Today in HK (11/8/2024)

The first panda cubs born in Hong Kong will turn 100 days on Nov 23 and 'roaring' celebrations will be held on November 23 and 24 in their Ocean Park home. According to the park, some giant panda attractions in Ocean Park will be reopened on November 23 from 10 am to 3 pm daily. Though the cubs would not meet the publish yet, visitors can watch live streams of the twins brother and sister on a giant screen and receive signature local delicacies such as red eggs and ginger pork knuckles, in addition, a new exhibit documenting the cubs' journey and special merchandise will also be available.

Hospital Authority claims that, with improved procurement system, doctors will be able to apply directly to introduce new drugs without going through two-tier assessment from mid-November, thus, patients will attain quicker as well as cheaper access to new medications. With this improvement, it will take only 5 months to introduce a new drug into formulary, and about 10 months to incorporate it into the public hospitals' formulary, according to the authority's chief pharmacist, William Chui Chun-ming.

Hours after Fed's quarter-point cut, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has cut the city's base interest rate to 5% to help reboot business and reduce the burden on mortgage borrowers. Adding up the half-percentage-point cut in September, the key rate of Hong Kong has fallen back to the level of February 2023. Before this policy, the city's gross domestic product (GDP) grew slowly, and the adjustment of the rate will help the economy of the city expand.