Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Countdown to the New Year countdown
For Hong Kong, New Year's Eve gets an added lift from the Jockey Club, which has stepped in with HK$1.5 million for the traditional fireworks display after developers Henderson Land and Sun Hung Kai Properties withdrew from paying half the government's HK$3 million contribution. In France, authorities are limiting the sale of petrol and other combustibles in a bid to curb what has become an annual tradition of revellers torching hundreds of cars. In New York, workers have already hoisted the giant ball whose plunge above Times Square (left) will herald the onset of 2012, 12 hours after fireworks have lit up the Hong Kong sky.
Shanghai's blow for stress relief
Students and office workers in Shanghai will stage a pillow fight to release stress. Pillows will be handed out at the door of the venue, which is expected to attract about 1,000 pillow-fighters. The annual event, in its fifth year, has seen such a surge in interest that two are being held this year. 'Nowadays there are many white collar workers and students that are facing huge pressures at work and at school, so we hope to give them an outlet to release their stress before the end of the year,' founder Eleven Wang told reporters.
Guangdong city won't renew housing price cap
Zhongshan (left) in Guangdong province will not extend its price cap on property when the limit expires tomorrow. Mainland media say the city is the first to drop the cap. The cap was imposed from November 10, with registration of properties worth more than 5,800 yuan (HK$7,085) per square metre suspended until the end of the year. The State Council ordered all cities to set a target for curbing property values earlier this year to cool the market, but many cities have set only vague targets.
State Council to debate education policy
The State Council, China's cabinet, will hold a special consultation session on the progress of a blueprint on long-term and medium-term education policies from 2010 to 2020. Beijing is trying to better allocate education resources and to improve vocational and rural education over the decade.
Music that will melt in your mouth
The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Hong Kong will present the sweetest orchestral music concert of the year - Celebration of the Senses: A Little Chocolate Suite - this evening at Polytechnic University's Jockey Club Auditorium. 'We sought a connection between chocolate and music,' Ignatius Ho, founder of presenter the PMA Music Foundation, said.
Pain for Spain in prime minister's speech
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (left) is expected to announce detailed spending cuts. The Bank of Spain said this week data suggest the euro zone's fourth-biggest economy contracted in the year's final months. Tourism and exports showed signs of weakening from October, while household spending and investment worsened. Spain's fragile recovery in the first half was sustained by exterior demand as the most drastic austerity measures in 30 years pushed unemployment to a 15-year high.
