Talking points
Our editors will catch up on these developing stories when we return ...
Tsang to make final Beijing briefing
Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (pictured) flies to Beijing tomorrow for his last visit to the capital as Hong Kong's chief executive. He is expected to brief President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on the city's latest economic, social and political developments. Tsang, who will stand down on June 30, will also meet top officials from the National Development and Reform Commission and the People's Bank of China before returning home on Tuesday.
Lahore deploys snipers to keep Christians safe
Police in Lahore, home to most of Pakistan's tiny Christian community, will deploy snipers and hundreds of extra policemen to deter attacks against the minority group over Christmas. None of the city's 433 churches had been specifically targeted, said police spokesman Nayab Haider. Still, he said: 'We have placed 38 churches in category A, which are most sensitive, and, among them 20 are even more sensitive, as we expect foreigners to visit these churches on Christmas Eve'.
Seoul briefing assesses North Korean outlook
Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun (pictured) and South Korean First Vice-Minister Park Suk-Hwan will hold 'annual strategic talks' in Seoul next week. 'The meeting is aimed at sharing views on the current situation in North Korea after the death of Kim Jong-il and consulting on the way forward regarding the Korean Peninsula,' the Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying. Efforts to revive six-party negotiations on scrapping the North's nuclear programme will also be discussed.
Tokyo court rules on killer's death sentence
On Monday the Tokyo High Court is expected to rule on Takeshi Koizumi's appeal against his death sentence for the 2008 killing of a former deputy health minister, Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife Michiko, 61. Koizumi killed the couple on November 17, 2008 in their Saitama home to avenge the death of his dog, which had been put down at a health centre 34 years earlier.
Indian Ocean tsunami victims to be remembered
Ceremonies will be held on Monday to mark the anniversary of the December 26, 2004 tsunami. The surge wreaked havoc around the Indian Ocean, leaving 227,898 people dead or missing, presumed dead in 14 countries in South and Southeast Asia and East Africa - including Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India as well as Kenya and Somalia - according to the US Geological Survey. The disaster was triggered by the 9.1-magnitude Sumatra-Andaman earthquake - the third most powerful recorded by the USGS (pictured).
Wrap up warm to keep chills from Christmas cheer
Party-goers should rug up this Christmas - likely to be the city's coldest in 27 years. The Observatory forecast minimum temperatures in urban areas would drop to about 11 degrees Celsius and would be even lower in the New Territories today. Tomorrow may be colder yet, with minimum temperatures of 10 degrees, making it the coldest Christmas since 1984.
