Hong Kong - Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang on Wednesday bowed to public pressure to introduce a minimum wage for workers in the wealthy city of 6.9 million.

The rich-poor divide has widened sharply in recent years, and hundreds of people took part in a march this month demanding a minimum wage of 33 Hong Kong dollars (4.25 US dollars) per hour.

In his annual policy address Wednesday, Chief Executive Tsang admitted that a voluntary minimum wage for cleaners and security guards introduced two years ago had been a failure.

Hong Kong - It is home to some of Asia's wealthiest and most successful people - a city where tycoons, celebrities and high-fliers live in sumptuous surroundings in some of the world's costliest properties.

A pad on Hong Kong's exclusive Peak will cost you in excess of 7,000 US dollars per square foot (75,000 US dollars per square metre) - more than in New York or London - and a down payment on a shoebox-sized studio flat will set you back as much as a town house in other world cities.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares surged by more than 10 per cent Monday as bank bail-out packages in Britain and Europe brought buyers rushing back into global markets.

The Hang Seng Index shot up by 1,515.29 points, or 10.24 per cent, to close the day at 16,312.16 points. Turnover as 72.58 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.35 billion US dollars).

The rebound came after Hong Kong shares plunged by more than 7 per cent Friday, dipping below the 15,000-point mark for the first time in three years.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong's chief executive believes the city could emerge as a more important financial centre because of the global economic meltdown, a news report said Monday.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang argues the "collapse" of London and New York could benefit the former British colony, according to the Hong Kong Standard.

In his annual policy address speech this week Tsang plans to say that Hong Kong "remains strong and may even grow as a result of the financial tsunami," the newspaper said.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong is on the watch out for a group of escaped crocodiles and alligators that broke out of a theme park in southern China during a typhoon, a news report said Sunday.

Up to 200 reptiles ranging from 2-metre Chinese alligators to saltwater crocodiles that can grow up to 6 metres reportedly escaped when Typhoon Hagiput lashed the theme park a fortnight ago.