Hong Kong - Job creation in Hong Kong has fallen to its lowest level in 30 months as the global financial crisis takes its toll, according to a survey published Wednesday.

The number of jobs created by the average company in the wealthy city of 6.9 million during the third quarter of 2008 was 0.51, lower than for the previous quarter and the same period in 2007.

Announcing the survey findings, the Institute of Human Resource Management said it expected job creation in Hong Kong to worsen with further decreases in 2009.

The institute, which calculated job creation rates by the number of news jobs minus jobs cut in around 1,000 Hong Kong companies, said the third quarter rate was the lowest since early 2006.

Hong Kong  - A peeping Tom who fell 10 floors from the window ledge of a high-rise apartment block while filming a woman in a shower has been spared a jail term, a news report said Wednesday.

Fong Chi-hung, 44, appeared in court heavily bandaged, in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace Tuesday, five months after being critically injured in the fall, the South China Morning Post reported.

He had been perched on a window ledge and was using his mobile phone to film the 28-year-old woman when she spotted him and shouted for her husband.

Hong Kong - The mother of a Hong Kong brother and sister who climbed down drainpipes from their 34th-floor apartment was Tuesday put on probation for child neglect.

The girl, 7, and her brother, 5, were nicknamed "spider-kids" by the Hong Kong media after clambering down drainpipes on a Saturday morning in June while their mother was sleeping.

The girl was eventually pulled to safety by residents in a 28th-floor flat while the boy managed to get three floors further down before being rescued. Both children have since been put in care.

The children's 27-year-old mother pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect at an earlier court hearing. At a sentencing Tuesday, she was given a one-year probation term.

Hong Kong - Actor Brad Pitt and Fantastic Four star Jessica Alba are the celebrities Asians would most like to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Jessica Alba was voted the number one mistletoe choice by men in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia while men in Hong Kong opted for Nicole Kidman in the survey by LG Electronics.