Greg Torode explores the controversial plan to allow extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China which has a deeply flawed justice system

The Hong Kong authorities began destroying 15,000 chickens at a poultry market and suspended imports from mainland China after some birds were found to be infected with bird flu.

The founders of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central civil disobedience movement called on pro-democracy activists to retreat from the city centre over fears of violence, just hours after a student leader had called on supporters to regroup.

A prominent Hong Kong teenage protest leader has said that he is going on a hunger strike after a failed attempt by pro-democracy activists to step up their flagging movement for democratic reforms by surrounding government headquarters.

A prominent Hong Kong teen protest leader has said that he is going on a hunger strike after a failed attempt by pro-democracy activists to step up their flagging movement for democratic reforms by surrounding government headquarters.

Organisers of Hong Kong’s democracy protests have cancelled a vote on the next step in their month-long street occupation.

Talks with student leaders of a democracy protest that has blocked main roads in Hong Kong for nearly two weeks are off because they are unlikely to be constructive, a senior Hong Kong government official said.

Passionate, student-led protests for democratic reforms over the past week in Hong Kong subsided today as many residents returned to work.

Pro-democracy protesters have been defiant in the face of attacks by opponents and warnings by the Hong Kong government to clear the streets, staging a massive rally in the downtown business district they have occupied for a week.

Hong Kong protesters have welcomed an offer of talks by the territory’s leader to defuse the ongoing crisis over demonstrations seeking democratic reforms.

Police in Hong Kong have defended their use of tear gas and other tactics to control protests that have paralysed the city’s financial district, appealing to the thousands gathered to demand more democracy to stop the unprecedented mass act of civil disobedience for the sake of safety and stability.

A powerful typhoon that slammed into southern China with winds that blew cars off the road has caused more deaths, bringing the toll in Asia to at least 33.

The former National Security Agency contractor wanted for revealing classified secrets is seeking asylum in Ecuador, foreign minister Ricardo Patino has said.

Former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, who leaked details of secret surveillance operations in the UK and US, is believed to have arrived in Russia, according to reports.

A former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a “third country” because a US extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory’s government said today.

Hong Kong’s economy slowed again in the third quarter because of the weak global economy.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong home prices are “quite frightening” as China’s growing wealth fuels increases of 2% a month.

THE daughter of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe is studying at a university in Hong Kong under an assumed name, a newspaper said yesterday.

A human rights activist today urged Hong Kong to deport the daughter of Robert Mugabe if it is confirmed she is studying at a local university and the Zimbabwean president is funding her education.

The Hong Kong government has agreed to preserve a former home of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee and turn it into a tourist attraction, an official said today.

British sweet maker Cadbury is recalling its Chinese-made chocolates as a precaution amid the tainted milk powder scandal, the Hong Kong government said today.

BRITISH glam rocker Gary Glitter, who served nearly three years in a Vietnamese prison for molesting children, was denied entry to Hong Kong after refusing to return to England, officials said yesterday.

A three-year-old boy has died of bird flu in central Indonesia, a senior health official said today.

A bird-flu outbreak has killed 545 chickens and ducks in a village in central China in the country’s third case of the disease in two weeks, the government announced today.

Mickey Mouse was preparing for the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland tomorrow.

Wood-eating insects have chewed their way through beds, coffee tables and night stands at one of two hotels at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Disney officials consulted Chinese feng shui experts before building Hong Kong Disneyland, making changes such as tilting the site of the park several degrees and setting up “no fire zones” in kitchens, a company spokeswoman said today.

Hong Kong Disneyland is expected to draw its daily maximum of 30,000 visitors on its opening day, with a third of the guests coming from mainland China.

Hong Kong Disneyland is considering serving only shark fin soup made with fins obtained by non-cruel methods.

Thousands of Hong Kong people marched today in an impassioned plea for full democracy mixed with anger at the territory’s unpopular leader.

China took control of Hong Kong’s political process today, saying the territory cannot change the way it picks its leaders without approval from Beijing.

THOUSANDS of people marched through Hong Kong yesterday to demand full democracy in the former British colony in the biggest rally since a mass protest in July that threw the government into crisis.

Hong Kong residents want to put up a statue to one of their most famous sons - kung fu film legend, Bruce Lee.

HONG KONG reported 12 new SARS deaths but a lower level of new cases yesterday and was sending a plane to evacuate a Hong Kong tour group that has been quarantined in Taiwan.

Amid fears Hong Kong is allowing a deadly respiratory virus to spread overseas, officials prepared today to check all departing air travellers for fevers as they battled the international perception the city is unsafe.

Hong Kong today ordered more than 1,000 people who may have been exposed to a mysterious disease to be quarantined.

Hong Kong police arrested nine people today for taking bets on World Cup soccer matches, in a continuing crackdown on illegal gambling.

Hong Kong racing was reeling on Thursday following the arrest of 19 people, including two jockeys, in connection with alleged race-fixing.

Hundreds of pigs have died of foot and mouth disease in Hong Kong.