Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
President Xi Jinping will today meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin as he continues his four-nation European tour. Xi will deliver a speech to foreign policy think tank in the evening following a joint news conference with Merkel on issues that are likely to include the crisis in Crimea. Having already visited the Netherlands and France, the final stop of a busy schedule for Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan will be Belgium.
Embattled smartphone firm BlackBerry will release its fourth-quarter earnings report today, with investors anxious to hear what CEO John Chen has to tell them. Analysts expect BlackBerry to post revenue of US$1.1 billion and a net loss of about 57 cents a share for the quarter ending March 1. Investors will want more details on the Canadian company's cost-cutting measures and a production deal with Foxconn, which makes lower-end BlackBerrys for overseas markets.
US President Barack Obama will seek to ease Saudi concerns that he is neglecting an old ally when he visits Riyadh today, months after top Saudis objected to what they saw as a growing reconciliation between Washington and their rival Iran. Rifts over Middle East policy came to a head last year when Washington worked with other powers to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions on its disputed nuclear programme.
Members of controversial Russian punk collective Pussy Riot will attend the opening seminar of the annual Tallinn Music Week in Estonia today. The band, including two of its most vocal members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - who were both jailed in their native country - will join in a discussion forum.
Yes, it's sevens weekend again, and Fiji will be looking to turn up the heat on rugby giants New Zealand and South Africa. The defending Hong Kong champions return to the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens seeking a hat-trick of world series titles after their triumph in Tokyo last weekend. With just three tournaments left in the IRB World Sevens Series, a Fijian victory at a packed, colourful and very loud Hong Kong Stadium over the weekend could blow the competition wide open.
British journalist Piers Morgan will today broadcast the final edition of his CNN show , the successor to . Morgan's show has run for three years but has seen ratings plunge in recent months. The show will continue without Morgan, with a series of familiar and new CNN names stepping in to host the show before the US network names a permanent replacement. Morgan has said he is planning other interview projects for CNN.
