Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
US aircraft carrier group visits city
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is due to dock at 8am for its second visit to Hong Kong this year, followed by two support vessels named by the Marine Department as the USS Bunker Hill and USS Halsey. The ships' combined crews will bring almost 7,000 visitors to the city. They left California late last month for deployment in the western Pacific. The Carl Vinson's visit to Hong Kong in May attracted media attention because the carrier had just been used to bury the body of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the Indian Ocean.
Festive rush to make its home run
Border control officers at Hong Kong airport and elsewhere are bracing themselves for heavy traffic, with thousands of Hongkongers expected to return home on the last day of the four-day Christmas holiday. On Thursday, more than 420,000 people left the city through various checkpoints for the mainland and overseas. On the same day, the checkpoints recorded more than 380,000 people entering the city.
Scientists to discuss China's satnav system
China's top satellite scientists meet the media at a State Council briefing on the development of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System - an indigenous project to compete with the United States' GPS and Europe's Galileo systems. The latest development saw China launch on December 2 its 10th satellite (left) for its home-grown global navigation and positioning network. Beidou, formed in 2000 to reduce China's dependency on the US-controlled GPS network, aims to provide test-run positioning and navigation services for China and neighbouring countries by the end of the year.