Talking points

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

George Clooney speaks to investors' group in HK

The Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney speaks to the CLSA Investors' Forum about his movie career and human rights activism, especially his involvement with the Satellite Sentinel Project, which a month ago disclosed evidence of two new mass graves around the border area of South Sudan. The invitation-only meeting is for 1,500 institutional investors and 300 senior executives.

Last-ditch efforts to save inmate from execution

An American man convicted of gunning down an off-duty policeman in 1989 is due to be executed amid last-ditch efforts to save his life. A Georgia parole board, in a case that has garnered worldwide attention and twice reached the US Supreme Court, decided yesterday Troy Davis should be put to death by lethal injection rather than be granted clemency. The doubts over Davis's conviction - there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and seven of the nine witnesses have since withdrawn or changed their testimony - elevated the case to a cause c?l?bre among death penalty opponents.

Envoys from two Koreas meet in Beijing

South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac meets North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho in Beijing for talks on Pyongyang's nuclear plans. Both sides will be trying to hash out issues in an attempt to restart long-stalled six-nation talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament.

Philippine military calls one-day truce with Maoists

The Philippine military observes a unilateral one-day ceasefire with communist insurgents to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace. The truce only applied to the Maoist New People's Army, not to other antagonists such as the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, Lieutenant Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said. The New People's Army has been waging a Maoist campaign for political, social and economic reforms since 1969.

High-flyers in aviation convene for expo

Aviation Expo/China 2011 opens in Beijing. The biennial civilian and military aviation exhibition is organised by Chinese aviation authorities, the military and big aviation companies. It runs until Saturday at the China National Convention Centre, next to the National Stadium, or 'Bird's Nest'.

Executive defends Google at US Senate panel

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt will take centre stage at a United States Senate hearing into whether the internet giant is abusing its dominant position in online searching. California-based Google has drawn increasing scrutiny as it has grown over the years from a scrappy Silicon Valley start-up into an internet powerhouse. At issue in the hearing is whether Google gives preference to its own websites and products in search results.