Hong Kong  - The price for new flats in Hong Kong has crashed to their lowest level since 2003 as a Chinese property developer offered homes for 1.83 million Hong Kong dollars (234,615 dollars), a media report said Thursday.

Developer Chinese Estates cut prices by up to 20 per cent to attract buyers to a new housing project in the west Kowloon area of the city, the Standard said.

The prices are the lowest since the economic slump caused by an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) respiratory disease.

Hong Kong - Australian visitors were warned Wednesday about Hong Kong's poor air quality in a travel alert issued by the Canberra government.

The alert warned that levels of air pollution "may aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditions" and says people with heart or respiratory illnesses should take precautions.

It urges visitors with pre-existing conditions to reduce physical activity and outdoor activity on days when air pollution readings are high in the densely populated high-rise city of 7 million.

Hong Kong - A black joke doing the rounds in Asian financial circles goes like this: Question: "What's the definition of an optimist?" Answer: "A banker who has five shirts ironed on a Sunday."

It is a joke Barry Emmerton - who lost his 15,500-US-dollar-a month job as an interest rates derivatives specialist - can afford to smile at, even though the shirt question is already irrelevant for him.

Today, instead of waking up to the prospect of another nerve-wracking week in Hong Kong's money markets, the

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares closed up more than 3.4 per cent Tuesday and edged close to the 14,000 points mark.

Buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street, The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 462.92 points or 3.44 per cent to 13,910.34 points. Turnover was 63.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.23 billion US dollars).

The gains followed a jump of nearly 5 per cent in prices Monday to take the index to a five-week high. Turnover Tuesday was also at its highest level for weeks.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong lawmakers and human rights activists on Tuesday called for the wife of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to be banned from the city after she was granted diplomatic immunity over an alleged assault.

Grace Mugabe, 43, escaped prosecution for allegedly attacking a British photographer who took pictures of her on a shopping trip to Hong Kong in January.