Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Google Maps is launching a new service that invites members of the public to help and contribute to an authentic "Hong Kong" mapping service. Google will present a series of out-of-the-box map functions that will help tourists and locals navigate the streets and alleys of Hong Kong. Stella Cheung, Hong Kong head of sales with Google, will talk about how the upgrades will benefit users and businesses, while Ben Luk will demonstrate the new functions.
Some 200 people - most of them from the news media - will gather in an auditorium in Cupertino, California, to watch Timothy Cook, Apple's chief executive, unveil bright new iPhones. reports that the launch will be shown via satellite link to Europe and, for the first time, to a select group in China. Seasoned observers say an iPhone 5S in black, white and "champagne" will headline alongside the iPhone 5C, with a tough plastic back and in multiple colours - strawberry red, blue, lime green, yellow and white.
The central government releases a raft of figures on China's retail sales, industrial output and fixed-asset investment. A Reuters surveys shows that factory output is expected to have grown 9.9 per cent year on year, matching the January/February figure as the biggest increase this year. Fixed-asset investment probably grew 20.2 per cent in the first eight months from a year earlier, after a 20.1 per cent rise in the first seven months, said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics.
Ho Lok-sang, a core member of the Silent Majority for Hong Kong, and Chan Kin-man, a core organiser of the Occupy Central movement, will attend a forum on the civil disobedience movement at Lingnan University. Silent Majority wants to win the backing of at least 100,000 people for a peaceful campaign to protect what it says are the city's interests, while Occupy Central is campaigning for civil disobedience in pursuit of universal suffrage in 2017.
Thirteen authors will be waiting nervously for the shortlist to be announced in London for Britain's most prestigious literary award - the Man Booker Prize. Judges pared down the 13 from 151 books. Established authors, such as Colm Toibin and Jim Crace, who were previously shortlisted, are up against first-timers like Donal Ryan.
Zhang Shuguang, a former senior engineer and transport bureau chief of the railways ministry, faces Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court. Zhang, a close associate of disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun , faces 13 graft charges involving 47 million yuan (HK$59 million) in bribes.
