’s regional reach with Hong Kong’s access to Asian markets. Hailey Yip again.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has struck memoranda of understanding with three key organisations in Kazakhstan: the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, a leading university in Almaty, and the Association of Consulting and Trading Companies. Here's Hailey Yip again from Astana.

Researchers in Kazakhstan say Hong Kong's sound financial system, infrastructure and regulatory regime make it an ideal partner and fund-raising hub for green energy projects. Their comments come as Chief Executive John Lee is set to wrap up his visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday, before heading to Uzbekistan. Hailey Yip reports from Astana.

With the chief executive and his delegation wrapping up the Kazakhstan leg of his Central Asia mission, Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma said he now turns his focus to Uzbekistan. As Hailey Yip reports, Ma said expectations were high for reciprocal deals and new collaboration models during the visit.

A man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect over a baby said to have been left without a birth certificate following a home birth. Janice Lo reports.

Education secretary Christine Choi has apologised after the Education Bureau mistakenly sent text messages to parents who applied for a school place for their children through this year's primary one central allocation. The messages were sent a day earlier than scheduled. Choi assured that the system was not hacked. Eugenia Ma reports.

A basketball coach of a secondary school in Siu Sai Wan has apologised over a suspected case of corporal punishment. As Janice Lo reports, the education minister said officials will follow up on the incident.

Vice President Han Zheng says China and Britain should work together to practise true multilateralism, advance global governance reform, and bring greater stability and certainty to the world. His comments came in talks in Beijing with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Foreign Minister Wang Yi also held talks with Cooper, who's in China for the three-day visit ending on Wednesday. Janice Lo reports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made his first public testimony since the start of the war with Iran, when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio said he was optimistic about the potential for a resumption of nuclear talks with Iran - despite a shaky ceasefire. Meanwhile, reports say US President Donald Trump used an expletive during a fiery phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah. Our Washington correspondent Simon Marks spoke to Todd Harding.

Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire, a day after the US president declared he had de-escalated the conflict. Lebanon’s government has said it will seek a full ceasefire in a new round of talks with Israeli officials. But the sound of an Israeli drone over Beirut kept residents on edge. Jamie Clarke reports.

British police are facing a national backlash over the case of a student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from stab wounds. His killer had falsely alleged a racist attack. As Jamie Clarke reports, the incident occurred in the southern English city of Southampton in December last year.

Nvidia and Microsoft are partnering to launch the RTX Spark, an AI super-chip marketed as being able to bring data centre-level computing directly to personal computers. It's a big change from how things usually work. Our Silicon Valley correspondent Mark Niu spoke to Ben Tse.

The United Nations has urged the world to prepare for extreme heat caused by the El Nino phenomenon. The body is predicting above-average temperatures in most parts of the world over the next few months, as Jamie Clarke reports.