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."

Hong Kong - The Jockey Club, which controls all legalized betting in Hong Kong, saw revenue surge in two of its three core businesses, it said Friday.

The rise came despite the threat from illegal operators and increasing deregulation in other parts of Asia, including Macau, where there has been a boom in the gaming industry after the government opened the sector in 2002.

The club said betting revenue from horse racing climbed 5.8 per cent last season, which ended in July, from the previous season, hitting nearly 67.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.68 billion dollars)

Revenue from football betting surged more than 14 per cent to 34.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Hong Kong - The shortage of men in Hong Kong is apparently deepening, with the latest government statistics showing that there were only 904 men for every 1,000 women in the city, a media report said Friday.

This continued a trend that began in 1996, when women first started to outnumber men, the South China Morning Post said. In 2006, there were 912 men for every 1,000 women, compared with 956 men for every 1,000 women in 2001.

The government's latest edition of "Women and Men in Hong Kong - key statistics," showed 3,287,400 men and 3,638,500 women last year in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - Launching a minimum wage or increasing regulatory policies could undermine Hong Kong's economic growth, the head of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce told a newspaper in a report published Monday.

But Hong Kong is unlikely to face an economic downturn on the same scale as that seen during the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago, the Standard newspaper said, quoting Andrew Brandler.

"The government has to be careful when formulating policies," Brandler said. "Increasing regulations may bring unforeseen and undesired consequences as they may increase costs, especially under such a fragile economy as we have now."

Hong Kong - A spate of ambulance breakdowns, including one in which an elderly man later died, has been blamed on hot, humid weather in Hong Kong, a media report said Monday.

Six ambulances have broken down since July 20 while responding to emergency calls including two on Sunday, the Standard newspaper said.

The breakdowns came as fire services chiefs are planning to spend 120 million Hong Kong dollars (15.4 million US dollars) replacing nearly half the fleet of 250 ambulances within the next 18 months.