Lawmakers say some Hong Kong people visiting the mainland are anxious about returning to the city after the Lunar New Year holiday because they are struggling to find anywhere to take a Covid PCR test. They are calling on the government to scrap the PCR testing requirement. Violet Wong reports:

FTU lawmaker Bill Tang says the party has received several complaints from HongKongers on the mainland who have not been able to find a test centre to fulfil the PCR mandate. He told Ada Au that the "dire" situation will worsen, as many service points will be closed during the holiday period:

The operator of several Covid PCR testing centres says he expects the long queues at the sites to worsen on Thursday and Friday. Ricky Chiu said people with a booking had been waiting half-an-hour for testing, while walk-ins took up to two hours. He told Ben Tse it was difficult to boost capacity because of the limitations at the venues and the equipment supplied by the government:

The Education Bureau has issued a letter, saying pupils and school staff will have to take rapid Covid tests every day until the end of February, after initially saying last month that the requirement will end by January 31. But Dion Chen, who chairs the Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council, told Natale Ching that the one-month extension is not a big problem:

President Xi Jinping says he is concerned about the mainland's coronavirus wave spreading to rural areas with poor medical facilities, as millions travel to their countryside homes over the Lunar New Year period. But he urged perseverance in stressful times and said the "light is ahead". Aaron Tam reports:

Hong Kong has welcomed its first overseas cruise tourists in three years. The Silver Spirit docked at Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui at about 8am on Wednesday morning with more than 300 passengers from over 20 countries onboard. Officials hailed the return as a sign the city was still firmly on the tourist map and promised that more vessels would arrive in the months ahead. Vanessa Cheng reports:

The managing director of Worldwide Cruise Terminals says he does not expect the sector to fully recovery until 2026, as cruise lines usually book tours three years in advance. But Jeff Bent told Vicky Wong that the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal would expect around 10 international liners to visit this year, compared to 19 before the pandemic broke out. He urged the government to remove the remaining Covid restrictions on travellers:

The government says hundreds of violations have been uncovered since new regulations on sub-divided flats came into force a year ago. But as Damon Pang reports, it has managed to successfully prosecute just one landlord due to lack of co-operation from affected tenants:

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk says a website listing public hygiene black spots and showing what has been done to improve them will go online soon. It is the next step in the government's efforts to clean up Hong Kong, as Frank Yung reports:

Former Home Affairs Secretary Lau Kong-wah says he hopes his decades of serving Hong Kong can help in his new role as a member of the nation's top advisory body. It is the first time the DAB stalwart has been appointed to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He served as minister in Carrie Lam's administration until 2020. In an exclusive interview with RTHK, Lau told Leung Pak-hei that while he may be a veteran of local politics, he was a newcomer to national affairs:

Nine people have been arrested over an alleged $6 billion money laundering operation, which customs officers believe is their biggest-ever bust. They say the scheme ran for three years and involved thousands of bank transactions. Wendy Wong reports:

A court in Macau has sentenced top junket boss Alvin Chau to 18 years in prison after he was found guilty of charges, including enabling illegal gaming. In the year before the outbreak of Covid, his company accounted for a huge chunk of the gambling SAR's revenue. Maggie Ho reports:

Vice Premier Liu He has told US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that China-US relations are highly consequential, and that it is important to maintain dialogue. The two met in Zurich as the world's biggest economies work to repair frayed relations. Aaron Tam reports:

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Philippines journalist, Maria Ressa, has been cleared of tax evasion charges. The editor of the news website, Rappler, said the charges were trumped up by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to try to muzzle critical reporting in the country. Annemarie Evans spoke to Aries Arugay, Professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, and asked him what he thought of the verdict: