Hong Kong - A leading campaigner for Tibetan independence delivered a speech in Hong Kong Monday after an earlier engagement was postponed following objections from Beijing officials.

Kate Saunders, communications director of the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, had been scheduled to speak at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents Club three weeks ago.

Hong Kong  - A computer technician went on trial Monday accused of stealing the photographs that triggered Hong Kong's notorious celebrity sex scandal.

Sze Ho-chun, 24, allegedly downloaded explicit images from the laptop computer of singer-actor Edison Chen showing him engaging in sex acts with a number of young starlets.

The 1,300 pictures showed stars including singer Gillian Chung and actress Cecilia Cheung naked with Chen in a scandal which tarnished the squeaky clean image of Hong Kong's so-called Canto-pop stars.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong faces its gravest economic test since World War II and might see its economy contract by more than 3 per cent this year, the city's leader said in an interview published Monday.

Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Donald Tsang told the Financial Times newspaper that he would consider dipping into government reserves to launch a mid-year stimulus package to tackle the problem if the economy worsened.

Hong Kong  - Luxury hotels in Hong Kong are seeing occupancy rates fall steeply as travellers seek cheaper accommodation because of the global economic slump, according to government figures released Monday.

Top-tier hotels in the city of 7 million, which charge an average of about 270 US dollars a night, saw occupancy down 6 percentage points to 68 per cent in February compared with February 2008, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said.

Hong Kong  - A Hong Kong magazine columnist was defiant Monday after around 2,000 Filipinos marched to protest a column in which he referred to them as a "nation of slaves."

Chip Tsao, who stirred up a storm of protest among Hong Kong's Filipino workers with his column in HK Magazine, said: "I have already done what should be done. I have no further comment. I am not a racist."

Hong Kong  - It's one of the sunniest cities in the world, but more than six out of 10 people in sub-tropical Hong Kong get too little sunshine, according to a survey published Sunday.

More than 62 per cent of people examined for a University of Hong Kong study were found to be suffering from vitamin D deficiency even though about two-thirds of the days in the year are sunny and hot.

Lifestyle is believed to be a major factor, as most people in the high-rise city shun the sun and exercise, while working long hours in offices.