The Observatory says this summer was Hong Kong's hottest on record, with a mean temperature of 29.7 degrees celsius in the past three months. August was also much drier than usual, as Violet Wong reports:

Chief Executive John Lee says advanced planning and close communication between administrations in the Greater Bay Area made it possible to prevent Super Typhoon Saola from causing major damage in the region. He made the remarks as the clean up continues from the storm, which triggered the city's first hurricane signal number 10 since 2018. Ada Au reports:

Schools reopened on Monday for a delayed start to the academic year, after last week's typhoon forced the cancellation of the first day of term. But five schools are starting the new year with no government-funded primary one classes after failing to attract the minimum number of required students. One of the schools said an ageing population was one of the reasons for the problem. Vanessa Cheng reports:

A streamlined mechanism to get rid of poorly-performing civil servants is now in effect. The government has previously said it took an average of 20 months to complete the dismissal process for public staff. Violet Wong reports:

Bird watchers say the city’s sparrow population is down 10 percent from a year ago but it could simply be the result of 'natural fluctuations'. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society counted the number of sparrows along 88 routes in May and estimated there were around 243,000 of them in Hong Kong, with Sham Shui Po housing the largest concentration. John Chung, an research officer from the society, told Janice Wong it was too early to tell the reason for the decline, but it could be due to the weather, disease, or the availability of food for the birds:

The Hong Kong Stroke Association has a new mobile app to encourage patients to do rehabilitation at home. In a survey of 120 patients, it found that even though a majority knew exercise helped their recovery, they failed to do it consistently. Dr Lawrence Wong, a specialist in neurology, says the smartphone app uses AI technology to monitor a patient as they do their rehab exercises, and a physiotherapist can later follow up during a consultation. Dr Wong told Samantha Butler that the association would be providing the app free-of charge to 30 patients to test the system:

Macau authorities are expanding a ban on the import of single-use plastic tableware. Starting in January, businesses there will no longer be able to bring in non-degradable styrofoam trays, plastic cups and plates, on top of plastic cutlery. But the authorities have not specified when a ban on such products will take effect. Leanne Tam, a campaigner with Greenpeace Hong Kong, told Violet Wong that Macau was making the right move, and Hong Kong could learn from its neighbour when it came to saying "no" to plastic tableware:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan says he may still consider reducing the levy on stock trading, as calls mount for Hong Kong authorities to follow in the footsteps of their mainland counterparts in cutting the duty. Damon Pang reports:

Premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 summit in India this weekend. The premier's presence means that President Xi Jinping will not join the meeting, as Altis Wong reports:

Southeast Asian leaders are gathering for their final summit this year, besieged by divisive issues with no solutions in sight, including Myanmar’s civil strife and the longstanding US-China rivalry. The ASEAN meetings open on Tuesday and will last until Friday in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Premier Li Qiang will attend although President Biden will be absent. Wendy Wong reports: