Opening ceremony for World University Games

The opening ceremony of the 26th World University Games, or Universiade, tasks place at the Shenzhen Bay 'Spring Cocoon' Sports Centre tonight. Organisers said the opening ceremony would involve thousands of student actors but no celebrities nor fireworks, because it is 'an event for students' and 'they should be the stars of the show'. Athletes from 152 countries and regions will compete in the biennial games until August 23.

30 young astronauts return from training

Thirty budding space travellers from Hong Kong who have spent a week at a Young Astronaut Training Camp in Beijing return home to recount their experiences learning such skills as using a space kitchen, escape and survival, and how to don a spacesuit. They will meet the media at - where else but - the Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. Their trip also took in some of the mainland's major space facilities, including the China Academy of Space Technology and the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Centre.

Convicted serial killer to find out if he lives or dies

A serial killer who kept the decomposing bodies of 11 women in and around his Ohio home for more than two years will find out if he gets the death penalty. Anthony Sowell, a 51-year-old former marine, was found guilty of the gruesome murders last month. He apologised for his crimes and described his troubled childhood during a sentencing hearing this week in which two of his relatives and a former cellmate pleaded for mercy from the jury. The women began disappearing in 2007, and prosecutors say Sowell lured them to his home with the promise of alcohol or drugs. Police found the first two bodies in late 2009 after officers went to investigate a woman's report that she had been raped there.

Airline grounded over safety concerns returns to skies

Budget carrier Tiger Airways resumes flying in Australia after aviation authorities lifted a costly six-week ban over safety concerns. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the airline, a subsidiary of Singapore's Tiger Airways, could fly again whenever it wanted after it imposed new conditions on the carrier, including extra pilot training. The authority grounded the airline from July 2 after flights twice approached Melbourne airports too low, and following warnings about pilot proficiency, training and checking, and fatigue management.

Tsingtao Brewery to report results for first half

Tsingtao Brewery Co announces first-half earnings results. In April, China's second-largest beer maker said first-quarter net income climbed 40 per cent from a year earlier to 393 million yuan (HK$478 million).