Hong Kong  - Around 1,000 people took part in Hong Kong's first gay pride march, organizers of the event in the conservative former British colony estimated Sunday.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual marchers from mainland China and Taiwan joined Hong Kong groups for Saturday's event which saw colourfully dressed participants walk a two-mile route through the city centre.

Hong Kong  - Two pilots with a Hong Kong airline have been sacked for trying to take off in plane carrying 122 passengers from a taxiway rather than a runway, the airline said Sunday.

Hong Kong Airlines captain Indra Santrianto and his Argentinian First Officer Diego Martin Chiadria were dismissed over the incident Boeing 737 at Hong Kong International Airport on September 13.

An air traffic controller raised the alarm when he saw the plane bound for Cheong Ju in Korea speeding along the taxiway and alerted the cockpit crew in time for them to abort take-off.

Hong Kong  - Around 1,000 people took part in Hong Kong's first gay pride march, organizers of the event in the conservative former British colony estimated Sunday.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual marchers from mainland China and Taiwan joined Hong Kong groups for Saturday's event, which saw colourfully dressed participants walk a
3-kilometre route through the city centre.

Government authorities confirmed the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a local chicken farm on Thursday. Jolly Choi, spokeswoman for Hong Kong's agriculture, fisheries, and conservation department said that earlier tests on Dec 9 were positive for an H5 virus, but further testing showed that three chickens found dead on the farm had the H5N1 subtype.

Choi said that no new measures were required other than those that have been implemented.

Hong Kong - A flight attendant with Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific has been prosecuted for stealing 168 items from the plane's trolley on a single flight, a news report said Saturday.

Kwong Man-fong, 43, stole items including biscuits, beer, mineral water, chocolates, red wine, a sewing kit, pens, noodles and shaving cream on the flight from Auckland to Hong Kong on July 27.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong was embarrassed Friday by the death of a second rare Chinese sturgeon months after it was presented to the city's Ocean Park theme park by the Beijing government.

The death of the endangered fish from a bacterial infection follows the loss of another sturgeon in June which was savaged to death by a barracuda sharing the same tank.

The incident in June came only days after Hong Kong was given the 1.1-metre-long fish, along with two other sturgeon, by China, representing one of the five mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It developed into a minor but acutely embarrassing diplomatic incident for the government of the former British colony, whose officials are all appointed by China and kow-tow to Beijing.