Mandatory quarantine and isolation periods for Covid patients and their close contacts will be shortened from Friday. The frequency of rapid tests for people arriving in Hong Kong will also be reduced. Other Covid restrictions, such as social distancing measures and the face mask mandate, remain in place with authorities stressing that the local epidemic situation remains serious. Frank Yung reports:

A microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, Siddharth Sridhar, welcomed the latest easing of Covid measures by the government, but says they could have been rolled back months ago. He also told Damon Pang that the use of the LeaveHomeSafe App could be relaxed as soon as possible:

The government says it is tabling an amendment bill to the Legislative Council to streamline a series of land development procedures, saying it can slash the time needed to turn plots of land into “spade-ready” sites from six to four years. It also said for large-scale projects, such as new development areas, the time required would be compressed from 13 years to seven. Violet Wong reports:

The MTR Corporation says a preliminary investigation found that a fault in the coupling between two carriages led to Monday's incident on the Tseung Kwan O line. And as Maggie Ho reports, the railway giant stopped short of saying if human error was to blame:

Standard Chartered has moved to reassure customers over their personal data after some of the bank's credit card holders complained their card data had been stolen when they saw they had received messages of unauthorised transactions. The bank says only one percent of its credit card holders were affected and it will start issuing refunds from Monday. Mike Weeks reports:

Francis Fong, the honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, says the type of cyber attack that Standard Chartered suffered is impossible to prevent. But he told Kelly Yu that banks needed to improve their risk management:

The government has been urged to think outside the box in its efforts to clean up Hong Kong, rather than just increasing the fines for littering, dumping and illegal shop extensions. As Maggie Ho reports, the call came from a representative of the officials who are responsible for policing such offences:

A conservationist says heritage advisers have overlooked the historical significance of a veranda-style shophouse in Tsim Sha Tsui, after they failed to reach agreement on whether to upgrade it to a grade one historic building. The Antiquities Advisory Board said on Thursday that they would need more evidence before considering to reclassify the four-storey structure at 190 Nathan Road, which is currently a grade three historic building and at risk of demolition. If upgraded to grade one, it would mean every effort should be made to preserve the structure if possible. Paul Chan from Walk in Hong Kong, a group that is conducting research about the block, told Ada Au about its heritage value:

Operation Santa Claus 2022 is well underway, and this year it is raising money for 15 charities. One of the beneficiaries is The Zubin Foundation. Their mission is to “improve the lives of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities, by reducing suffering and providing opportunities”. Phil Whelan took a walk in Central with the group's founder and CEO, Shalini Mahtani:

There is anger and fear in Australia after one of the bomb makers involved in the Bali bombings was released after serving just half of his 20-year sentence. Indonesian officials said they believed Umar Patek had been de-radicalised. 20 years ago, 202 people were killed in the bombings on two Bali nightclubs. 88 of the victims were from Australia. It remains Indonesia's deadliest terror attack. RTHK's Southeast Asia correspondent, Luke Hunt, personally knew people who were killed in the bombings and subsequently met some survivors who were severely injured. Annemarie Evans spoke to him about Patek's release: