The transport minister says Cathay Pacific is doing a poor job of handling a recent spate of flight cancellations. But Lam Sai-hung fell short of announcing punishments for the SAR's flag carrier. Cathay CEO Ronald Lam, meanwhile, explained that the airline did not have enough pilots available on standby and was forced to cancel flights when staff came down with the flu. Carlos Escueta reports:

The Consumer Council's chief executive has expressed doubt that Cathay has managed to restore confidence over its operations. Gilly Wong said affected passengers should be offered generous, on-the-spot compensation if flight changes are unsatisfactory. The watchdog says it received eight complaints about Cathay flight changes since December and is helping passengers liaise with the airline. Wong urged travellers to allow time for contingency plans in their bookings. She spoke to Ben Tse:

The Housing Authority says a measure that would make it easier for families with newborns to apply for public housing will come into effect from April. It said the scheme would cut their waiting times for such flats by about a year. As Aaron Tam reports, the authority also said they would offer over 2,500 subsidised homes to people living in public housing:

Officials have found over three tonnes of lobsters bound for the mainland during an anti-smuggling operation in Tai O. They said smugglers used electric tricycles to transport the crustaceans. Altis Wong reports:

About 3,000 finance and business elites from regions, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia, will attend the Asian Financial Forum here later this month. They will be discussing economic growth and investment opportunities in Asia at a time of changing global supply chains. Chloe Feng reports:

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council says Hong Kong remains competitive for global investors. The council is co-organising the Asian Financial Forum, which takes place at Wan Chai's Convention and Exhibition Centre from January 24-25. The council's deputy executive director Patrick Lau says the forum is a good opportunity for Hong Kong to demonstrate its role on multilateral cooperation. He spoke to Chloe Feng:

The Business and Professionals Alliance has urged the government to remove all of its "spicy" property cooling measures and further reduce stamp duty on stock transfers to stabilise the market. The alliance has presented the financial secretary with a range of proposals, ahead of next month's budget. The group also played down the idea of raising taxes or introducing a departure tax to tackle Hong Kong's budget shortfall. BPA lawmaker Sunny Tan told Kelly Yu more about their wishlist:

The New People's Party says tax cuts in next month's budget will give Hong Kong a boost. It has also put a number of proposals to the financial secretary for next month's budget speech, including scrapping all property-cooling measures, further reducing the stamp duty on stock trading, and cutting duties on spirits. Party lawmaker, Adrian Ho, told Samantha Butler that the property and stock markets needed direct stimulus to boost confidence:

Visa applications have been streamlined and transit requirements relaxed for foreigners arriving in China. The new measures aim to facilitate foreign nationals coming to the country for business, study and tourism, as Wendy Wong reports: