Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
A court in Marseille, France, is due to deliver its verdict in the lawsuit against Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas and four other company executives over the sale of defective breast implants. The defendants are charged with aggravated fraud for using industrial-grade silicone in manufacturing the implants. Some 300,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have received the implants, which authorities say are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.
A high percentage of Hong Kong's scuba divers are damaging marine coral during their underwater activities, according to findings of a report to be released by Hong Kong Baptist University. HKBU conducted research at seven major diving sites in Hong Kong, concluding that divers were having an adverse impact on the city's marine ecosystem.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong begins a three day visit to South Korea for talks with President Park Geun-hye focused on strengthening co-operation in areas such as the "creative" economy, trade, investment and construction, as well as boosting cultural and other exchanges. It will be Lee's first visit to Korea since 2009.
Yifan Hu, chief economist at Haitong International, will discuss local government debt and the sustainability of China's local public financial institutions at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club. Hu, a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since June 2013, said in a recent report that China's local government debt issue was "serious but remains manageable", provided immediate action was taken to control the situation before any potential defaults.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was expected to hold a mass demonstration to put pressure on the government to conduct an independent probe into alleged voter fraud and other irregularities in the July 28 election that saw Prime Minister Hun Sen returned to power. Ahead of the protest Hun Sen's party called for the CNRP to cancel the protest and begin negotiations to end the four-month political deadlock.
A pencil sketch by E.H. Shepard showing characters from Winnie the Pooh, created by children's writer A.A. Milne, is expected to fetch more than £50,000 (HK$633,700) at a Sotheby's auction in London. Sotheby's called the pencil drawing the first version of "one of the most famous illustrations in children's literature". It will be auctioned along with another early Shepard drawn Winnie the Pooh illustration.
