Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
19 suspects face verdict on triad charges
Nineteen alleged members of Sun Yee On, one of Hong Kong's most notorious crime gangs, will hear their verdict in Kowloon City Court on charges of claiming to be, and acting as, members of a triad society. The suspects were arrested after paying tribute at a religious ceremony to honour the 'Baron of Tsim Sha Tsui', Lee Tai-lung (left), in 2010, and include Lee's widow. Police carried out the arrests on the basis of intelligence provided by an undercover officer. Lee was chopped to death by members of the rival Wo Shing Wo in August 2009 outside the Shangri-La in Tsim Sha Tsui East. The three killers were jailed for life in February last year, but the mastermind behind the ambush is still at large.
India to report victory over polio
India is preparing to celebrate a full year without any reported cases of polio. Tomorrow's milestone is a major victory in a global eradication effort that appeared to be stalled just a few years ago. If no previously undisclosed cases of the crippling disease are discovered across the country, India will no longer be considered a country where polio is endemic. That leaves just Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria on the list. The achievement gives a major boost to health advocates and donors who had begun to lose hope of defeating the stubborn disease the world had promised to eradicate by 2000.
Distant prospects for 2016 winter games
The National Winter Games end in Jilin today and winter sports spectators may find that locations for future games will no longer be dominated by the northeastern provinces. The General Administration of Sport said it would encourage other parts of the country to host winter sports events. The 2016 event will be hosted jointly in the northwest, in Xinjiang's Urumqi, Fukang, Shihezi and Altay .