Briefs, March 10, 2013

The plane that was due to bring home the bodies of the nine Hong Kong tourists who were killed in the balloon disaster in Egypt last month was cancelled on Friday because of poor weather. Another flight has been arranged and is scheduled to depart today, flying via Zurich. The bodies will arrive back on Monday night.

Executive Councillor Barry Cheung Chun-yuen said recent measures to cool the property market, such as doubling stamp duty, had started to have an impact on the market. He was referring to lowered selling prices for new flats recently put up for sale. Stressing there was no rift between the government and developers, Cheung said, however, that the authorities must monitor the situation closely and introduce further measures when necessary.