Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
170 nations' emissaries seek ground for warming pact
Officials from 170 countries gather in Bonn to lay the groundwork for a new global warming pact, as Europe pushes for progress amid fears of political and financial wavering. Experts and diplomats seek to outline a work plan for clinching a new deal by 2015 on limiting earth-warming gas emissions, but observers fear squabbling and political inertia may tie up negotiators. The gathering is the first since UN member states agreed in Durban, South Africa, in December to bring all major greenhouse-gas-emitting countries under a single legal roof from 2020. Since then, anger has been brewing over Europe's imposition of a carbon emissions tax on international airlines from January 1 - which some countries, including India and the US, have warned could derail talks.
School hosts Holocaust education centre
A Holocaust education centre opens with the aim of becoming a regional resource hub. The centre is temporarily located at Elsa High, a Jewish high school in Shau Kei Wan. It will focus on raising awareness about the massacre of more than six million Jews by the Nazis in the second world war.
Last tour groups to leave Philippines by Wednesday
The last Chinese tour groups in the Philippines will return home by Wednesday amid growing bilateral tension caused by the month-long stand-off over disputed Scarborough Shoal. While China has not banned tours to the Philippines, it has warned that tourists should be careful about their safety if travelling there. State media said yesterday there would be no mainland tourist groups in the Philippines after Wednesday.
First nuclear talks with Iran in three months
World powers will be closely following Iran's first talks with the UN nuclear agency in three months for clues on whether Tehran means business at a coming crunch meeting in Baghdad. The last time Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh (right), and chief inspector Hermann Nackaerts met officially was in early February on the second of two fruitless IAEA visits to Tehran. Bruno Tertrais, a senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, said the two days of discussions behind closed doors in Vienna 'will be a good test of Iran's intentions in the whole [nuclear] issue'.
New Chinese passports carry microchips
China introduces new electronic passports from tomorrow. A microchip in the new passport stores the personal information of the holder. The Ministry of Public Security says the old passports are still valid travel documents.
Legco education panel discusses e-book scheme
The Legislative Council's education panel discusses the E-textbook Market Development Scheme. Last Monday, Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung said a HK$50 million subsidy would be set up to help non-profit publishers develop electronic textbooks in an attempt to break the stranglehold of a few major publishers on the textbook market.
