These stories, all from today, are related. You join the dots.

1. The SCMP:

The number of hours with reduced visibility at Hong Kong International Airport hit 237 last month, the highest figure for September since 1997.

2. The SCMP:

The number of people who watched the $7.7 million video showing highlights of the controversial Harbour Fest will never be known, InvestHK said yesterday. Harbour Fest organisers InvestHK and the American Chamber of Commerce had promised that the 45-minute video - aimed at promoting Hong Kong after the Sars outbreak in 2003 - could reach 500 million households worldwide.

But the government's investment promotion arm now says the final viewing figure will not be available because many overseas stations did not have ratings...since February last year, the report said, the video had been shown on two MTV networks, the international and Indian channels of Star World, on TVB Pearl and Phoenix TV, which is shown on the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.

The report says Phoenix alone may have accounted for up to 300,000 viewers. (Ed. - that's still a little short of 500 million.)

InvestHK said there were no further plans to broadcast the video because of TV rights restrictions and the long time lapse since the music festival was held.

Harbour Fest was held in 2003. An official inquiry into the role of InvestHK director-general Mike Rowse in the public-relations fiasco is continuing.

3. The Standard: five prosecuted in swoop on "Rat Alley" restaurants. Lan Kwai Fong's best strip of cheap restaurants, vibrant with al fresco eating, chaotic waiters and that Indian guy with the Elvis sideburns. Not any more.

4. The SCMP:

The Asia-Pacific region boasts some of the world's most liveable cities but also a number of the most wretched capitals on Earth, according to survey results released yesterday...Tokyo was ranked 16th and Auckland 20th along with Osaka, Kobe and Wellington. Hong Kong was ranked 41st, while Seoul and Singapore tied for 54th place.

...cities in Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan all offer a good standard of living, with a humid climate bringing scores down slightly.