Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Some 45 years of culinary history come to an end in Shau Kei Wan with the closure of the popular Kam Kee Cafe, the latest victim of the city's soaring rents. Owner Chan Gui-chou, 91, says a proposed rent increase from HK$20,000 a month to HK$50,000 was the last straw for a business already struggling to cope with rapidly increasing food prices. He serves milk tea and coffee from HK$11 a cup, and set meals with instant noodles and macaroni from HK$21.
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong faces a deadline to appeal against the International Cycling Union's decision to strip him of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life. International cycling's governing body is unlikely, however, to have to fight an appeal after Armstrong announced earlier this year he would end his fight against devastating allegations of doping.
The administrators of China's Beidou satellite navigation system launch its positioning service for the Asia-Pacific region, with the system expected to come on line in the next few days or early next year. State media boasts that the Chinese satellite system uses more advanced navigation and positioning technologies compared to its foreign peers and reports that at least 30 more satellites will be launched by 2020 to expand it into a truly global positioning service.
Pint-sized singing sensation Connie Talbot returns to Hong Kong with a mini-concert at Kitec in Kowloon Bay. Talbot has been delighting audiences around the world since first finding fame in the television talent contest at the age of just six. Now 12, her debut album, , sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide and reached No1 in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.
The National Bureau of Statistics releases the industrial companies' profit figures for last month, offering the latest possible indicator of strengthening in the mainland's economy. Profit gains surged in October and turned positive for the year as factory output accelerated, with net income showing a 20.5 per cent increase from a year earlier, growing to 500.1 billion yuan (HK$614.5 billion).
An American-style taste of musical fun comes to the piazza of the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui as the annual Marching Band Parade takes place. Organised by the Hong Kong Marching Band Association and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the event is part of the annual Marching Band Festival and admission is free.
