Talking points

Beijing residents have a last chance today to comment on draft pollution-control regulations intended to help clean up the capital's suffocating smog. Members of the public are being asked to give their views on ideas, including closing some factories temporarily and controlling traffic movement at times of severe air pollution. Drivers could also be fined up to 3,000 yuan (HK$3,700) if their vehicles exceed emission limits.

Five people are sentenced for smuggling to the mainland some 600 million litres of contraband oil worth more than HK$2.6 billion. The five, who faced a joint charge of conspiracy to export unmanifested cargo, denied the charge but were convicted after a lengthy District Court trial. The maximum penalty for smuggling is a HK$2 million fine and seven years' imprisonment.