Hong Kong  - A half share in Hong Kong's historic tram network has been sold to a French multi-national company in a surprise deal, operators announced Tuesday.

The tram system's operators Wharf Holdings said it had sold a 50 per cent stake in the 105-year-old network crisscrossing Hong Kong island to the French company Veolia.

The two companies will jointly operate the service although there was speculation Tuesday that the move will lead to a complete takeover of the Hong Kong tram system by the French company.

Hong Kong  - A senior HSBC banker has been convicted of indecent assault after drunkenly groping a woman in a Hong Kong karaoke bar, a news report said Tuesday.

Michael Chan Chi-wang followed the 26-year-old woman into the washrooms at the karaoke bar and grabbed her from behind, groping her breasts, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

Hong Kong  - Heroin has been found by police in the hotel room of a Hong Kong pop star arrested in Tokyo, news reports said Tuesday.

Ten packets of the drug were found in the hotel room of Jill Vidal, 26, also known as Wei Si, after her arrest in February, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

Vidal has been held in custody since her arrest with fellow Hong Kong pop star Kelvin Kwan on suspicion of possessing cannabis. Kwan was released on March 28 without charge.

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.