Hong Kong  - Hong Kong's tourism industry is gearing up for a disappointing Year of the Ox with visitor numbers dropping by about 500,000, officials said Thursday.

Around 29 million people are expected to visit Hong Kong in 2009, the Chinese Year of the Ox, according to estimates by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

This would be a drop of 1.6 per cent from the 2008 figure of 29.5 million. Longhaul travellers will account for a large proportion of the fall, offsetting a predicted 4-per-cent rise in the number of visitors from mainland China.

Hong Kong - The Hong Kong pop star at the centre of a sex photos scandal is to testify against the man accused of downloading pictures from his computer in Canada, a news report said Wednesday.

Edison Chen, 28, has refused to return to Hong Kong for court proceedings surrounding the pictures showing him with a string of naked young starlets that circulated on the internet early last year.

Hong Kong  - A Hong Kong woman who slapped her Indonesian maid across the face for getting up five minutes late has been fined 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (256 US dollars), a court report said Wednesday.

Housewife Lok Hung-tan, 29, claimed she was depressed and sick with a kidney disease when she accused her 25-year-old employee called Yanti of being late last December.

She fined her 12 US dollars and when the maid objected slapped her face, causing abrasions to her lip, said the report in the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares fell to their lowest level in more than a month Tuesday, shedding more than 2 per cent after overnight losses on Wall Street.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell by 302.95 points, or 2.17 per cent, to end the day at 13,668.05. Turnover was 47.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.08 billion US dollars.)

Tuesday's losses continued a losing streak that began with a 3.37 per cent fall last Wednesday and on Monday saw the index fall back through the 14,000 points barrier.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong was Tuesday ranked the world's freest economy for the 15th consecutive year in a survey by the US think-tank the Heritage Foundation.

Singapore was again ranked second in the annual study, followed by Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The US was ranked sixth, one place lower than last year.

At the opposite end of the survey, North Korea was ranked the world's most restricted economy, followed by Zimbabwe, Cuba, Myanmar and Eritrea.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares dipped below the 14,000-point barrier Monday after tumbling for a fourth straight day on grim US job figures and earnings warnings from locally-listed companies.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index lost 406.44 points, or 2.83 per cent, to end the day at 13,971. Turnover was a relatively low 46.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.95 billion US dollars).