Hong Kong - A surge in Macau's population spurred by the boom in its casino industry is bringing increasing growing pains to the Chinese territory, government officials said Friday.
According to official statistics, the population of the former Portuguese colony, already the most densely populated place in the world, rose by 4.98 per cent in the 12 months ending in June and now stands at 551,900.
The Statistics and Census Bureau forecast the population would continue to grow by 4.6 per cent a year and reach 644,000 residents by 2011.
Government experts said the rise is because of an increase in imported labour flooding Macau to man its casinos and hotels and not an increase in births.
Hong Kong - China's Olympic gold medalists were given a heroes welcome Friday when they arrived in Hong Kong for a three-day programme of sell-out events and celebrations.
The 100-strong delegation of athletes and medalists were met by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and more than 100 cheering schoolchildren.
The delegation includes gymnast Yang Wei and diver Guo Jing-Jing, who was quizzed by journalists on her arrival over rumours that she would be moving to Hong Kong.
A report in a Chinese newspaper claimed Guo, who won four gold medals at the Beijing Summer Games this month, is to marry a Hong Kong resident and would obtain her residency, allowing her to compete for Hong Kong in 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Hong Kong - A Hong Kong primary school teacher faced jail Thursday after being convicted of having sex with a 10-year-old girl from his class.
Chew Hing-cheung, 53, took the girl to "love hotels" where rooms are rented by the hour on three occasions and had sex with her, Hong Kong's High Court was told.
He was arrested in January on his third visit to a love hotel with the girl when police carried out a routine operation at the premises, the court heard.
Chew, who is married and has a son, 7, admitted having sex with a minor. Sentencing was adjourned until September 12 for a psychological report to be prepared.
Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks slumped nearly 2.3 per cent Thursday as pessimism gripped the market amid concerns over the earnings outlook of some big companies.
The Hang Seng Index lost 492.43 points to end the day at 20,972.29 points, down 2.29 per cent on Wednesday's close. Turnover was a relatively light 66.7 billion Hong Kong dollars.
The fall in prices comes after a strong week and was led by heavyweight stocks Esprit Holdings, PetroChina and China Mobile which disappointed investors with their earnings.
Hong Kong - Hong Kong's struggling Disneyland theme park made a loss of almost 200 million US dollars in its second year of operation, a news report said Thursday.
The park, which opened in 2005, was only one third full for most of 2006-2007 and suffered losses totalling 193.9 million US dollars, the South China Morning Post said.
Quoting confidential company documents, the newspaper said the park had only 4.17 million visitors in its second year, 11,400 a day or roughly a third its 34,000 capacity.
Hong Kong - Five people died and two injured in a day of suicide jumps from high-rise buildings in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks slumped nearly 2.3 per cent Thursday as pessimism gripped the market amid concerns over the earnings outlook of some big companies.
Hong Kong - Hong Kong's struggling Disneyland theme park made a loss of almost 200 million US dollars in its second year of operation, a news report said Thursday.
