Hong Kong  - Corruption complaints made to Hong Kong's anti-graft watchdog surged 23 per cent in the first quarter, the head of the organization said Thursday.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption said it received 811 corruption reports from January to March compared with 659 in the same period last year.

The sharpest rise was in the finance and insurance sector and the building management sector, in which the number of graft complaints rose 46 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively, Commissioner Timothy Tong said.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks surged 7.41 per cent after encouraging US home sales and factory data buoyed investor confidence Thursday.

The benchmark Hang Seng index closed at its highest level for four months, finishing up 1,002.42 points at 14,521.97.

Turnover was 75.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.64 billion dollars).

Hong Kong - The 85-year-old mother of late Canto-pop diva Anita Mui has been stopped from taking 800,000 Hong Kong dollars (102,000 dollars) from her daughter's estate to finance a round-the-world trip, a media report said Thursday.

Tam Mei-kam told judge Andrew Cheung she felt bored and stressed from last year's unsuccessful attempt to gain control of her late daughter's estate and needed to take along nurses, maids and family on the trip, the South China Morning Post said.

Hong Kong - A wealthy businessman is suing his former lover for the return of property worth more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars (1.28 million dollars) accusing her of breaching a sex pact, a media report said Thursday.

Shoe tycoon Patrick Tang, 66, claimed Karen Lee, 39, agreed not to have sex with anyone else and in return bought her four homes between 2002 and 2005, the Standard newspaper said.

Tang is seeking the return of the properties after Lee allegedly had an affair with a former Mr Hong Kong, Wong Cheung-fat, who at 23, is 16 years her junior.

Hong Kong  - A former banker and his girlfriend have become the first people in Hong Kong to be jailed for insider share trading, a media report said Thursday.

Ma Hon-yeung, a former BNP Paribas vice president, was sent to prison for 26 months and fined 230,000 Hong Kong dollars (29,500 dollars), while his girlfriend, Ivy Lo was imprisoned for 12 months and fined 210,000 Hong Kong dollars, the South China Morning Post said.

Hong Kong  - Filipino migrant workers are planning to protest against Hong Kong journalist Chip Tsao who wrote a satirical article describing the Philippines as a "nation of servants," a migrants group said Wednesday.

Dolores Balladares, the chairwoman of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, accused Tsao of being insincere even though the writer apologized several times and said he never intended to cause offence.

She said the protest would take place on Sunday.