Talking points

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

New pitch for snubbed tycoon

Still smarting from his snub in Iceland, where he had offered to pay US$200 million for 300 sq km of tundra, mainland billionaire Huang Nubo (pictured) will chair a panel discussion in Beijing on cultural heritage and innovation. Panelists will include long-time China observer Orville Schell from the US and Taiwan-based playwright Stan Lai. The discussion is part of the Communist Party's attempt to project China's soft power. As for Iceland, Huang told state media: 'The denial reflects the unjust and parochial investment environment facing private Chinese enterprises abroad.'

Public to have a say on new property law

The government will begin a public consultation on its proposed legislation for regulating the sale of new residential properties. The bill has raised concerns among developers, as it will forbid them from including a building's common facilities in a flat's saleable areas. The bill also proposes a maximum penalty of a HK$5 million fine plus seven years' jail for developers who provide misleading and false information to buyers.

Psychiatrists to rule on Norway's mass killer

Psychiatrists will submit a report on the mental health of Anders Behring Breivik (pictured), who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting spree in Norway four months ago. April 16 has been provisionally set as the starting date for Breivik's trial, but whether it takes place will depend on the psychiatrists' report. The court has extended Breivik's periods in custody since his arrest on July 22 and has gradually relaxed the conditions of his solitary confinement. Breivik has confessed to the killings but has tried to portray himself as the leader of a resistance movement against Islamification.

WHO's Margaret Chan to open forum

The World Health Organisation's director general, Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, will address a three-day forum on health communication hosted by Tsignhua University in Beijing. Chan, a former head of Hong Kong's Health Department, has been nominated unopposed for a second term at the head of the United Nations' health agency.

Sentencing looms for Jackson's doctor

Conrad Murray (pictured), the doctor accused of killing pop star Michael Jackson, is expected to be sentenced in a Los Angeles court after his conviction earlier this month on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Murray was placed in custody after the jury handed down its guilty verdict, with Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor noting: 'This is a crime where the end result was the death of a human being. That factor demands rather dramatically that the public should be protected.'

Euro finance ministers meet in Brussels

Finance ministers meet in Brussels today after a week in which confidence in the euro zone has deteriorated. Under guidelines to be considered by finance chiefs, the European Financial Stability Facility may insure bonds of troubled countries with guarantees of between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of each issue, to be determined in light of market circumstances, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg.