Talking points

Two giant pandas loaned from China are due to arrive by plane in Singapore on a 10-year loan - Beijing's latest use of panda-diplomacy to strengthen ties overseas. "It is a sign of the friendship between our two countries, and the pandas will be very popular. There is a lot of interest in Singapore in Kai Kai and Jia Jia," says Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. France received a pair of pandas in January this year, a month after Scotland welcomed two to Edinburgh.

The European Central Bank holds a key meeting to discuss measures to tackle the region's debt crisis. Markets will be watching closely to see what the central bank's president Mario Draghi has to say and whether any imminent action will be announced. Draghi has this week been apparently laying the groundwork for the meeting by reportedly making clear his plans to buy short-term government bonds on secondary markets. By intervening in the secondary market, the central bank could help Italy and Spain limit their borrowing costs, which at times have neared levels considered unsustainable in the long term.