Talking points

Imran Khan leads march against drone strikes

Pakistani politician Imran Khan leads a "peace march" to the country's restive tribal areas in protest against US drone strikes. Khan, leader of the Pakistan Movement for Justice, will be joined by Western journalists and campaigners, including 30 American anti-drone campaigners. The former national cricket captain vowed to go ahead with the march despite security concerns and doubts about whether the government would allow it.

Curiosity digs into Martian sand

Mars rover Curiosity takes its first sip of the red planet's sand, but only after it plays bartender to make sure the dry dust is shaken, not stirred. The end of the rover's 99.8kg arm will shake "at a nice tooth-rattling vibration level" for eight hours, said mission sampling chief Daniel Limonadi. That will vibrate the dust through the chemical testing system to cleanse it of residual grease. Curiosity will scoop, shake and dump sand three times. The fourth time, Nasa's rover will slowly pour a tiny amount of material into a mobile lab for analysis.

Mansion opens doors to the public

The public gets a rare chance to examine restoration work at King Yin Lei, the historic mansion on Stubbs Road, Happy Valley, with special open days today and tomorrow. An open day last year drew more than 1,600 visitors to view the building, whose Chinese Renaissance style blends local design tradition with modern construction techniques.

Verdict in trial of Pope's butler

A verdict is expected in the trial of Pope Benedict's butler after just four hearings in a case that has split experts between some who say it is Vatican transparency in action and others who detect a whitewash. The world's tiniest state has opened its doors for the biggest trial of its modern history to a small group of journalists. Vatican expert Marco Politi said the charge of aggravated theft against Paolo Gabriele for leaking confidential Vatican papers to an Italian journalist was intended to cover up harsher truths.

A taste of foodie cinema

The city's first Culinary Film Festival will serve up four mouthwatering movies that will leave audiences salivating for something tastier than popcorn. The films, including the documentary El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, which looks at the innovative but now closed Spanish restaurant, will show at UA cinemas at CityPlaza and iSquare from today until October 28.

Contest finale crowns Mr Gay Hong Kong

Mr Gay Hong Kong's finale sees the city's representative for the Mr Gay World contest decided. It is part of Pink Season, a two-month series of 30 fun events organised by the Pink Alliance, a group of gay rights organisations, to celebrate their sexuality and promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.