Holdup at boutique latest in spate of armed robberies
A man pointed a pistol-like object at the owner of a boutique in Cheung Sha Wan before escaping with HK$3,200 yesterday - the third armed holdup in three days. He rushed into the Un Chau Street shop and brandished what appeared to be a pistol, declaring a robbery, shortly after 12.30pm. 'She handed over HK$3,200 in cash as she was being held at a gunpoint,' a police spokeswoman said. The man is about 1.82 metres tall and 40 years old. On Monday, a man escaped with HK$41,000 from a Starbucks in Central after threatening two staff with a pistol. On Tuesday, two men carrying a pistol-like object and a crowbar escaped empty-handed from a jewellery shop in the Peninsula Shopping Arcade in Tsim Sha Tsui after triggering the alarm.
Medical airlifts planned
US-based international medical evacuation service AirMed will start a new service in February ferrying patients from the mainland to Hong Kong's Baptist Hospital. Hospital chief executive Hak Fai-chiu said AirMed will provide services for mainland members, mainly from Shanghai and Beijing, flying them to Baptist Hospital. Dr Hak predicts 10 to 20 patients will be transferred each month.
Police held for loan-sharking
Two police officers suspected of being loan sharks have been arrested in Macau, where a second loan-sharking ring in the security force has been uncovered in less than six months. The officers, aged 28 and 37, allegedly extended credit to at least 18 colleagues on the force, who spent most of the money on gambling. A woman who is not on the force has also been arrested. Since 2005, the ring has extended at least 400,000 patacas in credit and made a 1-million patacas profit.
Britain tightens entry visas
