Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares slumped by more than 8 per cent Wednesday as economic woes deepened despite a cut in interest rates intended to boost liquidity in the city's money markets.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1,372.03 points or 8.17 per cent, crashing through the 16,000 points barrier within minutes of the market opening and ending the day at 15,431.73 points. Turnover was
77.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (10 billion US dollars).

The blue-chip index has fallen at an unprecedented rate in recent weeks and has now shed 50 per cent of its value since it peaked at just below 32,000 points in October 2007.

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Hong Kong - A secret "hit list" of nearly 200 pilots Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific considered for sacking during a bitter 2001 dispute with cockpit crew was Wednesday circulating among staff.

The list - leaked by an unknown member of the management panel that decided which pilots to fire - includes the 49 pilots fired during the dispute and around 100 pilots still with the airline.

Serving pilots on the list include a deputy chief pilot with the Boeing fleet and a number of senior training captains. All but a handful of them had no idea they were once shortlisted.

Hong Kong  - The booming market for Chinese art appears to be the latest victim of the global economic downturn, a Hong Kong news report said Monday.

A Sotheby's auction of 20th-century Chinese art Sunday in Hong Kong saw 71 of the 110 lots go unsold, the South China Morning Post reported.

The most expensive work sold, an abstract painting by Zhao Wuji, fetched 4.22 million Hong Kong dollars (543,000 US dollars) after the auction house estimated it would bring in 4.7 million to 5.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

Hong Kong - Around 200 people marched through Hong Kong on Sunday calling for a minimum wage to protect low-paid workers in the wealthy former British colony.

The marchers, organized by a group called the People's Alliance for Minimum Wage, said they wanted to see an immediate minimum wage of 33 Hong Kong dollars (4.24 US dollars) an hour.

Holding up banners and chanting slogans, they presented a petition at Central Government Offices calling on Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang to set a timetable for the minimum wage as soon as possible.