The government has announced a further easing of social distancing measures, meaning live performances and dancing at restaurants and bars can resume. Officials have also said they may increase the limit on the number of people that can gather in a public place. Frank Yung reports:

Live music at bars has been banned for most of the pandemic. The chairman of the Hong Kong Musicians Union, Lito Castillo, told Joanne Wong that he and his colleagues were ready to be back on-stage in front of a live audience:

Scientific experts advising the government have recommended authorities bring in a new generation of Covid vaccine that targets Omicron variants. The experts pointed out that the BioNTech bivalent vaccine, which targets the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, could expand immunity in the city. Todd Harding reports:

Sources say the minimum wage in Hong Kong will go up more than six percent to $40/hr. Both labour and management say they find the wage hike acceptable, as Aaron Tam reports:

The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups has urged the government to strengthen anti-drug campaigns, after its study showed a three-fold jump in the number of views of online posts about cannabis products, which include CBD, in the past year. It also spoke to more than 1,000 teenagers and young adults between November and July, and found a fifth of them underestimated the harm of drugs. The youth group's online study involved analysing trends and view rates of drug-related posts on social media. It found many netizens used popular memes, hashtags and non-fungible-tokens to promote drug use. Michael Leung, from the group's youth crime prevention centre, told Kelly Yu that more education was needed to keep young people safe from drugs:

Organisers of the Hong Kong Marathon say 25,000 runners will take part in the February race. They can start to sign up from early next month. Joanne Wong reports:

A 26-year-old former engineer has been jailed for five years after admitting stabbing a policeman during a riot in Causeway Bay two years ago. District Court judge Frankie Yiu said Wong Kwan-wa was among 300 people who took part in a protest, which turned into a 10 minute riot on July 1st, 2020, less than 24 hours after the national security law took effect. Maggie Ho reports:

China's ruling Communist Party will open its national congress on Sunday during which President Xi Jinping is expected to be given a renewed mandate. The high-level conclave will also see a reshuffle of the top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Frank Yung has a preview of this year's gathering: