Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
The eyes of global market observers - and conspiracy theorists - turn to the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, where the great and the good gather for the annual World Economic Forum. The gathering brings together more than 1,500 business leaders and up to 50 heads of state or government. They will be shielded from dissent by a ring of razor wire and up to 5,000 Swiss soldiers. Activists and left-wing Swiss groups plan small protests against financial speculation.
The government will be urged to formulate more policies for middle-class people who "pay large amounts of tax but enjoy few welfare benefits" in a debate at the Legislative Council. Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat will move a motion urging the government to put forward proactive measures to cater for the aspirations and interests of middle-class families, which she argues have come under heavy career and livelihood pressures.
Apple comes under the spotlight as it reports first quarter-profits, expected to show it remains one of the world's most profitable companies. But analysts say the company faces rising production costs and increasingly tough competition from Samsung Electronics, which has conquered the smartphone market with its Android-powered devices and has a healthy share of the tablet market.
The University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme reveals the details of its Popvote Civil Referendum Project, a follow-up to the city-wide vote it held ahead of last year's election for chief executive. The mock poll in March attracted more than 200,000 votes despite an alleged hacking attack that brought down the website being used to conduct the poll, leaving voters to face long queues at 17 polling stations set up by HKU researchers.
A top official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gives a briefing on the performance of China's industrial and communications sectors in the past year. Zhu Hongren, the ministry's spokesman and general engineer, may face questions on reports that it has banned portals and software vendors from providing plug-in software to help people buy rail tickets for the busy Lunar New Year period. The ministry denies the reports.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appears before the Senate foreign relations committee to take questions from lawmakers on the September attack on US diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton was forced to postpone the hearing last month due to illness, but will take questions on the attack, in which four Americans including ambassador Chris Stevens were killed.
