Talking points

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

Tribunal hears claim against roaming charges

The Small Claims Tribunal hears a claim filed against mobile phone company CSL by subscriber Ben Sargent (left). Aided by the Consumer Council, Sargent, a 40-year-old investment banker, says CSL's roaming charges are excessive after he received a bill for HK$2,540 on returning home from a holiday in Italy and Dubai. At an earlier hearing, in April, Sargent rejected CSL's settlement offer of HK$270 and insisted on a full refund.

First day for Jockey Club's new official

Former Australian Racing Board chief executive Andrew Harding takes up his appointment as director of racing development at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Harding was also reconfirmed last month as secretary general of the Asian Racing Federation, whose base will now move to Hong Kong. Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, a federation vice-chairman, said the appointments would help the club and Harding provide better support to emerging nations in racing, including Mongolia.

North Korea kicks off mass games spectacle

North Korea begins its annual mass games at Pyongyang's Rungrado May Day Stadium, the world's biggest sports arena by capacity, where the displays will be held four times a week until October 10. The performances are devoted to the theme of Arirang, a popular folksong on both sides of the North-South Korean divide. Some 100,000 people participate at a venue that can hold 150,000 spectators. According to Korea Konsult, a website offering tours to North Korea, 'tourists from all over the world including US passport holders will be welcomed'. Tickets range from about HK$760 to HK$2,850 for VIP seats.

Unlimited yuan accounts for non-residents

From today, the Monetary Authority repeals its ban on non-residents opening yuan accounts. Individuals who do not have a Hong Kong identity card will be allowed to open yuan bank accounts and to exchange other currencies for yuan deposits without any limit. But they cannot send yuan back to the mainland without permission because of Beijing's capital controls. This matches practices in overseas yuan markets such as London and Singapore. The new policy is part of a bid to attract overseas investors to invest in yuan products in the city and part of efforts to defend Hong Kong's role as a global offshore trading centre of the currency.

US Congress hosts meeting for blind dissident

House Speaker John Boehner hosts a bipartisan meeting for dissident Chen Guangcheng (left) at the US Capitol. Chen, the blind activist whose flight to the US embassy in Beijing in April sparked a diplomatic incident, had been due to testify last week at a House hearing on human rights in China but declined to appear, apparently out of fear of reprisals against relatives.

Crackdown on overuse of antibiotics comes into force

Regulations introduced by the Ministry of Health in Beijing limiting the use of antibiotics come into force. Overuse of antibiotics leads to bacteria developing resistance, threatening public health. Doctors may no longer prescribe antibiotics unless there is evidence of bacterial infection.