Talking Points

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, visits China, but the Foreign Ministry has given few details of who he will meet on the two-day trip. China, with Russia, has blocked UN Security Council motions calling for intervention in Syria's civil war. Brahimi's trip comes as a mainland newspaper reports an overseas Uygur separatist group has sent members to Syria to fight beside al-Qaeda militants against the Damascus regime.
 

Air China releases third-quarter results, with analysts expecting the operating figures will surprise the market on the upside, given robust summer traffic and the appreciating yuan. Trading in the Beijing-based carrier resumed last week after being suspended in Hong Kong on October 9 pending an announcement on a planned share sale to Air China Group. The share issue was scrapped last week, with the company now expected to tap the bond market to fund new aircraft.
 

The space shuttle Endeavour begins its new mission - to inspire a future generation of explorers - as it goes on display at the California Science Centre in Los Angeles. The Endeavour spent some 299 days in orbit and completed its final mission last year as the shuttle programme was wound down. Spectacular images of the gargantuan space vehicle being slowly moved through the Californian city sparked extra interest in the shuttle exhibit.