Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Appeal court to rule on refugee screening
It has been a long wait, but 17 months after the Court of Appeal considered whether the government should screen potential refugees rather than leaving it to the UN's refugee agency, what could be a landmark judgment is due tomorrow. For years the Law Society, NGOs and the UN agency itself have advocated government-run screening as being more efficient and transparent. The judgment comes a little more than a week after the amended Immigration Bill was unveiled in Legco. This bill details how to process victims of torture, but not asylum seekers in general - although the two categories often overlap.
Lai takes deportation fight to Canadian court
A Canadian court will hear the appeal by China's most wanted fugitive Lai Changxing against his deportation tomorrow, Hong Kong time. If Lai loses, he will be deported as soon as July 25. Earlier this week, a Canadian intelligence officer alleged that Lai had connections to organised crime and loan sharking and was running an illegal gambling operation in British Columbia. Lai spent 12 years fighting his return to China, where he is accused of heading a network that smuggled billions of dollars worth of goods into the country with the protection of corrupt officials.
Foreign ministers discuss South China Sea
Asean foreign ministers are meeting from today until tomorrow on the Indonesian island of Bali, and China's Yang Jiechi is among them. Tension over the South China Sea is expected to top the agenda