Chief Executive John Lee has hailed horse racing as a unique cultural symbol of Hong Kong and a key driver of the city's mega event economy. He was at Sha Tin Racecourse yesterday for the start of the new racing season. Henry Siu reports.

Chief Executive John Lee says Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will improve people’s livelihoods with the formulation of long-term strategies for the city. His comments came less than two weeks before the blueprint will be unveiled. Wallis Wang with that story.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan says an upcoming Belt and Road Summit will reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a critical hub for helping enterprises go global. It will be held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday and Thursday. Wallis Wang reports.

Commissioner for Belt and Road Nicholas Ho says the summit this week will take a deep dive into high quality cooperation, saying this aligns with the nation's 15th five-year plan. More on that from Natasha Ho.

Commissioner for Belt and Road Nicholas Ho says that an upcoming summit on the country's global infrastructure and economic development initiative will gear towards small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. He said he wants to make the summit to be held on Wednesday and Thursday more engaging and relevant to SMEs so that they will understand how they can tap into the Belt and Road market. A local agricultural tech startup says support from the SAR government has helped it find business opportunities in Kazakhstan. The chief operations officer of Soy-Sky Farmtech, Stephen Shum, joined a business delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee to Kazakhstan earlier this year. He told Natasha Ho that he wouldn't have been able to find a business partner in the Central Asian country without the help of the government.

Vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, CY Leung, has praised Hong Kong's close ties with Fujian province. Wallis Wang has details.

The government is encouraging open access to location-based data to support Hong Kong's smart city push, with Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn highlighting new applications that range from accessible walking routes to AI-assisted searches for vacant government sites. Here's Henry Siu.

Labour commissioner Sam Hui has urged employers to familiarise themselves with the newly refined heat stress at work warning system. The system was fine-tuned after the lowest amber alert was issued despite record-breaking temperatures last month. Henry Siu has more.

President Xi Jinping's participation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, and his visit to Egypt last week, further illustrated the importance of multi-lateralism, dialogue and international rule of law championed by China -- that's according to Michael Zeng, a professor at City University's Department of Public and International Affairs. At the summit in Bishkek, Xi spoke about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's role in fostering inclusive economic globalisation and cooperation, while in Egypt the president highlighted his vision for peace in the Middle East, with a four-point proposal. Professor Zeng spoke to Janice Lo.

Ukraine’s president says his country is seeking to end the conflict with Russia but needs security guarantees, adding that he expects fighting to continue into the winter. His comments came ahead of talks with peace envoys from Washington, who have given upbeat assessments of those discussions. Jamie Clarke has the details.

More than 170,000 passengers have been left stranded as Indonesia shuttered several airports after days of volcanic activity – Jamie Clarke has the details.

Britain's business minister, Jonathan Reynolds, says he'll meet Jaguar Land Rover's CEO this week to discuss job cuts at the country's biggest carmaker. Sean Kennedy has more.

Exit polls have shown Germany’s AfD surging into first place in state elections in the country’s east, putting a far-right party on the cusp of power at state level for the first time since World War Two. With counting continuing, it remains unclear whether the party has secured enough votes to win an absolute majority in parliament. The mainstream parties have all refused to work with the AfD. But it may find a partner in the far-left BSW party, if it manages to clear the threshold to enter parliament.

Iran says it will step-up efforts to tackle the problems caused by US sanctions that are crippling its economy, while a senior Iranian official has warned of a “painful response”, if it comes under further attack. Jamie Clarke reports.

Manchester United continued their sluggish start to the new English Premier League season with a 2-2 draw at Everton. Reigning champions Arsenal, meanwhile, ended London rivals Chelsea's unbeaten start with a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium. Nazvi Careem has more.