Talking points

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

China, US meet face to face on Asia-Pacific

China and the United States will hold the first round of consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, with Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai and US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (pictured) acting as co-hosts. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was concerned that recent incidents in the South China Sea could undermine peace and stability in the region. But Cui said individual countries that had been taking provocative action were playing with fire and he hoped the fire would not be drawn to the United States.

Kissinger to address Beijing's Global Think Tank

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger will speak at Beijing's Global Think Tank Summit hosted by the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges. Professor Andrew Nathan of Columbia University, writing in the latest issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, said Kissinger, in his latest book On China, advocates that the US should yield gracefully to China's rise to avoid a tragic conflict. This marked a 'strategic split' from another camp in the Republican party which argued that the US should stand strong in the face of growing Chinese power and ambition.

Support for Israeli soldier captured in 2006

It will be 1,826 days - exactly five years - since Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, then aged 19, was snatched by Gaza-based militants in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006. In the evening, a group of 24 Israelis - among them celebrities, athletes and writers - will take part in an event in which they will spend one hour shut inside a small room kitted out like a filthy prison cell in an attempt recreate the conditions of Shalit's captivity.

Gunslinger's photo could fetch US$1m

A photograph of a smirking Billy the Kid, taken outside a New Mexico saloon near where the famed outlaw was shot dead, could fetch up to US$1 million at an auction. The 5cm by 8cm tintype is the only known adult portrait of the Wild West gunslinger, who variously went by the names William Bonney, Henry Antrim, Henry McCarty or just 'the Kid'.

Samaritans to release suicide report

The tragic and perennial problem of suicide will come under the spotlight as help group The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong release the latest figures on the number of people who take their own lives in Hong Kong. The group will also dispense advice on how to negate suicidal thoughts.

Germany-Canada match kicks off women's World Cup

Hosts Germany get their women's soccer World Cup campaign under way tomorrow when they take on Canada. Germany are bidding for a third straight title, having won the 2007 and 2003 tournaments, and are hot favourites to succeed in the final in Frankfurt on July 17. Germany have a flawless record of nine wins from nine games against Canada, but the hosts are under enormous pressure.