Hong Kong  - An alleged fixer for Chinese prostitutes was on trial in Hong Kong Tuesday, accused of claiming to be able to bribe consulate officials to speed up visas for women to work in Australia.

Yeung Sum-ching, 40, was accused of telling an undercover policewoman that she was able to pay bribes to staff in the Australian consulate in Hong Kong to allow the officer to work in the sex trade in Melbourne.

She was arrested in a police sting after advertisements were placed in Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong in December 2006 recruiting women "to make quick money in Australia."

Hong Kong - The amount of cargo shipped through Hong Kong International Airport fell by 18.7 per cent year-on-year in November, officials announced Monday.

The airport handled 296,000 tons of cargo during the month and 3.8 million passengers, a 5.6 per-cent compared to November 2007.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority blamed the steep fall in cargo volume to the global slump and said the biggest declines had been in the North America market, followed by Europe.

Falling passenger numbers were attributed to a weaker tourism market and the one-week closing of Bangkok's main airport which led to the cancellation of 230 flights.

Hong Kong  - A city-wide manhunt was underway Monday for the attacker who threw bottles of acid onto crowds of year-end shoppers in Hong Kong.

Forty six people suffered burns to their legs, arms and faces when the two bottles of hydrochloric acid were hurled into a busy shopping area in the city's Mongkok district.

All the victims were rushed to hospital where they were treated for mostly minor injuries and burns before being discharged, a police spokesman said.

Police searched high-rise tower blocks overlooking the scene of the attack on Saturday and Sunday but failed to trace the attacker and now fear there may be another attack.

Hong Kong - Hundreds of women from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand working as live-in maids for Hong Kong families marched in a protest calling for higher wages Sunday.

They also demanded the scrapping of a 50 US dollar monthly levy on employers of foreign domestic helpers and called for better labour conditions for overseas maids working in Hong Kong.

Eman Villanueva, one of the march organizers, said the Hong Kong government had to protect the interests of foreign domestic helpers as well as local workers during the economic slowdown.

Hong Kong is home to more than 200,000 foreign domestic helpers mostly from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand who earn a government-set minimum wage of around 450 US dollars a month.

Hong Kong  - Around 1,000 people took part in Hong Kong's first gay pride march, organizers of the event in the conservative former British colony estimated Sunday.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual marchers from mainland China and Taiwan joined Hong Kong groups for Saturday's event which saw colourfully dressed participants walk a two-mile route through the city centre.

Hong Kong  - Two pilots with a Hong Kong airline have been sacked for trying to take off in plane carrying 122 passengers from a taxiway rather than a runway, the airline said Sunday.

Hong Kong Airlines captain Indra Santrianto and his Argentinian First Officer Diego Martin Chiadria were dismissed over the incident Boeing 737 at Hong Kong International Airport on September 13.

An air traffic controller raised the alarm when he saw the plane bound for Cheong Ju in Korea speeding along the taxiway and alerted the cockpit crew in time for them to abort take-off.