Hong Kong - A China Airlines jetliner aborted its landing at Hong Kong International Airport because of wild weather and returned to Taiwan leaving about 300 passengers in a state of shock, a media report said Friday.

Flight CI 617 rose to 3,000 metres in a minute and turned back to Taipei at 12:47 am Thursday after it had descended to just 100 metres above sea level on its landing approach, the South China Morning Post said.

Passengers were not told by the pilot what had happened until 20 minutes after the landing had been aborted.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong's economy could slow in the second half of this year as the impact of a slump in the United States and economic woes in Western Europe spread to Asia, the head of Hong Kong government's banking body said Thursday.

Economic growth could be lower than expected because there are signs Asia is being affected by the downturn in Western economies, Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam warned. The authority is responsible for managing Hong Kong's official reserves and keeping the Hong Kong dollar stable.

Hong Kong - Airline flights and other transport services were suspended and offices and businesses closed in Hong Kong Wednesday as tropical storm Kammuri battered the territory.

Cathay Pacific Airways said it would suspend all Hong Kong operations for a four-hour period, starting at 4 pm (0800 GMT), as a result of the strong winds caused by the storm.

The airline temporary suspended its online and in-town check-in services at Hong Kong and Kowloon mass transit stations and advised passengers to check with the airline before leaving home.

China Airlines said that flights between Hong Kong and Taiwan would be affected.

Hong Kong - On-going financial woes related to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis which have put pressure on several Hong Kong banks dragged the benchmark Hang Seng index down 2.51 per cent to fall below 22,000 points Tuesday.

The index fell 565 points to close at 21,949.75 points.

Turnover was 63.99 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.2 billion US dollars).

Bank of East Asia, the territory's fifth biggest lender, closed 8.28 per cent down at 33.20 Hong Kong dollars after it reported a worse-than-expected 52.4 per cent drop in net profit for the first-half.

Hong Kong - In a city that has a higher proportion of Rolls- Royces than anywhere else in the world, soaring fuel prices have led motorists to shun luxury, petrol-guzzling cars in favour of fuel efficient vehicles, a media report said Monday.

Sales of new cars such as Mercedes Benz and BMW with engines of 3,500cc or larger have fallen about 5 per cent since May when oil topped 120 dollars a barrel, the South China Morning Post said.

"The trend was even more apparent in the second-hand market, which saw a drop of about 7 per cent in price for BMW sedans and its comparable middle-price series," said James Kong, vice-president of the Hong Kong Automobile Association.

Hong Kong - Soldiers from the People's Liberation Army could be called in to help provide security at the equestrian events being held in Hong Kong, a senior police officer said Saturday.

Operations director Henrique Koo said the PLA would be brought in as a last resort.

Speaking on a radio programme on government broadcaster, RTHK, Koo - who is also a senior assistant commissioner - said police were well prepared to deal with emergency situations. But he said soldiers would be available if necessary.

He reiterated that the threat level remains moderate because there was "no concrete evidence Hong Kong was a potential target for terrorist attacks."