Hong Kong - Hong Kong pop star Jill Vidal, given a suspended two-year jail sentence in Japan for heroin possession, arrived home to a media scrum Saturday. Around
100 reporters and photographers were at Hong Kong International Airport to see Vidal, 26, also known as Wei Si, arrive home after two months in custody.

Hong Kong - Unions in Hong Kong were calling Saturday for a minimum wage law to be drafted urgently after a survey found workers at fast-food outlet KFC earn as little as 2 US dollars an hour. Some KFC outlets in the wealthy city of 7 million pay just 16 Hong Kong dollars (2.06 US dollars) an hour while the average paid by the US chicken restaurant chain is 2.44 US dollars, the survey found.

Staff in McDonald's outlets are only slightly better paid with average pay rates of 2.61 US dollars an hour, the survey by Hong Kong unions found.

Hong Kong - Around 14,000 staff at Hong Kong airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have agreed to take unpaid leave in response to a cost-cutting appeal, the sister airlines announced Friday.

The response - amounting to some 70 per cent of the two airlines' global workforce - includes 77 per cent of Cathay Pacific flight attendants and 85 per cent of ground staff, the airlines said.

Hong Kong - The Hong Kong government Friday cancelled its travel warning for Bangkok after the Thai prime minister lifted the state of emergency imposed 12 days ago.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said the travel warning was cancelled with immediate effect but said people travelling to the Thai capital should continue to exercise caution.

"As the situation there is still not entirely clear, those who plan to visit the country, particularly Bangkok, should continue to closely monitor developments," the spokesman said.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong is to give visa-free access to Russian travellers in a bid to tap into new markets in the light of the current economic downturn, officials confirmed Friday. The 14-day visa-free access is expected to come into force later this year following an agreement between Russia and Hong Kong signed Thursday which also gives Hong Kong passport holders 14 days of visa-free access to Russia.