Talking Points

The weekend is normally time for a rest from the rat race - but this weekend is an exception, as teams line up for one of the year's biggest charity events. Tomorrow's Central Rat Race puts participants from 60 teams through a series of fast-paced challenges. Organisers will be hoping to beat last year's total of HK$2.62 million, raised for the mental health charity Mindset.
 

Troops from the United States join colleagues from the Philippines for five days of amphibious landing exercises and humanitarian assistance projects. It's a further sign of the US military's "pivot" towards Asia as it bids to counter China's growing military might. Manila hinted last week that the former Subic Bay naval base, facing the South China Sea, could be revived as a key hub for the US fleet.
 

The United States and Cuba mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cuban missile crisis. A U-2 spy plane piloted by Major Richard Heyser took 928 photos over Cuba on October 14, 1962, providing proof that Soviet missiles had arrived and a launch site was being constructed. Weeks of frantic negotiation and military posturing followed, taking the world to the brink of nuclear war.