Talking points

Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...

Suu Kyi aide goes on trial over election claims

The spokesman for Myanmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, Nyan Win (left), goes on trial in the capital, Naypyidaw, after denouncing irregularities in the parliamentary elections held in April. Nyan Win, who complained about ballot papers covered in wax and thereby impossible to mark, has been charged with violating a law that makes it an offence to give false information to a public servant. He faces up to six months in jail if convicted.

Donald Tsang, C.Y. visit Beijing for handover event

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive until midnight on Saturday, and Leung Chun-ying, his successor, leave for Beijing to attend the opening of an exhibition commemorating the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover. While in the capital, Leung will also attend an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ann Tse-kai, late vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who in 1996 named him as an ideal candidate for chief executive. Both return tomorrow. Chief Secretary Stephen Lam Sui-lung will be acting chief executive in their absence.

Gloom-busting Nissan boss unveils strategy

Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn (left) briefs shareholders in Yokohama on the Japanese carmaker's global growth strategy after a year of remarkable disaster recovery. Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman, returned debt-ridden Nissan to profitability a year after cutting 21,000 jobs, shutting the first of five domestic plants and auctioning off Nissan's prized aerospace unit. His bold style slowly won the hearts of the Japanese, who published a superhero comic book series based on his life story and even named a bento meal in his honour.

Kowloon Bay gives city first zero-carbon building

Hong Kong's first zero-carbon building, a collaboration between the Construction Industry Council and the Development Bureau, opens in Kowloon Bay's Sheung Yuet Road. The council says the building will serve as a platform for expertise in low-carbon design and will help raise awareness about sustainable living. The building generates more energy than it uses, with the surplus offsetting the energy spent on its construction.

Queen visits Northern Ireland; to meet ex-IRA leader

Britain's Queen Elizabeth starts a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, the first time since the outbreak of sectarian violence in the 1960s that a trip there by the monarch has been announced in advance. During the visit, part of the 86-year-old queen's diamond jubilee celebrations, she is to meet former guerilla commander Martin McGuinness (left), once a leading figure in the Irish Republican Army who now serves as the province's No 2 official. The queen has never met a senior figure in the now-defunct IRA, which killed her cousin Lord Mountbatten in 1979, or its political wing, Sinn Fein.

Trade council briefing on Book Fair details

The Trade Development Council gives a briefing on this year's Book Fair, to be held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai from July 18-24. It will feature more than 300 cultural programmes. Last year's event drew a record 950,000 visitors who spent HK$500 million over seven days.