Hong Kong  - A talk by fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Hong Kong next week was still scheduled to go ahead Friday despite calls for his extradition to Thailand.

The controversial former premier is due to give a talk at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) on Monday at a luncheon attended by more than 100 people who have paid around 20 US dollars for their tickets.

The plans reportedly annoyed his successor Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who threatened to lobby mainland China for Thaksin's extradition. The business-tycoon-turned-politician was handed a jail sentence last year for breaching corruption rules while in office.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong appeared to buck tourism trends worldwide by recording an 11 per cent increase in visitor numbers in January, official figures released Thursday showed.

Almost 2.8 million people visited the former British colony in January compared to 2.5 million in January 2008, according the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).

However, more than two thirds of these came from mainland China and more than 40 per cent did not stay overnight.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong police have issued a warning to parents to be on their guard against prostitution rings recruiting teenage girls online after a man was jailed for one year for operating an online brothel, a news report said Thursday.

The 25-year-old had posted pictures and contact details of girls online and transported them to meet clients, charging them a commission of 60 US dollars per client from their earnings.

Hong Kong - The tax on cigarettes in Hong Kong was pushed up 50 per cent Wednesday to try to curb a worrying increase in smokers in the former British colony.

Financial Secretary John Tsang announced in his annual budget speech that the duty on each cigarette sold would be increased from 80 Hong Kong cents to 1.20 Hong Kong dollars (10 to 15 US cents).

The increase pushes the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes to almost 5 US dollars, still around half the price of cigarettes in Singapore or Australia.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Wednesday announced plans to accelerate public works and create 62,000 new jobs over the next three years to tackle the severe economic slump.

In his annual budget speech, John Tsang warned that the former British colony's economy would shrink by between 2 and 3 per cent in 2009, its first contraction since the Asian economic crisis of 1998.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares fell almost 3 p